Okay I just watched Sarah Silverman

[Horse with no Name]

and am currently very disturbed...

[AlCzervik]

1. is this the one where she--spoiler alert---

sleeps with God?

[Horse with no Name]

2. Yes.

Very very disturbing concept.

[AlCzervik]

5. that seems to be her bag you know "oh that Sarah Silverman, she's just outrageous!"

"whats she gonna do next, a show about her have a one nighter with God!"

meh,i'm agnostic on her.

[Strawman]

20. my sentiments exactly

her outrageousness just doesn't do anything all that funny most of the time.

some of the narcissistic bits she does (like where she makes out with herself in the mirror in Jesus is Magic) are kinda funny, but I'm underwhelmed by her work mostly.

Agnostic is a good word for it.

[muriel_volestrangler]

35. Was it a continuous show, or just a sketch?

I saw a 2 minute clip on the Comedy Central website (when they wake up the next day), and while I didn't find it offensive (but then, I'm an atheist), I didn't find it funny either. If that was part of a longer storyline, then perhaps there's humour there (though it's not guaranteed); if that was meant to stand on its own, then it did look more like "oohh, look at me, I have 'outrageous' ideas, never mind if I can make them funny".

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

3. i don't get why she's considered clever

to me, she's just a smarmy loudmouth and a bigot, who gets away with racial/sexist jokes by being a cute girl

[Horse with no Name]

7. That was my take

Everything she did was offensive.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

8. yet I hear so many left-leaning people enjoy her

i'm baffled. she's just a perky version of andrew dice clay.

[Horse with no Name]

9. In the one show

she offended blacks, Viet Nam vets, Asians, Christians, and crippled kids.
It baffles me too.
I won't be watching again.

[razors edge]

16. Thats her thing,

Makes money and gets free publicity. Drudge had a headline on his shite today that didn't mention her name but I knew it was her show.

I am no place near religious and I don't care for her show either, it's an assault on good taste.

[entanglement]

30. Liberals who want to hear racist jokes go to Sarah Silverman, IMHO

Because it is somehow more acceptable. She's a talentless bigot who gets away with a lot of crap under the pretext of playing a 'role'.

[NashVegas]

54. Eww

There was a thread on her in GD the other day. I mentioned that I didn't find her funny, and did find her offensive.

But it was two years ago I saw her schtick, and couldn't remember why.

Thanks to everyone in this thread who reminded me.

I was less offended by Michael Richards attempt to channel Bill Hicks than I was with her crap.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xbJ8QhE8Us

[derby378]

11. I can't say that I'm a "fan" of Sarah's, but I think I get her

She's just perky enough and cute enough, but she contrasts her appearance and demeanor with the weirdest lines. If you saw her performance in The Aristocrats, she took what was supposed to be a hopelessly dirty joke and turned it into something much more disturbing.

Sarah Silverman is like those velociraptors from the first Jurassic Park movie, the ones who kept testing the electric fences looking for weaknesses, never testing the same place twice.

[Horse with no Name]

12. What a comparison

Those raptors were creepy.

[ChickMagic]

39. Our cat likes her show

She's not to my taste, but the cat can't seem to get enough of her.

[Digit]

15. You think she is cute?

No talent, no humor, and no, not cute.
I wondered actually how she got the spot...I expect it won't last long.

[El Fuego]

42. I think she's scary looking.

:scared:

The words "demon spawn" come to mind.

[Colobo]

4. I'm not religious, but

In fact, I'm, ideologically speaking, very anti-religion (unless you consider humanism a religion). However, I can understand your feelings and you have a right to be offended.

Respect goes both ways...

[Kelvin Mace]

6. *shrug*

That was at least funny. Her obsession (like many comedians these days) with scat humor is juvenile.

[aikoaiko]

10. She's so hot...

...and she has a potty mouth. tres sexy.

[OwnedByFerrets]

13. She does satire..........

and she mocks bigotry and ethnic or religious group stereotypes by ironically embracing them. Is it disturbing? Yes! Is it meant to be. Absolutely!!

[Horse with no Name]

14. Is it satire or bigotry?

I "get" satire. Stephen Colbert is a master at it.
However, her "satire" isn't biting. It is not done well.

[Richard Steele]

25. I LOVE satire. And if that's really what her show is, then she SUCKS at it.

Personally, I don't see any "satire" in it. I think the "satire"
claim is just an EXCUSE to carelessly slap together a bunch of
mean-spirited insults and juvenile toilet humor and call it "comedy".

[IntravenousDemilo]

33. I love being disturbed, especially by comedy.

My theory is that you can tell a lot more about people by what they think is not funny than by what they think is funny, because when they're offended by something, you can see what their limits are and what cherished beliefs they hold. I have great respect for comics, and artists in general, who find open wounds and prod at them with a pointed stick. Warm and fuzzy is kind of boringly harmless, like Bob Hope. Artists have to push the envelope, even if it occasionally means being downright offensive or completely bewildering. I enjoy Sarah Silverman in the same way I enjoy Gilbert Gottfried and used to enjoy Andy Kaufman (especially when he did his Tony Clifton character).

