Sarah Silverman: A Speck of Dust

I get it: it's hard to be controversial. A century ago that might mean tar and feathers or burned at the stake, depending to the place you are living. Decades ago, even with the constitutional protections unique to the United States that meant days or even weeks in jails. Today the penalty is simply money: low popularity on social media and the biggest networks not signing contracts with you.

Well, Sarah is trying really hard to have them both: the controversy and the big contracts. And in the end all she gets is the money. Good for her, yet a flat show.

This was pretty much word for word the same as the show I saw. It was great the second time too! I don't get the negative reviews from Silverman's fans. There is still vulgarity. Maybe not enough for them? Maybe there is too much social commentary in the jokes. I think she is going in the right direction.

Sarah Silverman delivers a compelling, funny routine which closes with her personal medical emergency. First, she starts off the show with metal detectors and death threat. While the audience laughed heartily, I felt a little discombobulated. It's the times we live in and that particular issue is hard to laugh at. Although if I was in the audience, the laughing could be quite cathartic. Anyways, she quickly moves on. With complaining Jew and laser hair removal, the routine builds up well. There is good flow and consistent laughs. Of course, there is plenty of abortion jokes amid the present political climate. At one point, she asks for any religious audience members and only one Lutheran volunteered. The medical emergency is quite funny and there is a fun video proof of its reality to close out the special. In the end, this is standard Silverman comedy with her deadpan delivery and outrageous material. It is a solid one hour show.

I have loved much of Sarah's work in the past, but her newest special disappointed me. It deserves a 5 out of 10 because it was funny and witty about 50% of the time. The other 50% was a mixture of political talking points and misinformed scientific facts. I did laugh out loud a few times but the majority of jokes were poorly written, especially by her standards. I think I counted around 5 complex joke premises, all of which were very well executed, but the rest fell flat.

I'm a fan of Sarah Silverman. She's funny, knows how to make jokes about herself or/and her backgrounds, and she's not afraid of making fun of delicate subjects. I wouldn't say this was her best show but to me it was funny enough to be entertained and that's the only thing I want when watching a stand-up comedian. I'm not a big fan of the pausing she does alot. It looks too much like she's thinking about her lines and so it doesn't seem very natural to me. A little pause everynow and then is fine, to make a point, but with her it sometimes looks too forced and she doesn't need that. For the rest I think she has a good stage presence. Maybe she's not in my top of stand-up comedians but I still enjoy watching her.