Sarah Silverman is a genius (still)

I love Sarah but expect most of the comments to be snark from hipster douchenozzles about how her act is based completely on the shock value of a pretty intelligent girl saying shocking things, preaching to the choir, blah blah blah

I too feel Sarah Silverman is a "genius." As a result, I have decided to tackle your comedy quiz, although I must say I am a bit intimidated.

1. Sarah does not make eye contact with the YBM for a couple of reasons. First, it is part of her style, an extension of her supposed aloofness. In her television show, "The Sarah Silverman Program", she will often make snide and caustic remarks with the innocence of a child. She achieves this effect by appearing to be unaware of the offense she has committed. This is also true for the Jew/Black parallel.

2. The "on paper" comment is funny because of the very point you made in your question: it leaves no room for disagreement. It states a seemingly subjective comparison as an established piece of evidence.
The comparison between blacks and jews is made for two reasons. The first reason is the obvious need to connect Jews with Barack Obama. The less obvious reason for this comparison is the disenfranchised voters living in Florida RIGHT NOW! If ever our "bubbies" were in need, it would be now.

3. The jump cut after she introduces Nana and the YBM probably contained them entering the frame. Leaving the piece out makes the comparison between both parties that much more shocking. In a way, we see it coming, can't believe she would have the audacity to do it, and laugh our asses off as a response.

4. This line is a reference to a prevailing perception in the media and pop culture that blacks, in general, tend to have more of their counterparts die than other races. This is an unsubstantiated view (boy, that sounds really familiar in this neo-con driven culture of ours), one clearly shared by Sarah's naive Nana.

5. "It's beyond" is just funny. It is the type of hyperbole reserved for only the truly sublime. Brisket clearly belongs in this category.

6. "Circumsupersized" refers to the myth that blacks are better "endowed" than other racial groups. Again, another myth perpetrated as fact.

7. I am shocked to hear that. I would tend to believe that they would be a bit more circumspect with such matters. If that's true, I am proud to be an American Jew!

8. Is this a trick question, in of itself?

Jim, I'll take your questions a little out of order for my interpretation of the video:

7) I'm going to answer them like they're not trick questions, because I think it's honest to be introspective when asked and really try to describe to myself why I think something is funny or not.

1) I'll be honest that despite the talk about it in the debates, I didn't notice whether she looked at him or not, as I was concentrating on her performance. It's not something that I noticed during the debates either, but even in the debates I was trying to focus more upon their answers than body language, so this just didn't register with me.

2) I don't think the line "They may seem totally different, but on paper... they're the same" is a particularly funny line, but her examples of that concept were extremely funny to me. I do find those coincidental similarities in vastly opposite cultures (not Black culture or elderly Jewish culture as a whole, but more Hip-hop stereotypical culture versus stereotypical elderly culture) to be funny. I also find it funny because I consider the last comparison in particular a bit taboo (all your friends are dying), since it's generally not acceptable to remind either "stereotypical" group about that fact, and the delivery of Sarah Silverman is pitch perfect on taboo topics. She can always seem to deliver the most non-PC lines using a certain innocence that makes me cringe because I find it unacceptable, but funny anyway.

3) I didn't notice anything unusual about the cut between the Nana intro and the YBM (Wayne Wilderson from the WaMu commercials), but I do agree that it was an abrupt cut point. Given Sarah Silverman's style of comedy, it may have been a cut to assume that she was about to say something offensive about him, but that's just my opinion of the editing.

3a) I think the point of the "That is true, in general" line is to again show that she's making comments that are "taboo" and make me laugh and cringe at the same time. Her comedy in a way reminds me of why I like Steve Carell's character in "The Office" so much. There's something about a line where you say to yourself "I can't believe he/she just said that!", but you somehow find yourself laughing anyway, just at the audacity of it.

4) I love the joke "It's beyond" as again, it's a play on Jewish stereotypes this time (since my wife is jewish, I hear this phrase often). She could've gone into full "Linda Richman" mode if she wanted to if she'd said it was "like buttah"...

5) Again, playing the stereotypes off each other, she makes a hilarious connection to Jewish circumcision and Obama's, er, "wedding tackle". (loved that movie...)

6) Not really, though it explains why it's so partisan (not that I'm pissed off that it is, considering I support Obama), but it would've been good to get a disclaimer in there, or am I overly senstive to that part? I guess I just have a stereotype of comedians to either make fun of both candidates/parties, or make it clear if they've got partisan backing, but that's just where my thought process is right now.