[NashVegas]

55. I Don't Think She Is a Good Test Case

Especially compared to Andy. He had enough other characters that you knew Tony was simply that. What other characters does Silverman have?

If you want disturbing, seek out some vids of Bill Hicks old "goatboy" routine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JQIoc2FCvc

[IChing]

17. It is very dark humor or black comedy.

It is over the top with her selfless, myopic, self centered, racist, egotistical, character she plays.

I think it is brilliant, but some won't get the message and confuse Sarah Silverman with the character she portrays.
There are no sacred cows....

[Hissyspit]

19. You are correct, of course. There are no sacred cows.

We usually leave the irony-impairment to the freepers.

[Horse with no Name]

22. Your statement is offensive

I am not "irony-impaired".
Her satire just isn't funny to me. So now I am a freeper?

[Van23]

37. I agree...

you're not a Freeper for disliking her. I'm as green/progressive as they come, and I don't think she's funny.

The stand-up stuff Woody Allen did back in the 1970s--now THAT'S funny!!

[knowbody0]

21. finally, someone who feels as I do!

Have you seen her stand up showtime special? She is amazing.

[Hissyspit]

18. IT'S CALLED IRONY

It's a key component of satire. Her character is a parody of the completely self-absorbed, which describes most Americans. She is not a bigot. That's ridiculous.

She's hilarious.

[knowbody0]

23. yep

[countmyvote4real]

24. Thank you for that clarification.

Irony is often disturbing. That's the little bit of extra truth buried in a layer beyond the superficial.

I did not see this particular episode, but from what I have seen of Sarah Silverman, I am amazed by boundaries that she will push. Consequently, I'm neither surprised or offended.

[sasquatch]

26. So Bill Hicks died relatively unknown and this trollup has her own show

:banghead:
Sometimes the world never-ever makes any sense.

[Zookeeper]

28. Um...it's spelled "trollop," and why are you so intensely...

hostile to her? You made some disturbingly hostile comments about her on previous threads. How do you know she's a trollop? And if she were, why would it matter? Maybe Bill Hicks was a male trollop. Maybe he didn't get his own show because he wasn't funny....:shrug:

[sasquatch]

43. I'm hostile towards her because she sucks yet she always falls up

She's like a comedy turd that never flushes no matter how many times we flush the bowl. I hated her on her "Tough Crowd w/Colin Quinn" days, I hated her after that and I'll hate her unfunny ass tomorrow. She's the female version of Dane Cook.

[Hissyspit]

31. I think that Bill Hicks would LOVE Sarah Silverman.

And celebrate that she has this show. And I've listened to and watched a lot of Bill Hicks.

[sasquatch]

44. Bill Hicks would put one in her brainstem if he ever saw her

I've seen and listened to a ton of Bill Hicks and Bill Hicks would with unto her the same fate that he wished unto Jay Leno.

[NashVegas]

57. I Was Thinking Much the Same Thing

I found a Goatboy video (posted the link in an above post) and he starts out talking about Basic Instinct. To paraphrase: "Ooh, it's controversial ..." "No, it's a piece of shit."

[Zookeeper]

27. She is playing a character....

and it's very courageous for a woman (especially a pretty woman) to play such a selfish, egotistical, non-compassionate, unlikeable person. Notice that she is always trying to win *her sister* back instead of a man. A character that doesn't seem to care what men think about her...horrors! No wonder so many men don't like her.

Silverman is spot-on in her parody of the selfishness and stupidity of the human products of our popular culture (and some of it is timeless human weakness).

She's not a racist, homophobe, etc. It's a fictional show, with a fictional character. Do you think Bela Lugosi was really a vampire?

[smirkymonkey]

60. I have a feeling that if she were a man and had the exact same

schtick, there wouldn't be nearly the level of hostility toward her. I actually find her quite funny - to me she is mocking a certain type of person that deserves mocking. True, she's mean, but I think she makes us all feel a little bit superior because no matter how self-absorbed and inapproprate we are, very few people sink to the level that her character does.

[Zookeeper]

61. Absolutely!

It's brave to play such a selfish, shallow character, especially for such a pretty woman. Her character shows zero subservience or interest in pleasing anyone (besides her sister), much less men. I think she is very threatening to a certain kind of man.

You are right. Her character reminds us of our own weaknesses, but reassures us that we could be a LOT worse!

:hi:

[Name removed]

29. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Robeson]

32. The only thing I've seen her in was a Star Trek Voyager....

...episode. Other than that, all I can say is that she's very pretty, and I'll try to catch one of her new episodes on her new series, so that I can have an opinion about it.

[ContraBass Black]

45. Which episode?

[Robeson]

51. It was a 2 Parter....

...Called "Future's End". It was in 1996 - over 10 years ago - and she looks exactly the same. I'd say she's aged pretty well...:-)

[Catfight]

34. I don't see the difference from her and ann coutler. Except sarah has to

be censored on cable and ann get's to state even more outrageous things and be on Fox. Yet the freepers love ann who says pretty much the same thing.

