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Abbi Jacobson

Famous Bis

Abbi Jacobson is an American comedian, writer, actor, producer, and illustrator.

Jacobson was born in suburban Pennsylvania in 1984 into a creatively oriented family, with an artist for a mother and a graphic designer for a father. Abbi studied fine arts, video production, and acting in college, taking a particular interest in stand-up comedy. After graduation, she moved to New York City and started taking classes with various theater companies and acting troupes. It was here that she met her future comedy partner, Ilana Glazer.

The duo created, wrote, and starred in the semi-autobiographical comedy web series called Broad City (2010–2011), which follows fictionalized versions of Jacobson and Glazer and their chaotic lives in the Big Apple. The show was later picked up by Comedy Central and turned into the hit television sitcom Broad City (2014–2019), for which she is best known. In the TV version of Broad City, Jacobson’s character, Abbi Abrams, is also bi.

In addition to Broad City, Jacobson also co-created, wrote for, executively produced, and starred in the series A League of Their Own (2022), where she portrays the bi character Carson Shaw. She was the voice of Princess/Queen Bean in the animated series, Disenchantment (2018–2023), and has appeared or voice-acted in dozens of films and shows such as Portlandia (2011–2018), Drunk History (2013–2019), BoJack Horseman (2014–2020), Person to Person (2017), The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021), and No Good Deed (2024–). Her work has earned her four Primetime Emmy nominations, a Writer’s Guild of America nomination, a Queerty Nomination, and an Annie Award.

Jacobson has also written and illustrated a number of books, including two coloring books — Color This Book: New York City (2013) and Color This Book: San Francisco (2013); an illustrated book — Carry This Book (2016); and the more personal I Might Regret This: Essays, Drawings, Vulnerabilities, and Other Stuff (2018).

In a 2018 interview with Vanity Fair, Jacobson spoke about her love life, saying,

I kind of go both ways; I date men and women. They have to be funny, doing something they love […] The world is my oyster. [1]

In 2020, Jacobson began dating the actor Jodi Balfour. The two were married in 2023.