Build up post Number FOUR in preparation for my new Celebrity Interview series “11 Questions with…” Who’s debut will be on Monday March 5th 2012! We’ve got Elm Street 4′s Tuesday Knight, Action Queen Sybil Danning, Elvira Mistress of the Dark Cassandra Petersen, Oscar winner Lee Grant, Master of Horror John Carpenter and many more coming soon! Be there or be square!
Now on to the wetting of the bed!
This will be brief, by my usual standards anyways…
When she first hit the comedy scene in a popular sense (during her TV guest spot/Crank Yankers phase) I did not enjoy her, by her I of course mean, Sarah Silverman.
I thought she was juvenile and crass, in a stupid way, not a witty one; and for the most part I paid her no mind. Then I saw Jesus is Magic (2005) and thawed to her a bit. It seemed like whatever initial veneer of “completely retarded” I saw in her was trying to become “completely retarded but in an intelligent way.” Then I got into her television show, The Sarah Silverman Program and fell in love. Not in a Strangers with Candy way, but close.
I don’t know whether it’s just because the context of the show allowed her to explore her unique brand of humor to it’s fullest extent, or because the ability to have a full cast meant SHE didn’t carry the full weight of everything, but it worked and it worked very well. (And, throwing the old gay bag into things once again, I also rather liked that she had two excessively “average and normal” gay characters as apart of the universe of the show and it was no big deal. Which always scores points in my book.)
Ms. Silverman, like Trey Parker and Matt Stone, Sam Kinison, Steve Martin, et. on down the line, uses foul language, fart jokes, abject stupidity and “offensive” racial/sexual/political humor to achieve the effect of delivering a message (usually a message in stark contrast to the joke.) And, she does this with this sort of delirious sense of naivety about her.
This outward showing of “innocence” mixed with the scatological was part of my initial reluctance toward her. I thought it was fake. I thought she was just making fun of that sort of thing (which I kind of didn’t appreciate because at heart I’m the same way.) I throw myself into what I do with whole hearted abandon, a smile on my face and a spring in my step. And, as I learned from reading her autobiography, The Bedwetter: Stories of Redemption, Courage and Pee, so does she.
NOW, my actual review, it is going to be a short one, compromised of two phrases and a blurb (because I find reviewing comedies of any sort incredibly difficult):
1. If you find Sarah annoying and unfunny read the book, it’ll change your mind on both accounts.
2. The bulk of the book is NOT as funny as the fake reviews from random children on the back of the sleeve OR the “Warning From The Publisher” on the inside, but it’s still pretty damn good.
Overall, the novel is quite humorous (some might even wet the bed, in some places, if that’s where you happen to be reading), it’s short, it’s well paced, and if you’re a fan already you’ll gleam some poignant insight into Ms. Silverman’s life that’ll make you appreciate her work even more.
Plus, it’s extra Jewy.
7 out of 10 promiscuous, hairy, Jewish Princesses who wet the bed!
