:: Philadelphia Events, Arts, Restaurants, Music, Movies, Jobs, Classifieds, Blogs :: Philadelphia City Paper
Bookmark and Share
ARCHIVES . Articles

December 1- 7, 2005

movies


WITHOUT YOU I'M EVERYTHING: Sarah Silverman expresses some self-love.
She Is Risen

Sarah Silverman's "learn-medy" isn't always funny, but that's all right.

recommended recommended

"I want to be the first comedian to shit on Martin Luther King," says Sarah Silverman. She suggests King was a "loser," prone to farting in the car with the heat on and windows open. None of it is precisely funny, but that's the point. Silverman's comedy—or as she terms it, her "learn-medy"—means to teach you something.

Obnoxious and subtle, smart and inelegant, Silverman's first concert film, Jesus Is Magic, takes perverse aim at the notion of art as instruction. While art might illuminate or even provoke, the learning process is yours, and you can choke on it for all this movie cares. It deploys a series of ridiculous conventions: breakout skits that go nowhere and a wholly goofy framing device, wherein Silverman tells "best friend" Brian Posehn and her sister Laura that she's written a show that's like a play and a movie, about AIDS and the Holocaust, but funny. And oh yes, it's a musical and it's opening tonight and it's sold out. The film takes more than a few cues from Sandra Bernhard's superb Without You I'm Nothing, only it's less coherent, more aggressively offensive.

Silverman's standup is part observational, part confessional, geared to make listeners reconsider pop cultural propriety. To make her 7-year-old niece take tag seriously, Silverman says, she tells her that when she loses, "an angel gets AIDS." To push the Holocaust button, she disparages Jewish people who drive German cars: "It's so gay!" And to underline that she's "edgy," she observes that "we make fun of midgets because we're not afraid of them," unlike, say, young black men in baggy pants—though she goes on to satirize them too, dropping this bit of wisdom to boot: "The best time to have a baby is when you're a black teenager."

The calculated offense works: At the screening I attended, paying customers walked out. While much has been made of Silverman's cuteness, which supposedly makes her ugly jokes go down easier, the effect is almost the opposite. Yes, she's adorable—dressed in a tasteful midriff top, circa-'60s minidress, or slinky red nightclub number—but Silverman's visible effort, as she grimaces or rethinks a punch line or reminds an audience of old folks that they're "gonna die soon" only underscores the aggravation. This girl is aggravating.

And the film isn't very funny. It's more an interrogation of what's "funny." "I love getting into the psychology of people," Silverman says, acting as if she doesn't get her own joke. And that's pretty much what she does. She pretends and she targets. If you don't get into it, that's fine too.

Jesus Is Magic

Directed by Liam Lynch A Roadside Attractions release Opens Friday at Ritz Five

-- Respond to this article in our Forums -- click to jump there
Recent Comments
Web Exclusives
Daedelus
Mon., Feb. 22, 8 p.m., $10, with Nosaj Thing and Jogger, Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., 215-291-4919, kungfunecktie.com.
Fever Pitch
One Philly dance troupe lets imagination carry it to the farthest corners of reality.


search restaurants by name
search by neighborhood
Search
search by cuisine
title
theater

Search
search for:
within:   of  
more jobs
(use zip or city, state)
Search
"Great vision without great people is irrelevant."
—Jim Collins, Author,
"Good to Great"
In Partnership with JobCircle
start date / /  select date
end date / /  select date
category
keyword
Search Buy Concert Tickets
Category:
Keywords: Search

Search Real Estate

ALL | MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | SAT | SUN

or

LOCATION:

ADVERTISEMENT
Ed Simko on
Chima Brazilian Steakhouse
`Please a Coupon please for a party of 4?` »
Josh on
CONCERT REVIEW: Janelle Monáe @ Johnny Brendas, 3/19
`"Granddaughter of Soul" - Nice!` »
Anika on
The Fall Guy
`Jay, you're a racist` »
ross on
CONCERT REVIEW: Janelle Monáe @ Johnny Brendas, 3/19
`Oh man... I was there on Wednesday. Goddamn is right – her dancing alone is unbelievable. The sense I kind of got from the pre-recorded intro was ` »
GODMAN ENZO ferrari, I TOLD IN THE ISLAMIC SITE OF WORLD PRESS, WHAT MY BOSS TOLD ME on
SURPRISE!: Urban artists love Obama
`we did the cia linking with vhp for humanity we are muslims not the evil type of islam if u have the balls mr king slave put your contacts` »
Robin on
That's more like it: PhillyCarShare rolls out cheapo rate infrequent drivers
`Thanks, Brian! I know several people, including myself, who quit, because we just didn't use it that much, and it ticked us off.` »
GODMAN ENZO ferrari, I TOLD IN THE ISLAMIC SITE OF WORLD PRESS, WHAT MY BOSS TOLD ME on
SURPRISE!: Urban artists love Obama
`if these terror basterd have the ball should tell the world where they live not be cowards , if the islam they follow has true values then they will respect ` »
Brian Campbell on
FINE PRINT: Carl Pope at Crane Arts Building and other locations
`The Wall Remixed: The North Philadelphia Small Business Advertising Campaign opens Thursday, March 18th and runs through Friday, April 30th. An opening ` »
Jay Gaultieri on
The Fall Guy
`Why is Black-on-"insert ethnic group here" violence constantly swept under the rug in the public discourse?` »
Nunya on
The Fall Guy
`Asians rise up! Fight violence w/ violence!` »