Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Jesus is Magic: Grade A

A

Jesus is Magic

Sarah Silverman

Stand-up comic Silverman does her act, intercut with video scenes of her doing comedic skit-songs she wrote. Her material is provocative, edgy, vulgar, and would even be racist if it weren’t so funny that it couldn’t possibly be taken seriously. There are childish and adolescent jokes about sex and body functions and some sharp and subtle social commentary, often about ethnicity, especially Jewishness. She appeared in The Aristocrats, and that performance is included on the DVD extras. She has obviously studied the greats: Lily Tomlin, Ellen DeGeneris, Rita Rudner, and the influences show, but she is an original. Her act may not be sustainable since it depends heavily on a sort of “Omigod!” valley-girl cuteness that won’t age with her. Her songs are retreads of tunes from Grease, although the lyrics are hilarious and her voice is quite adequate. Funniest material I’ve heard in a long time.

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