On Comedy Central’s Broad City, Hannibal Buress plays the easygoing Lincoln Rice: successful pediatric dentist, dog lover, and Ilana’s fuck-buddy-turned-boyfriend. But Buress is nothing like his Broad City character.
“Nah, he’s not like me at all,” Buress tells me over the phone. “He’s a dentist, and I’m a famous stand-up comedian.” Then the Chicago comedian lets out one of his iconic slow, hearty laughs, which always sound laced with a hint of self-satisfaction. “I’m not a dog person… and I’m not as patient, but my patience is growing. I’m just starting to fully mature this year, I think, and grow up. But yeah, I don’t think we’re that similar, but speech patterns and cadences? We’re pretty close.”
Despite Ilana and Lincoln’s sexual relationship ending in season three, Buress says he wasn’t concerned about the future of his character. “Nah, I knew I’d be back on,” he says. “If I would’ve got written off, I would’ve just hosted a game show, do something else, some YouTube series.”