Photo by Wendy Jones Fletcher
Sarah Silverman
Issue #23
The smart and shocking comedienne chooses to be interviewed via e-mail, discussing television trouble, losing her virginity, and her new film, Jesus Is Magic
By Amber Drea
Published: March 1st, 2005 | 11:59am
Having co-starred in Richard Linklater’s The School Of Rock (2003) alongside the charismatic Jack Black as his roommate’s whip-cracking girlfriend, Sarah Silverman definitely has what it takes to hold her own in the world of comedy. The New Hampshire native has been a stand-up comic since the age of 17 and was hired to write and perform on Saturday Night Live for the 1993-94 season (alongside Adam Sandler and David Spade) when she was only 22. Since then, she has made appearances on countless television shows and films including Mr. Show (1995-98) and There’s Something About Mary (1998).
Most recently, Silverman returned to her role from the 1997 mockumentary Who’s the Caboose? for the mini-series Pilot Season (2004), which ran on the obscure TV network Trio. She also plays Jeff Garlin’s girlfriend in his upcoming romantic comedy I Want Someone To Eat Cheese With and appears in The Aristocrats, a documentary in which more than 100 comics tell the same very dirty joke that has been circulating exclusively among comedians since vaudeville. But Silverman’s biggest accomplishment of 2005 will most likely be the film version release of her one-woman musical Jesus Is Magic, which made its world premiere screening at the HBO-sponsored U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in February.
Though often cast as a bitch — or more specifically a “raving bitch” in The Way Of the Gun (2000) — her stand-up reveals a much more layered personality. She tends toward the racially charged, especially regarding African-Americans and being Jewish, and has even gotten herself in trouble with the Media Action Network for Asian Americans for using the word “chink” on Late Night With Conan O’Brien in 2001.
But fear is not a factor when it comes to choosing subject matter. What people will think of her is hardly a consideration. The 34-year-old has commented on everything from abortion (“I think [the 24-hour waiting period] is a good law. I was going to get an abortion the other day. … and it turns out I was just thirsty”) to underage drinking (“I saw my father naked once, but it was OK, because I was sooo young, and sooo drunk”). For Silverman, “the smartest thing to do is be funny,” and she succeeds by telling jokes that no one else has ever told in her own style, combining a bratty, raspy voice and a dead-pan delivery that’s so subtle, you’re not sure you’re supposed to laugh.
What are the differences between the film and stage versions of Jesus Is Magic?
The live show is stand-up and music. The movie version is that, but the songs take you to whole other places, like music videos, and there are other filmic digressions from the stand-up.
What are some of the things you talk about in the show/movie? What are your favorite moments?
I talk about rape and AIDS and the holocaust and September 11th. Also, at one point in the movie a man masturbates with my tears.
Did you write the songs? Do you sing them a cappella?
I have a band, the Silver Men, made up of these great NYC musicians that tour on the road with other bands and do studio work and write jingles and shit. They are all so talented. I wrote the songs in the show, and there are some songs on the soundtrack that aren’t in the movie that I wrote with the director, Liam Lynch, who is this genius guy.
Liam Lynch also directed some of Tenacious D’s short films and their “Tribute” video. Did you approach him or did he approach you?
We got kind of put together and met and I saw his stuff and was so excited at the notion of him wanting to do this, and then he did. Working with him was so fun and easy and inspiring and full of laughs. I just like to laugh and so does he.
What is I Want Someone To Eat Cheese With about?
The movie is about a comic actor in Chicago who struggles with his jobs, love, and his weight. I play his love interest, who works in an ice cream shop and fucks with his mind. Jeff Garlin wrote it and directed it and starred in it. He’s very talented. It’s a fun, funny, sweet movie.
Did HBO pick up the pilot you wrote with Larry Charles?
No. We wrote a pilot and HBO passed, then hired us the same day they passed on it to write another one, and it was so good, but they opted not to make it. ... Good story!
What were the shows about?
The first one was about a couple that breaks up ON September 11th, and the second one was about a comic and her friends and her life.
How did you feel about doing the mini-series Pilot Season seven years after the original movie?
I loved doing the mini series. It’s such perfect closure: We made a sequel to a movie nobody saw for a network nobody watches.
What’s your best memory from working on Mr. Show?