One more thing of note, her comparison that she'd rather vote for Obama because she claims Barack means lighting versus John because his name means a guy who f**ks hookers I found hilarious because I think that's her commentary on Fox News and all the attack ads that assume because Barack Obama has a bad sounding name, that means he's a horrible person. As for the video as a whole, it's funny, but it's no "I'm f**king Matt Damon" (now that's comedy!)

Talk amongst yourselves!

Sarah Silverman IS a genius. Yes, she says things for shock value, but she has PERFECT delivery, and that is a form of genius in this day and age. So often the quality of a joke is in the delivery, and this girl has that in spades.

My favorite thing about the 2nd video is Tommy Lee Jones laughing hard when she said they are "both crazy about their grandkids." I think that's one of the more simultaneously subtle/obvious jokes she makes.

Challenge accepted, sir. My completely serious, joke-free* attempt at answering these questions:

1) Why doesn't Silverman make eye contact with the Young Black Man and why is it funny? (Or not?)

By not making eye contact with him (or, really, with the old woman much), it suggests these aren't people existing in the same "reality" as her, but simply breathing stand-ins shown for the sake of example (much like the images also shown throughout the video). It is funny, and the purpose of it is...

2) Why is this one of the funniest lines ever: "They may seem totally different, but on paper... they're the same"? (You do not have the option of thinking it's not.) And what is the point of the comparisons between Jews and blacks?

...That it helps reinforce the true point of the joke: That she's not comparing an elderly Jewish woman and a young black man, but common stereotypes of an "elderly Jewish woman" and a "young black man" (now with previously hidden quotation marks). It's a pretty brilliant comedic invention (or realization?), the way the same stereotype can apply to both, but in completely disparate ways.

As for the line, I'm not sure I appreciate it quite on the same level as you do, but it's all in the delivery -- particularly the subtle way Silverman dismissively shakes her head when she says "they're the same," as if it's actually so obvious you'd have to be crazy not to think so.

3) Notice the cut after she introduces "Nana" and then the YBM. The comic timing is impeccable -- and it looks like something may have been trimmed. What do you think it may have been, and what's funny about taking it out?

My best guess: "And a young black man... like my boyfriend" (cue concerned reaction shot from Nana). The cut suggests a very offensive line may have been removed to spare the audience, which further suggests everyone's aware of how offensive Silverman is (even the editor), except, of course, for blissfully unaware Silverman herself.

3) What is the point of, "That is true, in general," and the sad reaction shot of "Nana"?

I think this one's almost a concession to the audience -- with the Young Black Man storming off, it's a way of almost winking a message to viewers: "Yes, we are aware that what's being said here may be offensive, but that's sort of the point, so don't get mad at us." The line and the reaction shot, then, is a way of immediately bringing the joke right back to the forefront.

4) Why is "It's beyond" one of the funniest things ever uttered by a human being?

Okay, I have my own theory that this ties into: Curse words have become so overused, that using a non-curse word as an expletive can actually have more of an impact. I mean, when was the last time you heard someone say "Criminy!"? As for the line itself, it's like an arms race -- exaggeration is so overused that you have to develop new ways to make someone really understand how amazing something is. It's not "beyond amazing," or "beyond incredible." It's beyond being beyond things (which is pretty flippin' beyond).

(Another great example of this from the recent SNL episode, during the Weekend Update: "Congress is currently debating an extraordinary economic bailout plan that would cost taxpayers $700 billion. To help you understand how much money that is, I can't help you understand how much money that is.")

5) What is the joke "circumsupersized" based upon?

Obviously it's a play on the words "circumcise" and "supersized." I'm pretty sure only the Jewiest of Jews can be considered circumsupersized. Being not-Jewish, that is a statement I feel comfortable making without fear of causing offense.

6) Do you feel any differently about the film when you learn it was commissioned by the Jewish Council for Education and Research (and JewsVote.org)?

Not really, since it's pretty clear watching the film that despite the tactic it employs, it is in the end a serious plea to Jewish voters on behalf of Barack Obama. But then again, there still exist human beings (human beings, mind you) for which Sarah Palin's candidacy isn't instantly hilarious, so...

7) Are these trick questions?

Yes.

And lastly, what I've learned from this experiment: Comedy is so instinctual that, even though you know why something is funny, it's incredibly difficult to put it in words.

[*May not be completely serious and joke-free.]

See also Christopher Titus' definition of "hard funny": "It's the kind of joke where you laugh first because you can't help it then you look around to make sure it's OK to laugh."

If you haven't seen "Norman Rockwell is Bleeding", I hear it's coming on DVD soon. (Showtime filmed his recent (post sitcom) revival a couple of years ago.)

Silverman taps the same hard funny vein, but cuts deeper because so much of what she does plays to and against racial stereotypes. And her wide-eyed innocent delivery doesn't hurt either.

