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Sarah Silverman's act is starting to bug me
Not too long ago, I was one of the legions of comedy nerds who thought that Sarah Silverman's act was one of the most brilliant out there in the world of stand-up. Think about it: "She's a pretty girl, but she says all of these offensive things. Look how cute she's being; she doesn't even know how bad she's being!" Etc. When her stand-up act started getting attention a couple of years ago, and especially after her Jesus Is Magic movie hit theaters, her approach to comedy seemed fresh and funny.Now, two short years and a million articles -- fifty percent of which examined the unlikely relationship between her and Jimmy Kimmel -- later, I'm really starting to get sick of Silverman's act. Why? Because we know what it's going to be. "How offensive can she get? Ooh, let's see her look blankly at the audience and wonder why they're laughing so hard!" That's all there is, and I don't see it getting any deeper.
On Thursday, Sarah's long-planned Comedy Central series, The Sarah Silverman Program, debuts, and I plan on watching it, mainly because I'm hoping that she realized that being sweetly offensive isn't going to be enough to carry six episodes, and that she adds other aspects to her comic persona. She's a talented woman, which she's shown to audiences over the last ten years or so. But, looking at the highlights, I'm getting the feeling that her character is going to be the same one who uttered lines like, "I was raped by a doctor. Which is, you know, so bittersweet for a Jewish girl."
Other comics have one-note acts: Don Rickles has been making a mint for the last forty years with his insult humor, and Lisa Lampanelli is now making a mint by doing Rickles' act and mixing in racial jokes. Rodney Dangerfield's "I don't get no respect" schtick is considered genius by many. I never got sick of any of them.
But that points out another reason why Silverman's act is starting to wear on me: I think she can do so much more. She's at a point in her career where she can do an act with real pointed and funny observations about life and society and the human condition. That's what I see in her humor. But she continues to say stuff that, instead of making people think, just makes them say "I can't believe she said that!" Even Howard Stern or Opie & Anthony know that shock humor only goes so far; that's why both shows have a good amount of funny social observation included, as well.
So, what do you folks think? Are you sick of Sarah yet? Still think she's brilliant? Or never liked her in the first place? Let me know in the comments.
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