The Pundit

Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic

By Shannon Marinko ⋅ August 7, 2006 ⋅  Email This Post ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

There’s that old saying that mums like to throw down their kids’ throats: ‘If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.’ Sarah Silverman’s mum must’ve told her: ‘If you can’t say anything nice, tell the whingeing cunts to fuck off.’ I guess it stuck. It stuck like a mother fucker.

All right, I think I’ve suitably set up what we’re dealing with, as well as completely alienated my family, friends, potential employersÔø?ƒ?

Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic is basically a concert film; 70-odd-minutes of stand-up with five short musical numbers peppered throughout. And after (or ‘if’Ôø?Ôø?there were a few walkouts) you get through all the rude words, it’s actually all pretty ordinary. Which is a shame because, well, she’s just so pretty.

Remember when you first saw Delirious or Raw? Go watch them again. Every line hits. Still. ‘Offensive’ or not. Then go see this. It’s really weak. Could it have the same (albeit cult) success as either of those? No chance. I hope not. Kids today aren’t that stupid, are they?

I like to think I can appreciate a good bad taste joke. But the writing’s just not there. Maybe something’s lost in translation. Australians are pretty un-PC anyway. And we hang shit on different minorities than the US. Maybe it’s become harder to become tasteless. Maybe it’s just me. People were laughing. All throughout. Maybe it is me.

However, having said all that, Silverman’s pretty fearless as a performer. Her delivery and execution are spot on. She’s totally committed (or should be), putting herself out there and playing it all absolutely straight for the sake of the joke. She does really well. She’s just not very funny.