In the 2018 Hanukkah episode of “Hack into Broad City,” Ilana gifts Abbi a massive, multi-pronged and fully censored vibrator. (Or at least, one assumes it’s a vibrator.) “Do you love it?!” Ilana screeches, while Abbi stares at the avant-garde sex toy, perplexed. It’s a perfectly “Broad City” moment. In reality, however, Abbi Jacobson has revealed some much more wholesome Hanukkah gifts she’s received in the past.
In Interview Magazine’s latest Rohrschach Test column, the Jewish comedian and actress shared rapid-fire thoughts on topics from Elon Musk to skinny jeans to “In da clerb, we all fam” to the Festival of Lights. On the latter subject, Abbi remembered that her childhood Hanukkah gifts were mostly art-related.
“My parents were big art supply gifters, which I’m so thankful for, and a lot of that comes back to my Hanukkah gifts,” Abbi recalled. “Day one through seven was always some art supplies, and then day eight was usually a little bit bigger of a gift. So the real meaning of Hanukkah for me is art supplies.”
You hear that “Rugrats“? The meaning of Hanukkah (or “Meanie of Hanukkah”) isn’t family, it’s art supplies.
For Abbi fans, this should come as absolutely no surprise. On “Broad City,” Abbi’s character is an artist who we see through her career’s lowest lows (displaying her illustrations in a sandwich shop) and highest highs (receiving an art residency in Colorado). This was surely based on the fact that Abbi is also an illustrator in real-life. She attended Maryland Institute College for Art as an undergraduate, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2006. She primarily focused on drawing and painting before moving to New York City. Once there, not having enough room for a proper studio space, Abbi switched to illustration. In 2016, she released a fully illustrated book called “Carry This Book.”
While art supplies are kind of an unbeatable Hanukkah gift, if you, dear reader, are still Hanukkah shopping, we humbly suggest our Hanukkah gift guide. And may we all have a happy, bright and colorful Festival of Lights!
