Abbi Jacobson

Her other roles include voicing Katie Mitchell in The Mitchells vs. The Machines (2021), Nya in The Lego Ninjago Movie (2017), and Princess Bean in the series Disenchantment (2018–2023), in addition to appearing in the live-action films Person to Person (2017) and 6 Balloons (2018). Jacobson founded production company Tender Pictures in 2020, and co-founded fellowship program Prelude alongside Mieka Tennant. She has published two colouring books of her own illustrations, and published a book of personal essays, I Might Regret This: Essays, Drawings, Vulnerabilities and Other Stuff (2018).

• Name — Abbi Jacobson • Born — 1984 • Birthplace — Wayne, Pennsylvania, U.S. • Years Active — 2009–present • Occupation — * Comedian • actress • writer • illustrator • Education — Maryland Institute College of Art (BFA) Emerson College

Abbi Jacobson was born in 1984 in Wayne, Pennsylvania. She is the daughter of Susan Komm, an artist, and Alan Jacobson, a graphic designer. She is Jewish, attended Hebrew school and had a Bat Mitzvah. She was raised in Wayne, Pennsylvania, where she attended Valley Forge Middle School and Conestoga High School. She also participated in Birthright Israel, a free ten-day trip to Israel for young Jewish adults between the ages of 18 and 26. She studied fine arts and video production at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), graduating in 2006 with a B.F.A. in General Fine Arts. While at MICA, she studied stand-up comedy for one year with poet Jeremy Sigler, having transferred for a term to study acting at Emerson College. Jacobson moved to New York City after graduating from MICA. She began taking classes with the Atlantic Theater Company and the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, where she met Ilana Glazer.

From 2009 to 2011, Jacobson and Glazer wrote and performed in a web series titled Broad City, which focused on their lives in New York. The series was nominated for an ECNY Award for Best Web Series. It was well received by critics and developed a cult following. At the Upright Citizens Brigade, Jacobson and Glazer adapted the series into a live show that they performed in called Broad City Live. In 2011, cable network FX, working with Amy Poehler as the producer, purchased a script commitment for the series from Glazer and Jacobson. However, the network did not approve the script and decided not to proceed with development. Glazer and Jacobson then approached Comedy Central, who agreed to purchase the script from FX and order a pilot. • Illustration — Jacobson and Glazer at Internet Week in 2015 Broad City made its broadcast television premiere in January 2014 and was received with positive reviews and strong ratings, becoming Comedy Central's highest-rated first season since 2012 among the younger demographics, including adults 18–34, with an average of 1.2 million viewers. Materializing following backlash of Lena Dunham's Girls, which was critiqued for its lack of racial diversity and upper-middle-class characterization, Broad City is often discussed for its approach and depictions to themes gender, sexuality, and identity. The series portrays semi-biographical characters, millennial, assimilated Ashkenazi Jewish New Yorkers. The intersection between Jewishness, queerness, femininity, masculinity, and adulthood is central to the narrative of the show and the lives of characters; Ilana has relationships with both men and women, and in the final season, Abbi comes out as queer. In February 2014, Comedy Central renewed the show for a second season. In January 2015, the series was then renewed for a third season, which premiered on February 17, 2016. In January 2016, the series was renewed for a fourth and a fifth and final season.

Jacobson extended her commitment to inclusive storytelling through Tender Pictures, founded in 2020, which "centers stories of friendship, identity, and found family". In January 2025, she co-founded the Tender Pictures Fellowship Program, "Prelude", alongside Mieka Tennant, whose aim is to "level the playing field for emerging storytellers". The eight-month fellowship offers ten spots and connects its participants with over thirty established filmmakers and industry experts through mentorship, workshops, and panels. "Rooted in play and experimentation", the program partners with names such as A24 and the Criterion Collection, emphasizing "creativity before credentials and supporting economic viability for new voices in film". Jacobson shared in an interview with Deadline, "The most important thing we can give emerging storytellers is the confidence that there's a place for them in the industry and that their story is worth telling, all while providing them a toolkit to do so." Tender Pictures is currently working on a television series adaptation of Isle McElroy's 2023 novel People Collide, which centers around a married couple swapping bodies. The book's themes explore marriage, identity, sex and raises questions about the nature of true partnership. Jacobson serves as the series writer and showrunner via Tender Pictures. Jacobson's work with Tender Pictures has been characterized as empowering storytellers in underrepresented groups by redefining what access to the film and television industry looks like. The company aims to respond to systemic barriers in place by creating opportunities that directly combat industry exclusivity. The company website states that 91% of participants in its programs come from underrepresented groups, 79% identify as LGBTQIA+, and 73% identify as she/her or she/they.

