SARAH SILVERMAN: JESUS IS MAGIC (2005)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
"I don't care if you think I'm racist. I only care if you think I'm thin." - Sarah Silverman
Sarah Silverman is such a disarming, sweet, likable presence that you are almost shocked to hear the things that come of her mouth. But calling her a potty-mouthed, "dirty Jew" comedian would do her a great disservice. Sarah Silverman is unique in that she gets away with it - all the racist slurs she invokes with insight show she cares and sees the hipocrisy inherent in our culture. I believe she is one of our great comedians and has a superb future ahead of her, and this proof is delivered amply in "Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic."
This 72-minute quasi-concert film begins with Sarah seated with two show-biz friends (comedian Brian Posehn and Sarah's sister, Laura Silverman) who brag about their success. Then they ask her what she is up to. Sarah hesitantly tells them she'll be performing a one-woman show. And so we are off to the first musical number where she tries to come up with a show, and then the show begins. All I can say is "Jesus is Magic" is funny and shocking all at the same time. Like fellow comedian Joy Behar said, Sarah is dangerous and can make one nervous.
Take for example Sarah's joke about 9/11 (if you are already squeamish reading this, don't read further). She claims the slogan for American Airlines should be "the first airline to hit the towers." Yep, maybe not so funny when you read it in a sentence. But when Sarah delivers the line, it is somehow tempered with enough sincerity and coquettishness that you might be shocked, but you won't hold it against her. After all, she is making a point about how everyone has to slap a slogan on everything, including 9/11. And it is funny but not in an uncomfortable manner, especially when she realized on that day how many calories are in a soy milk latte. 900 calories, apparently.
Sarah gives us comfort or, more appropriately, she places us in a comfort zone. She looks like a Catholic schoolgirl - brunette, long neck, speaks in a Valley Girl accent (she would fit right in with the cast of "Heaven Help Us" or at my Catholic elementary school if it weren't for the fact that she is Jewish). We start to feel cozy with her because she is not threatening. Then she hits us with jokes about the Holocaust where her grandmother was once in a concentration camp; black teenage girls having babies; de-boning Ethiopian babies to get their tailbones for decorative rings; AIDS; Jewish people buying German cars; racial slurs and stereotypes; anal rape; strippers as role models; porno actors like Ron Jeremy, etc. To top it all off, there is a musical number where Sarah sings to the elderly patients reminding them over and over again that they will die. And to make those even more squeamish post-Michael Richards racist tirade, she uses the "N-word" in a musical number that ends with two black guys staring at our disarming, Pucci-dressed comedian.
Clearly, Sarah Silverman is not for everyone. You might recognize Ms. Silverman from talk shows (including her boyfriend's show, Jimmy Kimmel) and from Saturday Night Live, not to mention her short role in "School of Rock." But there is something truly clever and audacious and inspiring about Sarah Silverman. I think the key ingredient is the way she tells her humorous stories - there is a hesitancy and she is apologetic up to a point. Plus, she is attractive and sincere, not to mention disarming. Therefore, when she hits the jugular with confrontational jokes, you smile and you might even laugh but mostly, you do not hate her for it. To call her unique doesn't even begin to describe her natural comedic talent - she is a becalming force of nature that hits you like a ton of bricks.
At 72 minutes, "Jesus is Magic" is still too short (and the hospital music number could've been excised with no real damage). I love most of the colorful musical numbers, and Sarah's last bit involving multiple orgasms is hilarious. I still hope she can do a full-blown concert film someday, something a little long than an hour and ten minutes.
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