Shooting “Jeepers Creepers.” It was a take off of Jesus Christ Super Star and we all went to the desert to shoot it all day long. It was about 110 degrees out and we all just had a blast. It was a great day.
You often write for magazines. How do you get those gigs?
I mostly get them from editors emailing me and asking me. I’ve written for Esquire and Penthouse and BlackBook and Vice. I never want to do any of them because I’m lazy. But when they force me to, or I get a chance to email with Neil LaBute, I’m always glad I did. It’s like showering. You don’t want to take your clothes off. You don’t feel like getting wet. But then you do and when you get out you feel so good. Jesus Christ I need a shower. My hair is heavy.
The interview you did with Neil LaBute for BlackBook was on email, too. Why do you prefer email interviews?
Because I’m a bumbling idiot.
When did you decide to become a stand-up comic?
I’ve always wanted to be a comic. Since I was little. It was always just a given. I loved Woody Allen and Albert Brooks, but I was IN love with Steve Martin. I read in high school that his favorite artist was David Hockney, so all of a sudden that was my favorite artist. I bought a David Hockney calender and taped all the pictures from each month on my wall. Very very queer.
I got my start — well, there are so many kinds of starts. The first time I went on stage was when I was 17, at summer school in Boston. I went up at Stitches on open mic night. I remember I sang a song about being flat-chested. Then when I graduated high school I moved to New York City (from New Hampshire) and started doing open mics there and was still singing the song, not really putting together the fact that I now had breasts. This comic, Kevin Brennen [sic] (who I subsequently lost my virginity to) pulled me aside and said, “No one’s laughing at your song ’cause you HAVE tits.” He was a charmer. He was right, though. It was a hacky stupid song, anyway. I dropped it, lost my virginity, and all my jokes became about my newfound obsession — sex.
Do you do much stand-up lately?
I am so fucking lazy. Yeah, I still do stand-up a lot, but since shooting my concert movie, I feel like I need to write a whole new act. When I have a deadline — a roast or something, I’m able to write fast — but it’s hard to be your own boss in terms of jokes. Sometimes I get a burst of energy and tell myself to write some goddamn jokes and then I buckle down. And, like the shower, it always feels good.
Do you feel like the only way you can get noticed as a female comedian is to be offensive? Do you think about your gender in regards to your material?
No. I’m not strategizing. As a comic, the smartest thing to do is be funny. I don’t think about being a woman in terms of comedy. I mean, I have sexuality, and I am indeed a woman, but it doesn’t inform what I say or do, really. If that notion was in the front of my head, I’m sure it would, but it's just not in my head.
Have you always been offensive?
I’ve always said stuff that people may take as offensive. Yeah, I guess, honestly, yes. But I don’t think of myself that way. I think of myself as — oh, listen to me. This is what Corey Feldman is — a person who sees himself or defines himself one way, but is CLEARLY, comically another.
What were you like as a child?
I just did anything to make people laugh. Especially my family. I had one of those dads that thought it was HILARIOUS to teach his little girl swear words. He’d teach them to me, and I would say them and people would gasp and laugh. Once when I was three I was coloring, and my Nana came over to me and said, “Sarah, I made brownies!” and I told her to shove them up her ass. I barely remember it, but it’s a big family story. Poor Nana. I didn’t really know what I was saying, but I assumed it would be big laughs, but she just got pissed at my dad.
Were you popular in high school?
I was in the middle. All the cliques accepted me to a degree. I was the goofball. They called me a weirdo but still included me in stuff.
Your sister Susan is a feminist rabbi. Do you get into political or theological arguments with her?
No way. I am in awe of her. I learn from her. She’s one of my greatest resources. Plus she’s a great laugher.
What political party, if any, to you align yourself with?
I’m liberal. I’m a democrat. But I do believe that democrats are becoming hypocrites. We are not open-minded.
Do you believe in God?
No. But I find myself praying constantly.
What do you pray about?
I pray when I see dead animals in the street. I pray when someone I love may be real sick. I pray when disasters happen. I pray when I need one card to fill a straight.
Are you still dating Jimmy Kimmel?
Yes. He’s delicious and nutritious.
What do you do for fun?
Me and him? We play scrabble. Constantly. There is always a game going on. I go into each game knowing I’m going to win — how could I not? And then he kicks my ass.
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