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Sarah Silverman

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Sarah Silverman
Sarah Silverman at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Birth nameSarah Kate Silverman
Born (1970-12-01) December 1, 1970 (age 53)
United States Bedford, New Hampshire
MediumStand-up, television
Years active1993 – Present
Subject(s)American culture, bigotry, racism, sexism

Sarah Kate Silverman (born December 1, 1970) is an American comedian, writer and actress. Although usually credited as Sarah Silverman, she is sometimes credited by her nickname Big S or Sarah 'Big S' Silverman.[1] Her comedy deals with topical humor and satire, societal taboos, and controversial topics such as racism, sexism, and religion.

Her comedy acts are sometimes performed from a caricatured or stereotypical Jewish-American princess perspective, in which, according to Village Voice writer Michael Musto, she mocks bigotry and ethnic or religious stereotypes by endorsing them ironically.[2] Silverman stars in and produces the The Sarah Silverman Program, which debuted February 1, 2007, on Comedy Central.[3]

Life and career

Career

Silverman received national exposure after earning a role on the 1993–94 season of Saturday Night Live. She was a writer and featured player at the time, but was fired after one season because she wrote only one sketch that survived to dress rehearsal, with none ever airing. Bob Odenkirk, a former SNL writer who knew her from her stand-up act in Los Angeles, explained why she was fired:[4] "I could see how it wouldn't work at SNL because she's got her own voice, she's very much Sarah Silverman all the time. She can play a character but she doesn't disappear into the character—- she makes the character her." Silverman claims being fired by SNL in an undignified manner (via fax), upset her greatly. The situation was parodied when she appeared on The Larry Sanders Show episode "The New Writer", in which she plays Sander's new staff writer, whose jokes are not used because of chauvinism (and associated bias of the male chief comedy writer), who favors the jokes of his male co-writers. She had a recurring role on Larry Sanders for its last several seasons.

Silverman worked on the HBO sketch comedy show Mr. Show with Bob and David, where she was a featured performer. She made guest appearances on such programs as the 1997 Seinfeld episode "The Money", the two-part time-travel episode "Future's End" of Star Trek: Voyager and as a series regular on the TV show Greg the Bunny (2002), playing serious characters, as well as the voice of character "Hadassah Guberman" on the salacious puppet television comedy Crank Yankers. She has also had small parts in films such as There's Something About Mary, Say It Isn't So, School of Rock, The Way of the Gun, Overnight Delivery, Screwed, Heartbreakers, Evolution, School for Scoundrels and Rent, playing a mixture of comic and serious roles. On November 11, 2005, her stand-up comedy act (one-woman show) was released as a feature film, Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic. As part of the publicity campaign surrounding the film, Silverman made several high profile appearances, including online in Slate, as the cover subject of Heeb magazine, and performing on the Comedy Central roasts of Pamela Anderson and Hugh Hefner.

She was a guest star in a second season episode of the USA cable program Monk, playing an obsessed fan of a fictional television detective. The show therefore featured a good deal of meta-humor, of which she had a core part. She returned as the same character in the sixth season premiere. According to the audio commentary on the Clerks 2 DVD, director Kevin Smith offered her the role that eventually went to Rosario Dawson, but she turned it down out of fear of being typecast in "girlfriend roles." However, she told Smith the role was "really funny" and mentioned that if the role of Randal Graves was being offered to her she "would do it in a heartbeat".

On Jimmy Kimmel Live, Silverman parodied sketches from Chappelle's Show, from the perspective of what would happen if she played Rick James, Tyrone, or the Pilot Boy Productions-like logo called 'Pilot Girl Productions'. This segment is based on a popular rumor that Silverman was a planned replacement for Dave Chappelle after the apparent demise of his popular television show Chappelle's Show.

