AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Every week a famous guest draws a card from our Wild Card deck and answers a question about their life. It has been a big year for Ilana Glazer. They cowrote and starred in the movie "Babes," which came out in the spring. And this Friday, they're releasing "Human Magic," a new Hulu stand-up special. Glazer became popular for cocreating and starring in the hit Comedy Central show "Broad City" along with Abbi Jacobson. Glazer talked with Wild Card host Rachel Martin about knowing when that series should end.
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RACHEL MARTIN: One, two, three.
ILANA GLAZER: Oh, three.
MARTIN: Are you good at knowing when something should end?
GLAZER: Yes.
MARTIN: Yeah?
GLAZER: Yeah. Yeah, I am. I...
MARTIN: Have you always been that way?
GLAZER: Yes. Yes, I have. "Broad City" - I was, like, a big - you know, we had signed our contract of seven seasons. And then, you know, we both came to it, and - Abbi and I. But - and it was - Comedy Central was like, huh (ph)? But I was, like - you know, and we were, like, ambivalent and unsure. But, like, it just - I think that's - yeah, that's something I would say is elegant about me - knowing when things are at their end.
MARTIN: Yeah. That's an admirable quality because it's not the same for everybody and especially if you have - if you've got something good going on and there are people telling you, it's good...
GLAZER: Yeah.
MARTIN: ...Just keep going; it's good - and to be able to have something internally that tells you, no, I think I'm going to stop now.
GLAZER: Yeah. And, like, being able to trust that that I am generative beyond this moment, whether it's a creative project or anything, you know, but that I am secure, that I will keep generating new layers and, like, do without thinking - that was something that - the experience of pregnancy was so incredible. I'm such an overthinker and a planner. Creating a person without thinking about it was - I was like, I'm not even thinking about this, and my body knows what to do. And, like, you know, we get a scrape, and the skin grows back. And it's just like...
MARTIN: Yeah.
GLAZER: ...Just trusting in my own humanity.
MARTIN: In what, though? Is it, like, just a gut feeling on the endings thing? You're just like, I just feel like we should stop.
GLAZER: Yeah. You know, it's like - I don't know. I was a drummer for many years. I miss it. And I love...
MARTIN: You were?
GLAZER: Yes. And I just loved percussion. For a time, I was like, I'm going to be an orchestra percussionist. Can you imagine me, like, on a timpani like (vocalizing)?
MARTIN: Yes.
GLAZER: You know, like, (vocalizing). And it's like - I think it's, like, a rhythm thing. You know what I mean? It's, like, a...
MARTIN: Yeah.
GLAZER: ...Larger-scale rhythm thing of, like, this is over, you know, and accepting the loss, too.
CHANG: Ilana Glazer's new stand-up special "Human Magic" is out Friday. For more from that conversation, follow the Wild Card podcast.
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