SmartLess - "RE-RELEASE: Sarah Silverman"
Episode Date: June 12, 2025The pod gets electric when surprise guest Sarah Silverman flies in to shock the guys with her charm, sass, and funny-bone. A stand-up comedian, writer, actor, and host of The Sarah Silverman Podcast, ...Sarah gets down and dirty with the guys, and Will gets a rapid Covid test.This episode was originally released on 11/30/2020. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of SmartLess ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.
Transcript
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Hey gang, welcome to Smartless.
We are a sweet new podcast starring myself, Sean Hayes, Jason Bateman and Will Arnett.
And we are complete idiots.
So what we do is we bring on a guest and we ask them stuff and they make us smarter.
Hopefully it's super cool.
So please come with us.
Enjoy the show. Smart.
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Smart.
Liars.
Now, listen, I need to say this before we get too deep
into this.
I am about to have a COVID test because it's 2020 and I get them done like once a week
or every 10 days.
We have to with the kids and mine just happens to coincide with us doing.
So at some point during the podcast, I'm going to have somebody come in and she's going to
come in and give me that's not true.
Yeah.
Why?
Why does it have to be during our time?
And what is COVID?
Oh, bless him and his-
Why does she have to do it during our time?
Because it was-
Bad scheduling?
Bad scheduling, but a lot of things conspiring.
Cause tomorrow afternoon I'm busy.
Uh oh, that's always boring.
With you.
Wait, what?
Oh, you guys golfing?
No, no, no, we have a business meeting.
No, no, no, we're going charity.
Oh, I see that. I got it, I got it, I got it.
I guess I'm busy too, yeah.
Feeding kids. Busy.
Making smiles.
It's a charity meeting.
I thought you were gonna say, after your COVID test,
you were gonna have like a reveal party of the result.
Oh yeah, you know, people get mad
because I keep doing, on the subway,
I used to do gender reveals all the time.
I'd wear a trench coat and I'd just go, hey, you know?
And I'd just reveal my gender to people. That know it's so dumb and people got mad for my
gender reveals on the subway. Will next time you you have the results. I hear a
female laughing so your guest already I can tell is a female or a fella who is
happy might sound careful like a female yeah might sound like a
female good for you good for you that's restraint look at look how much you've
grown oh wait so let me guess I know it's a woman it is it's a really I don't
know if you can tell by her laugh because mostly people are laughing at
what she's doing okay is it Phyllis Diller so she's a what she's doing. Okay. Is it Phyllis Diller?
So she's a comedian.
She's a comedian, well, I mean, she's a lot of things.
Stand-up or actor?
Let me, you ready for this?
All of the above.
She started as a stand-up, then got into acting,
then did sketch, then did SNL, then did her own show.
One, two Emmys is a hilarious,
just all around hilarious person.
She's got a brand new podcast that is killing it.
Bella Stiller.
Ladies and gents, Sean and Jason.
Uh-oh.
Sarah Silverman is on the show today.
Hang on.
Sarah Silverman!
Woo-hoo!
Woo-hoo!
Look at that.
Embarrassed!
Great. Why are you embarrassed? Because you're smoking the skinniest cigarette I've'm embarrassed! That's great. Good.
Why are you embarrassed?
Why, because you're smoking
the skinniest cigarette I've ever seen.
It's a toothpick.
Oh yeah, she's tough today.
Oh, I'm so excited you're here.
I know, how good is this?
It's so cool.
Look at this.
Can you believe it?
Nice going, Will.
I know.
You guys.
Nice going.
We're all such fans of yours.
You're such a super comedy, hilarious person.
There she is.
Will, what's your first question?
Since you've had time to work on good questions,
it's your guest.
Let's have your best one right now.
Okay.
Sarah.
Yeah?
How's it going?
Oh, that's good.
No, listen.
Gender reveal on the subway is the funniest joke, by the way.
It's so dumb, right? It's so dumb.
That's a great joke. Oh my god.
I've been waiting to tell that for like four days.
When you said it, you know when you hear something and you can't wait to tell a friend, you know?
It wasn't quite that, but it was like almost that.
Can I tell you something? So I'm going to tell you this, Sarah.
One of my favorite jokes that I have told many times over and over, or I've retold the
scene which is people's least favorite thing to hear when you're like, hey, do you remember
the scene where, was from your old program.
So I'm going to start in the middle.
From the Sarah Silverman program where you did on Comedy Central.
Such a funny show.
It's so good.
And you did this bit, by the way, I don't know if you could do it today.
It was the episode where you wanted some good. And you did this bit, by the way, I don't know if you could do it today, it was the
episode where you wanted some good news so you decided to get an AIDS test.
Right?
