How Long Can Sarah Silverman Last?

Sarah Silverman has been somewhere around almost-stardom for a decade and a half now, honing her adorably filthy persona until she finally broke through with a memorable turn in The Aristocrats and her own concert film Jesus is Magic in 2005, and finally a Comedy Central TV show in 2007. Oh, and she's Jimmy Kimmel's girlfriend, and thus is half of a bona fide Hollywood couple - albeit one in which both members are likely to laugh at fart jokes. Now that she's absolutely everywhere you look, it's worth looking closer. (Her physical appearance doesn't exactly discourage one from doing so.) Is she as funny as her exposure warrants? Or is she Dane Cook with breasts: cutesy, safe, and tired?

There's no question that Sarah Silverman is cute. MC Paul Barman sang of his lust for her back in 2002 in a song entitled "Cock Mobster," saying, "I'm sure to spill sperm in/Sarah Silverman." Her turn in Jeff Garlin's recent "I Want Someone To Eat Cheese With" largely consists of her taking off her clothes or talking about sex. Plus, for those (like me) whose mothers are rather in favor of romantic developments with girls with names like Silverman, she's practically Sophia Loren. Obviously, cuteness is a double-edged sword. Being cute is like waving a red cape in front of a bull: you'll get noticed, but not necessarily for the right reasons.

Silverman smartly uses her cuteness for laughs, subverting her attractiveness with shock comedy. Her material isn't as relentlessly filthy as Lisa Lampanelli's, or as curse-heavy as Richard Pryor's, but it's plenty blue all the same. For better or for worse, though, that's her comic persona: she's a cute girl who swears, says offensive things, and makes poop jokes, and gets laughs because of the incongruity between her face and what comes out of her mouth.

It's effective, but can wear thin after a while - say, around the 29 or 30-minute mark, which is why she's not quite ready to star in 110 minutes out of a two-hour movie. (Or two and a half hours, if it's directed by Judd Apatow.) Maybe she'd do well to cross genres, say, with a slasher horror flick, as Elizabeth Banks did with Slither, or a domestic drama, like Marisa Tomei in In the Bedroom, just to establish that she can do something else. Right now she's getting typecast as the quirky girlfriend, and at the age of 36, she's running out of time to play those roles.

Her Comedy Central show, the Sarah Silverman Program, is sort of a cross between a sketch comedy show and a sitcom, with fairly conventional situations intercut with the occasionally utterly bizarre. It's uneven but frequently funny, a bit like the Chris Rock Show in its day though with much less social satire. More importantly, it's popular, which the network needs as it continues to reel from the departure of Dave Chappelle, and which she needs to prove that she can actually be a star.

Sarah Silverman's one of the most successful female comedians in Hollywood right now, especially considering that she's a graduate of Saturday Night Live, but she labored in semi-obscurity for a long time to reach this level of fame, and she doesn't have much more substantial than one season of a television show under her belt. She's funny, but she's not jaw-droppingly hysterical, and many women comedians have simply fallen off the map after achieving as much or more: Brett Butler, Paula Poundstone, Roseanne Barr (though there were extenuating circumstances with the last two). I certainly hope that she can last a while, but she'll need to leaven her shtick with a bit more substance if she wants to. I'll be very glad to buy a ticket to see her in the next Rob Zombie or Richard Linklater movie, and I'm more than willing to be her line coach-she can call me any time. Otherwise, I'll be chuckling until the Sarah Silverman Program gets cancelled, and mildly upset when it does.

Comments

[Huffingposter]

She went from edgy provocateur to obnoxious blow hard in egg timer length. How's this for a 4-letter word - NEXT.

[QueenCeleste]

If I never saw her again that would be too soon. Crude, unfunny, mean-spirited, ever so pleased with herself--ugh. She hosted the Independent Spirit Awards recently and was just dreadful. My favorite is the brilliant Kathy Griffin and I thrilled to see her receiving acclaim.

[ang4ever]

Totally rude and crude. Yesterday was too soon for her complete disappearance.

