Sarah Silverman Booed At London Show

US comedian Sarah Silverman was heckled on stage during her UK stand-up debut in London.

Fans, who had paid about £50 a ticket, slow hand clapped and shouted they wanted their money back after the star's short 40-minute set.

After the audience refused to leave, Silverman was forced to give a Q&A session as an encore after admitting she had no other material prepared.

The comedian has her own show on US cable TV network Comedy Central.

Unimpressed fans shouted "you're over-hyped Sarah" and "I've seen longer clips on YouTube", before the star told the audience to "go home" and the left the stage.

Reviewers from comedy websites and national newspapers were also left underwhelmed by Silverman's set at the Hammersmith Apollo, which "fizzled out" by the end.

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Read Daily Mail report:

Hailed as the 'world's hottest, most controversial comedian', Silverman made her full-length UK debut at London's Hammersmith Apollo last night in front of an audience that included Hollywood star Keanu Reeves.

The 37-year-old comedian charged £35 for a performance of less than an hour, where she appeared anxious and uncomfortable.

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Read The Times review of 2 stars:

She knows the limitations of her arrogant-ignorant persona. But she's not used to having to explain herself. As she stalked the stage, appearing to resent her crowd for wanting more, it was the eggiest end to a comedy show I've ever seen. Edging back to the wings with a mock-grandiose bow, it was the usual petulance but without the usual inverted commas. She blew it.

Comments

[LemonParty]

I'm confused by the complaints. "She wasn't very funny and her set wasn't long enough!"

Sounds like the joke from 'Annie Hall'; "The chicken at this restaurant is terrible--and such small portions!"

[Kevbo68]

What comedy show is worth £50 other than a Monty Python reunion?

[nhunter]

All Silverman's best material is in the Aristocrats and the trailer to her movie Jesus Is Magic.

I felt like booing and walking out after sitting through that.

[bsc]

She is really not that funny. Her jokes are weird and kind of gross, but not funny. I am a fan of FamilyGuy, Arrested Development, etc and her humor is lost on me.

[kristah]

I love those shows too...
its not that I dont 'get' her humour, its just not funny.

[ahoyhoy]

I saw her the first time many years ago on her one-time SNL appearance (She was let go rather quickly from that show), and her entire schtick was "cute girl says ribald things." That was probably 10 years ago. Her "comedy" hasn't changed at all. Just whiny and annoying as hell. Maybe she'll disappear when the public finally decides that repetition is not comedy.

Hey, I'm cute and say "f*ck" often as a transitive verb. Where's my t.v. show?

[realwoman]

Did anyone catch her on Olbermann the other night? She talked about how when she met Vice-President Gore she had just smoked pot . Wow!! Hahaha, how funny. Her parents must have been so proud.

[piquet]

I don't blame them...eve­n though I'm about as open minded as they come. I find her gig very awkward and uncomfortable to observe.
Here is the deal England...­we'll take Sarah back if you take that equally untalented Russell Brand back. Talk about awkward. THAT guy sucks!

[Sparty1]

Well for my app. $75, she'd better be on stage a lot longer than 40 minutes. She's not all that funny for those prices anyway. I would've requested my money back as well.

[Monrocsol]

THIS IS NOT THE YEAR OF THE SARAH'S. NOT SILVERMAN, NOT PALIN!

[bsc]

clever- how long did it take you to think of that?

[jstowe100]

She and Jimmy Kimmel are two of the most naturally unfunny people I've ever seen. They try, but when you've got no talent, you've got to try harder.

[NYRalf]

Thank you. Its insane that they have risen to the level they have to this point.

[SoundGraveOnlooker]

To:mamcat. I'm British. I don't think its because we have a more sophisticated sense of humour. Its just that from the moment she stepped off the plane, the late night show she appeared on and the apollo gig she seemed so unprepared and I think we just felt so short-changed. I'm sure she is "funny" but I just hope she learnt from this and she is not put off by us Brits and comes back! ..........­.....prepa­red of course.

[harrymellon]

Poor Sarah...gi­ve her a break.

[bsc]

Whatever- you dont charge people an arm and a leg and then come unprepared- think about if you did that at work- you would lose your job. same thing here.

[mamacat]

This won't go over well, but, I think the Brits tend to have a more highly developed sense of humor than we do over here.

[renatam]

Correct. And, they are attracted to broader material that has universal themes.

