This article appears in VICE Magazine's 2019 Profiles Issue. This edition looks to the future by zeroing in on the underrecognized writers, scientists, musicians, critics, and more that will shape our world next year. They are "the Other 2020" to watch. Click HERE to subscribe to the print edition.In 2016, the comedians Sandy Honig, Mitra Jouhari, and Alyssa Stonoha were looking for a venue to stage a musical version of their act, Three Busy Debras. The show, which follows three suburban housewives all named Debra doing bad things with a big smile, had a sold-out run at the Annoyance theater in Brooklyn the year prior, and the comedians were ready for a bigger stage, but they couldn’t find anything. After yet another venue proved either too small or too expensive, Stonoha joked that it would be easier to book their show at Carnegie Hall. Turns out it was true; Carnegie Hall rents out its smaller recital rooms, and the Three Busy Debras launched a Kickstarter that raised $8,727, enough to rent a room but still short of the cost to get tech and lighting cues. They ended up performing their absurdist act that September for a “sold-out” audience (the tickets were free) with the house lights up.
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It was around this time that Amy Poehler took notice and offered access to an even bigger stage: Adult Swim. Starting next spring, Three Busy Debras will premiere on the network—its first-ever female-led show—with Poehler as an executive producer. The quarter-hour live-action comedy show will feature the day-to-day activities of the Debras as they rapidly devolve into chaos. In anticipation of the premiere, we asked the photographer Logan Jackson to capture the Debras in their deranged element. —VICE staff
Styling by Sarah Toshiko West, hair and makeup by Lauren Young