[Aileengil]

I do not get or like Sarah Silverman at all. Don't get me wrong, I get and LOVE Kathy Griffin and Lisa Lampinelli, but somehow Sarah is just off and truly vile. She doesnt seem to know what is funny and stretches the potty humor beyond belief.

Please someone make her go away!!!!!

[purimpurimpurim]

" her turn in Jeff Garlin's movie "I want someone to eat cheese with" largely consists of her taking off her clothes or talking about sex."
You clearly didn't see the movie. She gave a great multi- leveled performance and even if people didn't like the movie they came away loving her.
Do your research and then have an opinion.
Jeff Garlin

[AlexRemington]

Mr. Garlin, I did actually see the movie, and I liked it. I liked your performance, I liked the ensemble cast (particularly David Pasquesi), and I thought Sarah Silverman was fine. However, by far her most memorable scene -- for me, as a viewer -- was seeing the loving shot of her body in a state of near-undress in the dressing room. Moreover, she completely exits the movie after having sex with and unceremoniously dumping the main character. Her performance may have texture, but, in my opinion, her character doesn't: she's the sex object.

I freely admit, as Rob Schneider might want me to, that I'm not a credentialed critic, and I certainly haven't won a Pulitzer Prize. I'm simply a moviewatcher and a fan of comedy. I'm a fan of Sarah Silverman and of you, Mr. Garlin. Please don't think that my having a nuanced opinion means I'm ignorant.

Chag sameach.

[Lucille]

Such a interesting promo for a lousy comedian. Sarah was awful at the MTV awards, her nasty and unwarranted comments about Britney Spears not withstanding. The funniest I've ever seen her were in some of the promos for MTV award show, which was probably due to the commercial's director.

[burkebromley]

I think Sarah Silverman is both beautiful and funny.
What people find funny about Dane Cook completely escapes me, he's such a hack.

[iheartsmartpeople]

ew...Sara Silverman is not cute at all. IF ONLY she had at least that much going on for her!

[NABNYC]

I guess the point of this article is to say that a female comic will only be able to earn a living as long as she is young and pretty? The article suggests a lot about the author's limited ability to evaluate or appreciate talent, but doesn't say anything about Sarah Silverman.

I think Sarah Silverman is absolutely hysterical. She is pretty, without question. But focusing on that is really a way to minimize her talent. It's like the business woman or woman attorney: all the men comment on her appearance as a way to demean her ability to function as an equal (or more) in her profession. When are we going to get over this inability to deal with women just like real people.

To paraphrase the Jack Nicholson character, maybe what you men can do in evaluating a woman is to think of a man, then add brains, talent, commitment, dedication, and hard work.

I suspect and certainly hope Sarah Silverman will be practicing her talent and entertaining us for decades to come. Why wonder if she'll get a movie role? I think she'll make her own movies. She could be the heir(ess) to Woody Allen. Let's not trivialize her entire body of work by one person's obsession with the fact that she's pretty. So is George Clooney, but he seems to be doing OK. And he's even older than 36.

[Darwinita]

Woody Allen and George Clooney have much larger bodies of work to judge by, and never did I hear them cater to such a niche crowd as Silverman's shtick does.

[JasonInOakland]

She. Is. Not. Funny.

[HeyFella]

Here here!

[hootie1fan]

The show is too painful to watch so whether it's funny or not may be a moot point.

[DasBoot]

What I like about Sarah is that she doesn't give a shit. And if she does, she is a great actress.

So if she was canceled next year, I would imagine her not caring either. What a nice contrast to all the other publicity whores in Hollywood.

Somebody every now and then must piss people really off. Sarah's doing a great job at it.

[exoevolution]

Sarah & Kathy G. are the funniest women in show business!!!

[alx8413]

she turns my stomach,i cant relate that with being funny.....

[martinchill]

"How Long Can Sarah Silverman Last?"


it's been too long already.


finding out she's kimmel's girlfriend makes me feel better, tho. perfect for each other.