Silverman made the cover of London's March 12, 2006 Sunday Observer magazine with an article titled "If women aren't funny, how come the world's hottest, most controversial comedian is female?"[5]

In 2005, she played a therapist in a skit session with Josh Homme of the band Queens of the Stone Age. This interview was on the Queens of the Stone Age bonus DVD of their album Lullabies to Paralyze. In 2006, she placed #50 in the annual Maxim magazine List.[6] In 2007, she placed #29 and appeared on the cover of Maxim's Hot 100 List issue.

On June 3, 2007, Silverman hosted the MTV Movie Awards. During her opening act, she commented on Paris Hilton's then-upcoming jail sentence with Paris Hilton being in attendance: "In a couple of days, Paris Hilton is going to jail [...] As a matter of fact, I heard that to make her feel more comfortable in prison, the guards are going to paint the bars to look like penises. I think it is wrong, too. I just worry she is going to break her teeth on those things."

On September 9, 2007, Silverman appeared at the MTV Video Music Awards. Subsequently Silverman mocked Britney Spears following her comeback performance, saying she's "Wow, she is amazing. I mean, she is 25 years old, and she has already accomplished everything she’s going to accomplish in her life. It’s mind-blowing," and called Britney's children "the most adorable mistakes you will ever see".[7]

Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic

On November 11, 2005, Silverman's concert movie, Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic was released. Based on her one-woman show of the same name, it was directed by Liam Lynch and distributed by Roadside Attractions.

Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 'fresh' rating of 64% with 54 positive reviews and 30 negative ones, with the "cream of the crop" giving it a rating of 67%.

It made $124,475 on its opening weekend, showing on seven screens. The box office performance led to an expanded release in as many as 57 theaters, resulting in a box office take of more than $1.3 million.[8] The movie released on DVD on June 6, 2006, with an official soundtrack released on the same day. The soundtrack featured songs in the movie, some of her standup from the movie, and some previously unreleased songs.[9]

The Sarah Silverman Program

Silverman's own sitcom, The Sarah Silverman Program, debuted on Comedy Central on February 1, 2007. It is similar to the popular The Larry Sanders Show in that it presents a fictionalized version of the actress.[10]

The show proved to be a ratings success, scoring the highest premiere ratings that a Comedy Central show had in three years, with 1.8 million viewers and the highest 18–49 rating of the night on cable.

Controversies

Sarah Silverman with Jesus Dress Up magnets, April 28, 2006.

Silverman caused a brief controversy after using the ethnic slur "chink" in an interview on the July 11, 2001, episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien. In the interview, Silverman explained that a friend had advised her on how to avoid jury duty by writing a racial slur on the selection form, "something inappropriate, like 'I hate chinks'." However, Silverman said that she ultimately decided that she did not want to be thought of as a racist, so she said, "I wrote 'I love chinks' – and who doesn't?" Silverman said that the joke satirizes the racist thought process. Guy Aoki, co-founder and head of the Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA), objected to her use of the slur, saying that NBC's airing of it was inexcusable.[11] NBC and O'Brien issued an apology, but Silverman did not, later appearing on Politically Incorrect on July 26, and August 22, 2001. During the former episode, actress Kelly Hu stated that she understood the point of the joke, and did not object to it, and Silverman questioned Aoki's sincerity, accusing him of exploiting the opportunity for publicity.[12] During the latter episode, Aoki appeared with Silverman, and stated that he did not accept Silverman's explanation, saying that it was not successful satire, that she should have substituted "chink" with "Chinese person", and that comedians should consult with groups such as his before performing such material.[13] Silverman stated in an interview on NPR's Fresh Air that she was asked to repeat the joke on Politically Incorrect, among other places, but she eventually felt compelled to drop the joke from her act because she felt it was becoming stale. [9]

Silverman has since turned the complaint into grist for her stand-up act, saying that the experience helped teach her the important lesson that racism is bad: "And I mean bad, like in that black way."

Personal life

Silverman talked about having dated Dave Attell on one of her appearances on the Howard Stern radio show. Silverman was also romantically linked with Colin Quinn during her Saturday Night Live career, which is referred to humorously by both parties. In her first appearance on the Stern show in June 2001, she said she was dating someone named Tom who wrote for SNL.

