Sarah Silverman is an actress, comedian, writer and singer who produces and stars in "The Sarah Silverman Program" on Comedy Central, Thursdays at 10:30 p.m. Known for her outrageous humor that satirizes various aspects of American society, Silverman combines silliness with perversity and keeps viewers in a constant state of amusement. The Daily got the chance to talk with this eccentric comedienne.
Question: Would you say your show has any risky or possibly offensive humor?
Sarah Silverman: Well that's really not for me to say. We're not looking to offend anybody, but we want to put stuff out there that makes us laugh. Once we put something out there, and it's in the air, that's for the audience to decide what it means. It doesn't make sense in comedy to try to not offend somebody, because you never know what will offend people.
Q: If you were a drag queen, hypothetically, what would you choose as your stage name?
SS: Personally that's not the biggest stress, because when I dress up I feel like a drag queen. So my name would be … something like Sarah McSilverman. If there was a drag queen of — well, there probably aren't any drag queens of me because what would they wear — a hoodie and jeans? Maybe I'd be called Rocky Fishsticks.
Q: Is there any subject you won't joke about?
SS: Well, I don't like jokes about fat women. We live in a countrywhere fat men still deserve love, and at least in white America it's like fat women don't deserve love or something.
Q: If your show were offered a collaborative episode with "Jersey Shore," would you take it?
SS: Well by the time we'd ever be on the air again, they would be so last year's news that it probably wouldn't be worth it.
Q: I'm not sure if your sister ever actually convinced you that you were born a man, but do any of your other story ideas come from real life?
SS: Yeah, sometimes. On Thursday, [Feb. 18], there's a part in the episode where I get obsessed with my neck, and that's definitely based on truth. This is my take on the neck. Why isn't there bone there? There's so much important stuff! Why isn't it protected by like … an extended ribcage? I'm just saying the neck is f---ing vulnerable.
Q: Do you have any special guest stars this season?
SS: Yes! Andy Samberg plays my childhood imaginary friend who comes back all grown up, and becomes a total nightmare. Bill Maher is in this next episode. You guys are too young, but Edward Asner plays a Nazi war criminal in an episode coming up. Tons of awesome guest actors!
Q: A lot of male friends consider you to be their celebrity exception, so do you have any pedestrian exceptions?
SS: I don't really have a celebrity or a non-celebrity exception. I'm a one-person person. I have tunnel vision when I'm with someone. Maybe my UPS man. "What can Brown do for you?" I've got a few ideas.
Q: Is the character you play on TV the real-life you?
SS: I hope not because she's an a--hole. We talk alike and we look the same, but I think my character is a little more dumb. I think of her as an arrogant, ignorant person, which is an awful combination, but fun to watch. The Sarah Silverman on the show is always looking for an identity to put on. The real way to go about it in life is just to discover who you are from the inside out. She decides who she wants to be from the outside in.
Q: Sarah, you must have heard jokes about how funny girls develop personalities, because they're not as pretty. So did you grow up pretty or did that come later?
SS: Well I feel pretty inside. Sometimes I feel really pretty, and then I go in the bathroom and see the mirror and think, "Oh, I thought I was so much prettier," which I think is the better way to go. I think the reason I was forced to learn how to be funny comes from stuff like being Jewish in a town that had no Jews. Being hairy: hairy arms and hairy legs, because I was too young to be allowed to shave my legs. Being very different looking. Believe me, when I was 18 and I moved to New York, I couldn't believe there were other people who looked like me! Where I grew up it was very blonde, very Christian, very L.L. Bean. I had this instinct to put people at ease about me by being very affable. I realized that people saw me as different and learned to put people at ease right away.
Q: What are you trying to accomplish in this season that is different from the previous two?
SS: Even though our goal so often is to just be aggressively stupid, you'll see a definite amount of growth with these 10 new episodes. The characters are so much more defined, and it's the funniest and best season yet in terms of quality, character and story. We really topped ourselves this year. So we're hoping people tune in!
