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| Tuesday, December 13, 2005 |
The Christening of Sarah Silverman
When I first saw the preview for Sarah Silverman's film Jesus is Magic, I was ecstatic. The dark-haired seemingly quiet comedienne had finally made her way to the big-screen. The short trailer was hilarious. It had everyone in the theater laughing with glee. Two months later, I took two friends with me to see the film, one male and one female, to gauge its hilarity. We sat in a mostly empty theater, eagerly waiting to be entertained.
The film opens with Silverman and two of her "Hollywood" friends discussing recent projects. While her friends congratulate each other on their successes, Silverman stares at them with a worried look. The friends stop the self-congratulatory backslapping and ask Silverman what she has done recently. She pauses, and then slowly the lie tumbles out, "I'm doing a show ... about the Holocaust ... and AIDs. And it's a musical. It opens tonight." Her friends are in awe.
This is where the film really starts, as Silverman begins to sing about how she has to create a show based on the Holocaust and AIDs. Oh yeah, and it's a musical. The scenes flow from Silverman doing stand-up to elaborate musical numbers done with green-screens and a four-piece band as she "improvises" this epic show. Silverman's stand-up is raunchy at times, as she discusses anal sex with her boyfriend, "That's where poo comes from, and that's it."
Her jokes are funny largely due to her delivery and the fact that this sexist racist humor comes from a sweet little Jewish girl. She rarely launches into the late Richard Pryor-like frenzies; instead she takes a low-key approach and then throws in a blunt punch line: "The best time to get pregnant is when you're a black teenager." This style of stand-up blindsides the audience, but often misses the mark. I found that for most of the film, a large part of the 20 people attending weren't laughing. One couple actually walked out, not offended, but bored.
The film is short, thankfully. After finishing her show, Silverman indulges herself backstage with a bong hit and then her two friends from the beginning of the show come to congratulate her. She listens to their praise, but shoos them out for some "me time," which is odd considering the last 70 minutes were already all about her.
Silverman's film may be amusing and off-color, but it could've been more effective as a feature film if she has concentrated on keeping the audience's attention rather than offending them.
Read our profile of Sarah Silverman here.
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