Out-and-proud performer, producer and writer Ilana Glazer is bringing her stand-up act to the iconic Chicago Theatre this fall. This talented creator of Broad City arrives in the Windy City on September 22 for a special night for her fans.
Glazer began her outspoken career on the comedy circuit with appearances at Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre before starring in the Comedy Central series that ran for five seasons.
She has taken home several trophies over the years after many nominations. Their Recipe for Change: Standing Up for Anti-Semitism won an Outstanding Daytime Special Daytime Emmy Award and A Strange Loop earned her a Tony Award for Best Musical.
Ilana Glazer Live! covers hot topics and unique observations in the second leg of their global tour slated for Chicago. This follows her popular 2024 Hulu biographical project titled Ilana Glazer: Human Magic.
Every Thursday, listeners can check out her podcast It's Open with Ilana Glazer on various platforms and YouTube.
This past year, she made her Broadway debut in Good Night, and Good Luck, portraying journalist Shirley Wershba. The future looks bright after penning the upcoming Focker-in-Law film from the Fockers franchise, with more endeavors set for the future, as she balances family life with a successful career.
Ilana called in on Zoom from New York just before her upcoming arrival in Illinois.
JN: (Jerry Nunn) Start off with your pronouns.
IG: (Ilana Glazer) You can use she/they. I am leaning into she more these days, but we love “they.”
JN: How exciting that you are coming to Chicago soon. Have you been to the Windy City much before this visit?
IG: I have, mostly for stand-up, so not that much in a personal sense, but I do have Jewish family members there. I came to Chicago for a family reunion in 2023.
JN: Is your family coming to the show?
IG: Yes.
JN: Are you in New York right now?
IG: Yes, I just landed back in New York this morning from the Midwest. I have two Midwest legs on my tour with all of the major cities this time. I just did Omaha, Minneapolis and Madison, Wisconsin.
I return to the Midwest for Chicago on September 22 and then to Detroit after that on the 23rd.
JN: Are these sets scripted or improvised?
IG: At the top of the shows, there’s some improv. I travel two days away from home and then I come back to my family. I was away three days this week, which felt like a significant difference.
I talk about being 39 and a middle-aged millennial in my act. The Midwestern energy hit me so differently this time because I saw sensible people who stand up for their neighbors. I wish I could stay longer in these cities.
The way I get to know a city is through the people, so I have been doing crowd work where I ask people questions and they can ask me anything. I really love giving people advice and hearing what is going on. It is so interesting to me.
I won’t do a Q&A at The Chicago Theatre because it is too big. I have an hour of prepared material that I work through every time as a polished product.
I want my show to feel fresh every time, even when it is scripted.
JN: Have you experienced difficult people when doing crowd work?
IG: Honestly, no. I am a very positive, optimistic and loving person, so maybe it is just me, but the crowds have been incredible.
Specifically, my audiences are full of thinking and feeling people. I talk about real things like how the world is now and being super silly at the same time. I want to be connected with everyone and share reality right now. Our reality is being systematically fractured and people want to connect with each other.
JN: Group spaces have really evolved, haven’t they?
IG: Yes and it’s been funny to get older with my audience. I can believe we are here. We were wacky in our twenties and now we are middle-aged.
I am bursting with joy for the opportunity to experience this with other people.
JN: I enjoyed one of your recent social media posts. I stand in support of your opinion of men wearing kilts.
IG: I love it and it’s so hot while being sheik, too. It’s nice to see men’s knees and it doesn’t look feminine to me. It’s a man in a skirt.
JN: Are they wearing underwear or not?
IG: One wonders and then sometimes one finds out once in a while…
JN: Do you have an opener for the show?
IG: Yes and I will have two in Chicago. Petey DeAbreu is a buddy that I have known for 10 years now through stand-up comedy and political comedian Maggie Winters. Maggie popped off on TikTok with the line “In da clurb, we all fam!”
I met Maggie at a cultural celebration of Broad City a few years ago and I decided to share the stage with her.
JN: I interviewed Abbi Jacobson for the television series version of A League of Their Own and she was wonderful in person.
IG: That show had such an enriched tone after Broad City.
JN: It was overlooked and had such important queer content.
IG: I agree.
JN: Don’t you have a new movie coming out, Focker-in-Law?
IG: Yes, I wrote the story, as well as John Hamburg, who wrote the script. My team pitched them the idea and it was inevitable, I have to say. I am proud of it and it is a worthy addition to the trilogy, I believe.
JN: What did you think of Ariana Grande?
IG: Incredible. She is a generational talent and she can do anything. I am blown away by her.
JN: Her brother Frankie performed at our LGBTQ+ street festival and I met their mother.
IG: I just watched Frankie in Titaníque and I knew who he was, but I hadn’t seen him in action yet. The whole cast was good, but Frankie slayed me in a way that I haven’t been slayed in a long time. I was dying.
My husband and I went to see it. I have been touring so much that I want to just stay home with my family. I didn’t want to go without my daughter, so we took my five-year-old to Titaníque. She sat on two booster seats.
She’s been watching Drag Race and loving Mama Ru. She wants every dress on the show. This made her primed for Titaníque and Frankie blew me away. I laughed harder at that show than I had for years.
JN: Your previous project, A Strange Loop, is being performed in Chicago this October. Do you have an all-time favorite musical?
IG: I saw so many when I was a kid. My mother would cut out coupons for half-price children’s tickets. There would be a Tuesday night discounted or free show, so we saw many musicals that way, like Ragtime, such a classic and West Side Story.
I saw Aida when I was so young and I was sobbing even though I couldn’t fully grasp what was going on.
JN: Will this comedy tour be filmed?
IG: I am thinking about it. The power structure is a pain in our asses right now. The best place for this might be a self-tape. This show is all about the people, so that might be the right approach.
JN: Everyone likes snippets these days, with so much ADHD in the world.
IG: That’s exactly right. People like the clips.
JN: What are your plans after the tour?
IG: I will be resting and snuggling with my family, first and foremost. We will see, but the dates that are out now have got to be it, with no extensions.
I am approaching the end of bringing this material to the world. I am preparing for a bear-like hibernation this winter.
I do have some projects going on and I am in a flow right now.
JN: So you have Rest and Relaxation both on the big screen and behind the scenes?
IG: Yes, I executive produced the film Rest and Relaxation, which isn’t out yet and it is still finding its home now.
Rebecca Rajadnya started with us on Broad City in the camera department. She had a strong presence and made a big impact on the style of the show, so I wasn’t surprised when she wrote and directed this feature.
JN: The Brady Bunch movie’s Marcia, Christine Taylor, is a star in it and I was a ‘70s kid.
IG: “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!” [both laugh]
Ilana, Ilana, Ilana sets the stage for a hilarious night at The Chicago Theatre, 175 North State Street, on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026. Visit ilanaglazer.com for tickets and information.