Just in case you missed her when she was in the New Yorker, the New York Times (twice), Slate (twice), Radar, Rolling Stone, on the cover of Heeb magazine and, of course, in Salon, Sarah Silverman is the race-obsessed, potty-mouthed, sexy, Jewish comedian who stars in the new movie "Jesus Is Magic." And, yes, she dates Jimmy Kimmel. Since there's clearly no use in resisting Silvermania, just submit and enjoy these clips. Here are cuts from the movie and "You're Gonna Die Soon" (Real Audio, 1:05), one of its cheery songs. And here she is on NPR's "Fresh Air" (Real Audio, 25:42) discussing how her father taught her to swear as a toddler, how once upon a time she was offended by racist jokes, and how her bed-wetting influenced her comedy. "The Sound of Young America" (see last week's Longer Listen) was on the Silverman bandwagon early -- in this longer (Real Audio, 26:21) of two interviews on the show, she reveals that her father encouraged her to drop out of NYU to pursue a career in stand-up and comments on notoriously tough New York audiences. And in the shorter (Real Audio, 20:11) one, she talks about a table full of black men at a show in Tempe, Ariz., who didn't exactly appreciate her humor.
In both those interviews, host Jesse Thorn asks Silverman to rank five random items according to whatever criteria she decides -- not a terribly enlightening exercise. But this clip (Wave Audio, 24:50) from Hollywood Elsewhere, an industry blog by Jeffrey Wells, sets the standard for awkwardness. Wells has bravely offered up the raw audio of his recent interview with Silverman in a hotel conference room in Boston. You can hear her yawn as Wells talks about some pasta that made his stomach hurt, asks "Chris Farley Show"-style questions, and requests that Silverman tell him what he's already read elsewhere -- all the sorts of things that most journalists scrupulously edit out of transcripts. You'll also hear Silverman talk about the process of integrating new material into her routine and how her infamous appearance in "The Aristocrats" was done in one very casual take. Finally, check out these segments from WNYC Radio's "The Next Big Thing" in which Jonathan Katz pretends to be a call-in host getting to the bottom of questions such as whether you would take a collect call from the pope (Real Audio, 9:16) and whether we should institute Middle Name Day (Real Audio, 7:23). Silverman, along with Al Franken and Tom Leopold, is one of his frequent "callers."
-- Ira Boudway
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