During a Rolling Stone interview Sarah Silverman joked: "I didn't lose my virginity until I was twenty-six. Nineteen vaginally, but twenty-six what my boyfriend calls 'the real way.'" Since 2002, Silverman has been in a relationship with Jimmy Kimmel, host of Jimmy Kimmel Live. It is a relationship she refers to in some of her comic material:

"I'm Jewish, but I wear this Saint Christopher medal sometimes; my boyfriend is Catholic — but you know … it was cute the way he gave it to me. He said if it doesn't burn a hole through my skin it will protect me."[4]

On the Comedy Central Roast for Hugh Hefner in 2001 -

" Jimmy Kimmel, everyone. He's fat and has no charisma. Watch your back, Danny Aiello!"

Silverman is a fan of Jenny Lewis and appeared in one of Lewis's music videos. She also is a fan of comedian Steve Martin and got a lot of inspiration from him while growing up.[5]

Silverman is very open about her lifelong battle with clinical depression, crediting her freedom from attacks of emotional despair to her use of prescription Zoloft. Silverman has said that she does not consume alcohol, because it nauseates her.[5] Silverman says she does not want to get married until same-sex couples are able to.[14] She also says she doesn't want to have biological children to avoid the chance that they might inherit her depression.[15] She enjoys playing internet Scrabble and one of her regular opponents is Alyssa Milano, who lives in the same building.[16]

On The Howard Stern Show, she admitted to struggling with bedwetting when she was a teen.[17] She said the last time she wet her bed was when she was fired from Saturday Night Live.[18] [9]

She credits comedian Tig Notaro as one of her best friends in The Advocate[19]

Filmography

Features:

Short Subjects:

Television work

References

  1. ^ Sarah Silverman at the IMDB
  2. ^ Musto, Michael; "Sarah Silverman is My Kind of Cunt"; Village Voice; January 24, [2007]; Pages 16–20
  3. ^ "Comedy Central's Silverman Spells Ratings Gold". Mediaweek. Retrieved 2007-02-06.
  4. ^ a b Questions for Sarah Silverman, The New York Times Magazine January 21, 2007
  5. ^ a b c If women aren't funny, how come the world's hottest, most controversial comedian is female? Article at the Guardian Observer. Retrieved February 16, 2007
  6. ^ Maxim onlin (2006). "Maxim 2006 Hot 100". Slide show (in 2007). Maxim onlin. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  7. ^ Britney Spears mocked by Sarah Silverman Sept 9, 2007
  8. ^ Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic (2005) Box Office Mojo
  9. ^ a b c Gross, Terry (November 9, 2005). "Sarah Silverman: 'Jesus Is Magic'". Fresh Air. Retrieved 2007-06-21. Comedian Sarah Silverman is known for delivering closely observed social commentary in a disarmingly politically incorrect style. Her new movie, Jesus Is Magic, is based on an act she polished in New York and Los Angeles. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  10. ^ tvsquad.com article on The Sarah Silverman Program
  11. ^ IMDB news blurb on the Conan O’Brien incident
  12. ^ Politically Incorrect; July 26, 2001
  13. ^ Politically Incorrect; August 22, 2001
  14. ^ Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic (2005)
  15. ^ Almost nothing is off-limits for Sarah Silverman November 14, 2005
  16. ^ Howard Stern Show News Archives at marksfriggin.com, Sarah Silverman and Scrabble
  17. ^ Hancock, Noelle. (15 May 2007) Sarah Silverman's Depression Confession Us Weekly. Issue 642. pg.10. Accessed 29 May 2007.
  18. ^ Howard Stern Show News Archives at marksfriggin.com, Sarah Silverman and bed-wetting
  19. ^ The Advocate: March 13, 2007.Retrieved May 18, 2007.

Sources


Wikiquote has quotations related to Sarah Silverman.
Preceded by MTV Movie Awards host
2007 		Succeeded by
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