In 2011, Jacobson wrote and performed in a solo show called Welcome to Camp, which ran in New York and Los Angeles. In December 2015, Jacobson was cast in the film Person to Person, opposite Michael Cera and Philip Baker Hall, written and directed by Dustin Guy Defa. Jacobson also starred in The Lego Ninjago Movie, released on September 22, 2017. Her first appearance in BoJack Horseman was in the 2016 episode "The Bojack Horseman Show", in which she voiced Emily. In 2017, Jacobson hosted a 10-episode podcast about modern and contemporary art called A Piece of Work co-produced by The Museum of Modern Art and WNYC Studios. She plans to do a second season. From 2018 to 2023, she voiced Princess Bean in Matt Groening's Disenchantment. Jacobson appeared in a March 2020 episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. In 2021, Jacobson voiced Katie Mitchell in the Sony Pictures Animation film The Mitchells vs. the Machines. In 2022 she served as a writer, producer, co-creator and star of the Amazon series A League of Their Own, based on the 1992 film of the same name, which tells the story of a World War II-era women's baseball team and the queer community that it fostered. The series, in which she plays catcher Carson Shaw, was critically acclaimed and had a Rotten Tomatoes score of 95%. A League of Their Own earned the GLAAD Award for Outstanding New TV Series as well as the 2023 National Visibility Award from the Human Rights Campaign, honouring LGBTQ+ leaders and entities that exemplify living openly and authentically. While initially renewed for a four-episode second season in March 2023, Amazon Studios later cancelled the series, and blamed it on the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike the same year.

In an April 2018 interview, Jacobson stated that she dates men and women but "they have to be funny, doing something they love." She has been in a relationship with actress Jodi Balfour since October 2020. In June 2024, Jacobson and Balfour got married.

In October 2023, Jacobson signed the Artists4Ceasefire open letter to Joe Biden, President of the United States, calling for a ceasefire of the Israeli bombardment of Gaza. She is also a signatory of the Film Workers for Palestine boycott pledge that was published in September 2025.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 2010 — Vag Magazine — Moon Cup — Episode: "Feminist Sweepstakes" • 2010–2011 — Broad City — Abbi Abrams — Web series; 15 episodes; also creator • 2012 — Jest Originals — Reenactment Amanda — Episode: "I Didn't Know I Was Gilbert Gottfried" • 2012 — Moms V. Pros — 4 episodes • 2013 — CollegeHumor — Episode: "Jake and Amir/All-Nighter: Jake and Amir's Dream" • 2013 — Annie and a Side of Fries — Annie Leonard — Web series; 10 episodes; also creator • 2014–2019 — Broad City — Abbi Abrams — 50 episodes; also creator, writer, executive producer, director Nominated MTV Movie & TV Award for Best Comedic Performance (with Ilana Glazer) (2017) • 2015 — Lucas Bros. Moving Co. — Sister Sister (voice) — Episode: "Sister Sister Sister" • 2015 — Inside Amy Schumer — Herself — Episode: "80s Ladies" • 2015 — The Untitled Web Series That Morgan Evans Is Doing for MTV — Blanche — 1 episode • 2015–2018 — Pickle and Peanut — Sneaky Patty (voice) — 5 episodes • 2015 — Lip Sync Battle — Herself — Episode: "Ilana Glazer vs. Abbi Jacobson" • 2016–2018 — BoJack Horseman — Emily (voice) — 7 episodes • 2017 — Portlandia — Burning Man Girl — 2 episodes • 2018 — Drunk History — Gloria Steinem — Episode: "Sex" • 2018 — RuPaul's Drag Race — Herself (guest judge) — Episode: "Breastworld" (season 10) • 2018–2023 — Disenchantment — Princess Bean, Bad Bean (voice) — 50 episodes • 2019–2020 — Crank Yankers — Cheryl (voice) — 2 episodes • 2020–2025 — Bob's Burgers — Megan (voice) — 2 episodes • 2020 — Curb Your Enthusiasm — Diane — Episode: "Beep Panic" • 2022 — A League of Their Own — Carson Shaw — 8 episodes; also creator, writer, and executive producer • 2024–2025 — The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy — Dr. Zypha (voice) — 10 episodes • 2024 — Interior Chinatown — Kleen Stik Commercial (voice) — Episode: "Ad Guy" • 2024 — No Good Deed — Leslie Fisher — Main cast • 2025–present — Long Story Short — Shira Schwooper (voice) — Main cast • 2026 — The Comeback — Mary Abrams — Recurring; 3 episodes

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