Compare "The Great Schlep" with the "Face Wars" episode of "The Sarah Silverman" program to get to more examples of your first four points.

1) Why doesn't Silverman make eye contact with the Young Black Man and why is it funny? (Or not?)

-Funny, yes. She doesn’t make eye contact with him because she knows nothing about him or African Americans in general. She will of course make eye contact with her Nana.

2) Why is this one of the funniest lines ever: "They may seem totally different, but on paper... they're the same"? (You do not have the option of thinking it's not.) And what is the point of the comparisons between Jews and blacks

-Saying “but on paper ...they’re the same” seems to suggest that you can only notice similarities between two different races when it is pointed out to you. Plus why would she say ‘on paper’? I guess further illustrating her ignorance.

I think the point of comparing Jews and black people is her misguided way of trying to galvanize the elderly Jewish citizens of Florida to vote for a black man she seems to think they otherwise wouldn’t consider voting for.

3) Notice the cut after she introduces "Nana" and then the YBM. The comic timing is impeccable -- and it looks like something may have been trimmed. What do you think it may have been, and what's funny about taking it out?

-I didn’t notice that at first, but it’s funny because they just happen to automatically appear on the couch with her after she begins her comparisons to both of them.

3) What is the point of, "That is true, in general," and the sad reaction shot of "Nana"?

-To illustrate her lack of empathy towards the Young Black Man (who left the room after quickly being offended by her ignorant statements) and the fact she’s more empathic towards her Jewish grandmother. The sad reaction shot of Nana must mean that she loses a lot of friends to old age and illness.

Also “That is true, in general” displays more ignorance since almost everything she says here is based upon simplistic generalizations.

4) Why is "It's beyond" one of the funniest things ever uttered by a human being?

-Her delivery of the line plus it is another one of her stabs at Jewish stereotypes.

5) What is the joke "circumsupersized" based upon?

-Obvious combination of Jewish and black stereotypes.

6) Do you feel any differently about the film when you learn it was commissioned by the Jewish Council for Education and Research (and JewsVote.org)?

-Either that is a just a joke or the JCER has a great sense of humour and self deprecation.

7) Are these trick questions?

-I sure hope not, I answered all of them!

You people are forgetting the ultimate rule of comedy:

“Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog. Few people are interested and the frog dies of it.” –E. B. White

Alan G :I agree with you about dumb hipster douchenozzles deriding the humor of her act and ascribing it merely to shock value. Her story about 9/11 in "Jesus is Magic" is one of the funniest things I have ever heard.

Jim: Now here's where you come in. I think you should do an article on the Sarah Silverman backlash among hipster douchenozzles. It's already going strong as she is #34 on "stuff white people like." It would be a perfect accompaniment to your coverage of the Juno backlash.

Also uh, not trying to kiss your ass but when are we going to hear your thoughts on Choke or did you already post them and I missed it?

Tom F: Homer Simpson, a philosopher of comedy, explains: "It's funny because it's true." And: "It's funny because I don't know him." Comedy is, for the most part, instinctual. (The creating of it and the response to it.) But once it's there, out in the world, it's illuminating to study it and our reactions to it, as Freud memorably demonstrated. To Homer and E.B. White's axioms, I add a few of my own, including: "If you don't know what you're laughing at (consciously or unconsciously), you don't know what's funny"; and a corollary: "You won't laugh unless something inside you tells you something is funny." This last one fits with a pearl of wisdom Roger Ebert is fond of citing, something along the lines of: You can't fake it if it doesn't make you laugh. (I would also add, in reference to the classic "Chuckles the Clown" episode of "MTM," that you can't fake NOT laughing if you think something's funny enough, either.)

I can guess at reasons for a Sarah Silverman "backlash" -- none of which have to do with her comedy or comedic persona (which have remained consistent), but maybe with attitudes about her notoriety. After a while, people get tired of anything or anyone they feel is "overexposed" or "too successful" (meaning they no longer "belong" to an exclusive coterie of hipster douchenozzles). Or maybe it's Jimmy Kimmel they don't like. Anyway, if that's what you're talking about, it's probably the same old cycle...

Re: "Choke" -- haven't seen it!

Jim, thank you for mentioning Chuckles the Clown. His funeral, along with the more impromptu funeral of those Cincinnati turkeys put MTM head and shoulders above all other non-animated, non-Seinfeldian sitcoms.

Tom F posts:
“Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog. Few people are interested and the frog dies of it.” –E. B. White

Yes, Tom F, thank you! I agree completely.

Sarah Silverman is a comic genius. Now, the answers (out of order):

1) Why doesn't Silverman make eye contact with the Young Black Man and why is it funny? (Or not?)