[frankenforpres]

40. here's the difference

ann is serious


silverman is doing an act that everyone knows is a joke (apparently not everyone, i guess)

[Pithlet]

41. Some are aware, and still don't think she's funny.

That type of humor isn't automatically funny. It takes talent to pull it off. I personally don't think she has the talent, because I saw her act and didn't crack a smile. Humor is subjective, and neither side is right.

[Van23]

36. I rented

"Jesus Is Magic" a couple months ago. I got about half-way through it and turned it off.

Not funny...

[frankenforpres]

38. a very convenient truth

http://youtube.com/watch?v=HMliLih1jsY

[Jimbo S]

46. I watched her show for the first time last night.

Still not sure what to think.

Maybe a Seinfeld wannabe, but not up to his level?

[Burma Jones]

47. I think she's quite hot, but her act does get old fast.......

But, sassy semites make me wild......

[A-Schwarzenegger]

48. Andrew Dice Clay said she was the best thing since

something or other, I forget.

[NashVegas]

58. I had pancakes for breakfast.

You should've come over.

[Deja Q]

49. She plays a role not unlike Archie Bunker, but she ain't no Carroll O'Connor...

not in terms of acting ability, which is where it's needed most.

She comes across being serious; even though the character is supposed to be an Archie-clone.

[trof]

50. I've posted this before, but I know Sarah.

She and my daughter were high school friends and still see each other once in a great while.

They were in a couple of high school productions together. I particularly remember "Sweet Charity".
Sarah made a great hooker.
So did my daughter.
Oh dear...
:blush:

Last year she was doing a gig in Boston she invited my daughter and her husband (also a high school friend) out to dinner with her and her mom and to the show afterwards. They had a great time, mainly talking about old times.

My daughter isn't quite in tune to Sarah's kind of humor, but says "Well, you know Sarah..."
:eyes:

That's what many of us say who knew her back when.
She is probably the funniest kid I have ever known, but even back then it was an off-kilter, zany humor.

She reminds me a little of Don Rickles. To me, his 'insult humor' was funny for about the first five minutes and then it got kind of old.

Sarah is definitely a shock jock of standup and I guess there must be a market for that. It's just not to my taste.

Please understand that it IS a schtick. It's a role she plays and evidently does it very convincingly for some of us.

She really is a very sweet and caring woman and she'd probably kill me if she knew I told you that.

Sorry to blow your cover, Sarah.
;-)

[Fran Kubelik]

52. Oh, that is too bad.

I finally saw her special a couple of weeks ago - I laughed my ass off. I am a Christian, but oddly enough I was not offended by her act...I just thought she was hilarious.

[mac56]

53. Wanted to like her show, with all my heart.

Found it tiring and strident, like she was trying WAAAY too hard to be outrageous.

Another poster compared her to a shock jock. I think that's apt.

[ReadTomPaine]

56. I don't care for Sarah, but her sister Laura was great on "Dr Katz, Professional Therapist"

as the acerbic receptionist. I watched an episode of Sarah's show just to catch some of Laura again.

I just loved "Dr. Katz" - great vehicle for stand up style comedy.

[Shakespeare]

59. Wow--I've LOVE to know what got deleted.

I'd responded (politely, thank you very much) to someone who said "smart people understand her" by pointing out that it's possible to bet smart AND "get" her and still not find her terribly funny. Dunno what happened next, but all that's left now is "deleted subthread."

I always miss the good stuff. :-(

[noshenanigans]

62. She doesn't write her own stuff for the most part...

I've heard from people who knows these things that she doesn't write her own stuff and even started out by having Dave Attell right everything for her. That in and of itself makes me dislike her. I know lots of comedians who write for each other and write on awards shows and all these good jobs that pay my rent, but it really bugs me that she fauxs being so "edgy". If you want good comedy, turn off that dreck and check out David Cross, Andy Kindler, Jarred Grode, Paul F Tompkins, Maria Bamford, Jimmy Pardo, Patton Oswalt (love him and he's smart as a whip), Aziz Ansari, Paul Sheer, Doug Benson, or one of the 200 way more talented comics working really hard and not trying to just say "I Pooed!" and giggle.

I actually get really frustrated because she's gotten really far because the nerdy boys that run this business think she's hot. I wish I was joking.

[Thickasabrick]

63. I like Sarah's show. Took me awhile....but it grew on me. The

one comedian I really can't tolerate is Carlos Mencia. He isn't playing a character so he really is an obnoxious, offensive jerk.

[live love laugh]

64. I like Sarah too. She is so offensive, it is funny and sometimes disturbing but

I get it for the most part. I guess I watch because I can't imagine what horrible thing she will do or say next.

Mencia, on the other hand, has said some racist things and though he picks out all races at various times, I found him to be offensive. He seems to stray from comedy to give his personal opinion about different stereotypical issues and while he can be funny, the racial stuff he does turns me off. Sarah's racial stuff doesn't turn me off because it all comes from her character's overwhelming narcissism--she attacks everybody to bolster her ego.