Ilana Glazer’s Amazon stand-up special opens with Rihanna’s “Sex With Me” underscoring Glazer as she hugs crew members on her way to the stage where she dances it out while welcoming her Houston, Texas audience. This introduction into The Planet is Burning is on-brand for what fans of the funny lady have come to expect. It gives us glimpses of her welcoming demeanor, gives her a chance to show off the physical stamina that has made her a joy to watch on Broad City and a few movies that didn’t deserve her energy. Her green t-shirt and cut-off jean shorts makes it feel like we’re about to hang out with a friend and dish as opposed to watching Glazer’s stand-up special.
Glazer spends the first part of the special acknowledging that most people know her from her TV show that ended in 2019 and trying to point out the differences between her real life and the character, Ilana Wexler, she created. She notes Wexler would wake and bake as opposed to Glazer who wakes up, takes her vitamins, and then bakes. She also points out that Wexler could buy her weed anywhere and everywhere while Glazer has her husband use a New York delivery service as she hides in a closet scrolling Instagram. She goes on to elaborate that her husband has to do this because New York weed delivery drivers are like 80% of her demographic.
The rest of the special isn’t an hour of non-stop laughs, but rather a running list of concerns most people have under this current administration. Glazer’s commentary on sexuality, homophobia, Diva Cups versus other feminine hygiene products, and a plethora of other topics is insightful and refreshing to hear someone in comedy explore. However, most of her jokes never fully land which makes it difficult to do much else than appreciate someone else shares a lot of the same anxieties as the rest of us and is using her platform to give voice to them.
At first glance, it seems as if Glazer’s just meandering and hitting upon important topics at random. However, upon closer inspection, you start to see her thought process at work. A prime example of this is around the middle of the hour where Glazer admits that she’s, “grateful to be a woman in 2019. It is the best it’s been…yet?” before going into how Nazis are making a comeback and segueing into how her Hebrew school did a week-long simulation of escaping the…