Yeah.
First of all, there are like 80 jokes crammed in this tiny scene.
And you go, she goes, have you ever had unprotected sex?
And you said, is there any other way?
Then she said, in the 80s, and you said...
No, yeah, she goes, did you ever have unprotected sex in the 80s?
And I go, oh my god, yes.
And she goes, you did?
You had unprotected sex in the 80s?
And I go, oh, no, I thought you said in Haiti.
So then she says, tell me how many times. And so you take a piece of paper and you start writing and you hand it to her and she says, tell me how many times.
And so you take a piece of paper and you start writing and you hand it to her and she goes,
what's that?
And you go, that's the number.
And she goes, there are two numbers.
And you said, yeah, for the front and back.
And she goes, they're the same number.
And you said, yeah, I'm kind of OCD like that.
It was like a domino effect of jokes.
It just like started and it was just non-stop. Fuck me man. I've told that that's such a funny bit and it's
such a you're just everything about that scene was again I don't know I think
people might be offended today. I don't know. There are a lot of problematic
things looking back but you know such is comedy it's not evergreen. Right so so
that's my thing is like,
you've always been such a, I don't know,
such a fucking stupid word, edgy, but you know, cutting it.
Good for you, Sean.
Thank you, thank you.
You're getting prayer hands, yep, go ahead.
Prayer hands, prayer hands.
That, what is it, it's always about the messenger
of the joke, it's never really about the,
so you can say like on the Sarah Silverman program,
you could do a joke about AIDS like that and people embrace it and laugh because it's you saying it.
So what do you think is the difference between you saying it and somebody else saying it and not getting away with it?
It seems like you get away with a lot of stuff because you're so fucking funny, but some of it's pretty dark.
I think it's the intention behind it.
Like, this is a math term,
but it's kind of like the absolute power of the joke.
Like, especially back then,
I always said the opposite of what I thought,
you know, and that was the joke kind of.
And then hopefully the truth transcends
that I don't really feel this way,
not to break it down in the least funny possible way.
But it is also interesting too, because like that comedy I did,
you're right. It was like, oh, it's OK, because you know, I don't mean it.
But then it also is kind of like we're liberal so we can say anything.
So we can say, you know, the words that are unsayable or whatever, like,
you know, I don't mean it. So I can say it like there is kind of like a liberal
like douchiness about it, I think. And in retrospect, I know, I don't mean it so I can say it like there is kind of like a liberal like
Doucheyness about it. I think and in retrospect. I mean, I don't know. It's a weird balance. I think you're right
I was thinking about that the other day
Which is like what's been gone is things have gotten so serious because everybody who's not liberal is so serious and so dark and so
real about their
Negativity or hate or racism or whatever it is, that it's taken all of that away.
You're like, I don't even want to joke about anything.
A lot of things that are rough or maybe pushing boundaries
because you feel like, I don't want it to be taken
the wrong way because there are so many people who mean it.
Right. Yeah, there's not enough distance.
You know, it's like so close.
Like people go, oh, it's so funny.
I saw like a comment in Spanish of something that I wrote and I go oh you know I have a fan that's Spanish you
just let I press translate and it was just a why don't you stick to comedy and
you know leave politics out of it. I was like oh. So wait I'm sure you've had your share of criticism like we all
have like positive negative but is there someone in your life that mattered to you who said that you may have taken certain materials too
far or something like that which of your friends have you offended Sarah and lost
forever I've actually kind of made friends that started out as like them
calling me out mmm right interesting you know I would guess and please correct me
but I would guess that one of the things that
appeals to you about comedy, about thinking of funny stuff and crafting it into something,
you know, in order to deliver to an audience, is about identifying that which makes some
of us uncomfortable.
As opposed to some people look, it seems to me, look at other things that makes them excited about comedy.
With you, it seems like you have an affinity for, as do I, trying to identify the thing
that all kind of makes us a little bit uneasy because it only exists in our smallest place.
And you want to kind of bring that out and amplify that and share a common sort of reference
point.
So, are you finding that you're frustrated
that outside sources seem to be narrowing those borders
and those walls and now you have to kind of think twice
and three times about that?
Or do you not listen to that?
I think like what you said, edgy,
or you know, I know it's corny or whatever,
but it's like, you can't have it both ways.
Like if you do something that is risky,
you have to be risking something.
Like there are consequences. Like you can't get mad both ways. Like if you do something that is risky, you have to be risking something. Like there are consequences.
Like you can't get mad that there are consequences.
And I don't mind, I like like when young people,
you know like students or whatever,
like they teach me new language.
I'm into that because I feel like they're always
on the right side of history and I want to like
learn new words and pronouns
even though I fuck up all the time.