[zona9]

Typical self hating antiAmerican liberal. Yep, those Brits sure are more sophisticated than Americans. They are, after all, the people who gave the world Bennie Hill and Mr. Bean. The world trembles in awe at the high minded sophistication of grabbing a woman's breast while making a honking sound or spending 20 minutes with your tie caught in your fly. We bow down to your highly developed comic genius, Brits. Mamacat says so.

[DixieChic]

For heaven's sake, PLEASE quit making her point. Criticizing what you can't *get* is clearly not helping your case.

[jstowe100]

Very funny and witty! In fact, reminds me of British humor. ;-)

[piquet]

news to zona9...Am­ericans are not perfect and definitely not number one. I believe our quality of life is like 12th in the world.

Don't blame the "liberals". I have yet to see anything creative or funny coming from a conservative mind. I think McCain/Palin are on their like on their 10th theme song because all of the good ones have asked them to stop using their stuff.

Just because you people are hopelessly insecure and have to look towards a dim witted hot librarian to "get charged" don't blame England for gassing what we seem to think is funny.

[wolfgangmo]

I am not sure I agree but given that humor is based on what you understand I would say that the british palate of humor is broader based than here in the colonies likely given the fact that they are better educated and have more time to drink.

[idreamwideyed]

i didnt know that basing your act on poop jokes and acting like a 12 year old boy could land you the title of most controversial comedian in the world...

at least in London they realize that she isnt funny.

[drew3000]

Really? they "realize" she isn't funny? They did shell out £50 to get in. Over priced maybe, but what do you want, funny, or someone running out the clock because some people can't figure out how to entertain themselves for the evening?

[wolfgangmo]

$2 dollars per minute per person. I used to be a pro musician and have worked with good performers in theater, music, film, and comedy.

PROFESSIONALS have more integrity than to show up unprepared. She should stick to TV where her skills are appropriate and where she has a huge support staff and the ability to "take" it until she gets it right. She obviously doesn't have the chops or the professionalism to do live shows.

[EmotionDetector]

I just don't find her funny. I watched about the first 10 minutes of her "Sarah Silverman Show" on Comedy Central. 10 minutes was enough.

That said, I think the Great Schlep she put together (to appeal to the Jewish vote in FL) was a great idea.

[Marshall Lucky]

No wonder she ran back to Jimmy Kimmel!

[cutandpost]

she should of just memorized a palin stump speech (with the accent)

[cutandpost]

where's the love?

many of you act like you never had a bad day on the job.

remember the schlep video....?

so what if she is imperfect and human.....­geez...are­n't we?

i know i am

[zona9]

The schlep video was dumb. And, McCain supporter and uber mench-the master- trashed silverman in a response vid.

[Alic4]

Wow, that guy I've never heard of must have really done a great job trashing Sarah Silverman on youtube, heh heh. Wait... why do we need to attack comedians? Oh right -- you're a hate-filled right winger, and it's not your fault, because that is, after all, all you know.

The hilarious thing about dogs like you attacking comedians who have made themselves famous on their own merits and have decided to do something political, is that you always reference other comedians who are to you much funnier (and of course it is merely a coincidence that they haven't been speaking truth to power, and drawn your hatred.)

But the sad thing is that these comedians you like come in two types:

The first type, is the reactionary comedian (youtube response, for example) who is made famous not by their career in comedy but simply by the fact that they are willing to give a voice to the resentment people like you have inside themselves toward those who disagree with them. These people are not actually comedians, any more than Rush Limbaugh is a comedian.

The second type is a comedian who you love for their comedy and don't resent for as long as they avoid saying anything political.

But here's the rub: Even those comedians are actually Democrats.

[Alic4]

(continued­...)

This leads to strange situations where someone like Chevy Chase can be loved for his comedy twenty years ago and simultaneously reviled for being a "washed up hack" nowadays, despite the fact that he hasn't been making any bad movies. He's retired! The real reason why you want to have it both ways, of course, is that when he makes his political views known, you immediately focus your hatred not just on the man, but on his comedy and career, on every part of him you can.

The absurd thing is that Chevy was a Democrat way back at the height of his career as well, and drew just as much hatred back then; but maybe the past isn't as important to you as spreading your resentment around in the present. Understandable. Live for today. Keep the hate alive for as long as you can my friend, keep the hate alive.