I think it serves to underline how detached and ultimately dismissive she is of the Young Black Man. It is, I think, an example of something Sarah Silverman is satirizing here. Sara exemplifies how people view themselves as un-racist (and in her case, liberal." Jews are the most liberal, scrappy, civil-rightsy people there are", she says, which one would assume, would thus include Sarah herself), but who buy into the perpetuation of what are ultimately racist ways of viewing and classifying people. So why is all of this funny? Like Homer would say, "because it's true", or, in this case, because Sarah is simply voicing views and beliefs that are commonly held and perpetuated thorough the media, pop-culture, political discourse, etc, and which are taken at face value, as fact. By timing and execution, Sarah makes it funny by showing how silly and, yes, racist those stereotypes are.

4) What is the point of, "That is true, in general," and the sad reaction shot of "Nana"?

Nana's sad reaction shows her agreeing with it. And like Andrew L wrote, it serves to point out Sarah's inability to empathize with the YBM. And let us just go on over to:

6) What is the joke "circumsupersized" based upon?

Well, obviously, to the common belief that black men have, on average, larger penises than white men. Something that is maybe a good thing, but still a racist stereotype.

Now mind that Sarah likewise satirizes the same blandly reproduced stereotypes concerning Jews. Everything from that nose in the beginning, to the blanket statements she makes about elderly Jews (no different in nature from the ones she makes about black men). Anyhoo, let us move on.

2) Why is this one of the funniest lines ever: "They may seem totally different, but on paper... they're the same"? (You do not have the option of thinking it's not.) And what is the point of the comparisons between Jews and blacks?

Sorry. option or not, I really don't think it's that funny. As for the point of the comparison, I think she's ridiculing racist stereotypes by comparing two sets of said stereotypes (i.e. as they black men of the Young persuasion, and Jews of the Elderly persuasion) while seeming oblivious to it. Also, the "on-paper" line shows that Sarah can only see their similarities by writing a list. Otherwise, they seem "totally different."

3) Notice the cut after she introduces "Nana" and then the YBM. The comic timing is impeccable -- and it looks like something may have been trimmed. What do you think it may have been, and what's funny about taking it out?

She introduces her representative of an elderly Jewish person as "Nana"; presumably it's her Nana, but at any rate she treats her with familiarity. The representative of young black men is just an anonymous Young Black Man. She follows "elderly Jewish woman" with "like my Nana", and you expect her to likewise introduce the young black man as a specific person - as a friend, for instance - but no. The cut underlines this lack of a follow up.

5) Why is "It's beyond" one of the funniest things ever uttered by a human being?

I would say it's just a matter of timing and how silly it is that Barack would do a mean brisket and that that would matter.

7) Do you feel any differently about the film when you learn it was commissioned by the Jewish Council for Education and Research (and JewsVote.org)?

No, not really.

8) Are these trick questions?

If they are, I just wasted a considerable amount of time.

And I don't agree with Sarah. Barack is a hell-o'-cool name.

I agree with most of what's written above, but I just wanted to add that, if this 'bit' really is sanctioned by the said organization (and is non-partisan), isn't there a good chance that the old woman is meant to represent McCain? This would tie in all the inappropriate (to an extent) age-ismed comments many media have thrown at McCain, and further elucidate the little-known fact that when voting, one should ardently try to separate rumors/innuendo from reality. "On paper" would then, in addition, be meant as "when you cast your ballot, remember that both these candidates have a fair bit of un-justified mud on them".
Of course, for a subversive personality like myself, who abhors politics and politicians alike, I would hope that the 'on paper' line meant: "it doesn't matter who you vote for- every politician is a stool pigeon for agencies and shadow-men that will never change". And though McCain probably has many more leashes and strings tied to him, I always remember your original article on 'Fight Club' jim, and how you warned we should be even more leary of the "insidious" kind of marketing, the (more psychologically adroit) kind that markets to people who believe they're not being sheeps/rats if they buy apple.

Sarah Silverman is far from a genius, she has basically one bit and it doesn't even have a punchline. She just give the same delivery over and over and tries (way too hard) to be "edgy" or "shocking" by talking about being a drunk or being molester or making racist remarks.

Basically she just steals half of her jokes from other female comedians and leaves off the punchlines. Compare "Jesus is Magic" with the 2004 stand-up clip of Chelsea Handler that can be found on youtube and you'll notice that about 90% of Chesea's jokes ended up in Silverman's film two years later

I don't know anything about Silverman ripping off other people. I do know that I've never really found her jokes/humor to be very funny. I gave this video a chance, but barely chuckled. Maybe it's the way she delivers lines like a 5 year old who has something really neat to share. I dunno.