Fire, by the way, is a new one for something that's good.
Okay.
That's not that new.
No, it's brand new.
It started yesterday.
That's not new, granddad.
I had a guy tell me on Twitter, it made me think about, you know, there's an ad that
came out for Biden with Sam Elliott doing the voice for it.
I don't know if you heard it.
And so I just, I retweeted, I said the, the VO master, right?
Cause he's just like the voiceover idol of mine.
Like he's so good.
All I said was VO master and this guy responded stick to comedy.
And I thought, wait a second.
Do you do voiceovers well?
Who's asking?
You have to be one thing.
You have to be the one thing I know
you as. Right. Yeah. Exactly. You are a monolith. And it was within my, and I'm like, I can't
even comment on voiceover? Like, wait a second. Also, like whoever's saying that, what do
they do for a job? Are they a critic? I hope that they are only a critic. I hope so too.
So speaking of sticking to what you do, you started you started doing stand up when you were young, right?
Like like a 17.
Seventeen. That always blows my mind when stand up start.
I know. How did you scare the courage?
The more courage at 17, don't you?
I did. I was a bedwetter until I was almost 16.
So by the time that I did stand up, but't you? I did. I was a bedwetter until I was almost 16, so by the time that I did stand up,
but you know, nothing is humiliating.
Nothing competes with that kind of humiliating.
But how did you know how to write at that young of age?
Like, how did you know how to craft and construct a joke?
I mean, I wasn't good. You know, I just did it.
I wasn't a good comedian. I liked it. Like jokes about, you know, I went did it. I wasn't a good comedian.
I liked to like jokes about, you know, I went to a high school actually that was really,
they'd have an assembly on Mondays and Fridays and they'd let me do like a couple minutes.
And I had a math teacher that would let me like tell a joke at the beginning of every class
as long as I shut up the rest of it.
And it was nice.
It was like, it was really encouraging.
I studied piano, I know this is where everybody passes out.
I studied piano and classical music when I was much younger
and I remember in high school, my dentist told me
that he and his wife were throwing a Christmas party
and I would, would I come over and play background music
at the party on the piano.
And I'm like, yeah, totally, wow.
And serve drinks. Yeah, and the piano. And I'm like, yeah, totally, wow. And serve drinks.
Yeah, and serve drinks.
And wear this outfit.
And can you park cars or?
Do you mind wearing a mask?
The point is when I was done, he handed me $100.
And I was blown away that I got paid for a talent
that I got something in exchange for the years
I put into honing this craft.
Do you remember the first time you got paid
as a standup and what that was like?
Did you report it?
And do you remember how old you were?
When I was 19, I did a road gig
at a club called Joker's Wild.
And what's the town that has Yale in it?
But it's like besides Yale, it's gross.
Okay, sorry, I mean wonderful.
So it was like this low rung mob run place
called Joker's Wild.
I was the emcee.
For six shows, I got altogether $100.
And they harassed me the whole time
and kept asking me to do cocaine.
And I had to find my own place to stay.
And I stayed with these elderly cousins of friends
of my mom's that were both deaf.
It was like a rough week.
It was really odd.
And you're all jitzed out too?
Oh, so you're all jitzed out.
No, I did not. I did not do cocaine but um yeah in the headliner that week I won't
say is you probably wouldn't know him but he ended up kind of losing everything
he was like at that point he was married he just had a kid and he was such a nice
guy mostly impressions but then I heard a friend of mine was in NA with him and he
did a brilliant thing you know comics are so dark they're very close to
criminals you know but he he would go to open houses and use the bathroom and
steal all their drugs you know all their own medications and stuff.
Wow. My next question is what's the perfect balance for you from comedies?
What do you like to do that balances you out on any particular day or week or month, hobbies
or?
I'm so boring.
I love television.
Television.
Watching television.
Ozark!
Oh my gosh!
There we go.
I got it.
Oh my god!
Great interview, guys.
She hasn't said it's good yet.
Let her finish.
Ozark what? It's such a solid interview. My god, there we go. I got it. Oh my great interview guys. She hasn't said it's good yet. Let her finish
Oh, what was our goal? So it's such a solid be of a show. No, no, it's a god
I just I thought so anyway, you don't need to but I just am a big fan of all of you
Like what most like individually I could go off
of all of you. Like, but most like individually I could go off.
But I just want to say you're in your, you know, all of your brilliant actors,
brilliant performers, but your directing is like it's really beautiful.
And I thought season three was phenomenal.
And that's all you get.
That's a lot.
Thank you.
I will take it.
That'll get me to sleep tonight.
Shh. And Will, your, your, um, the Reese's commercials. That's all you get. That's a lot. Thank you. I will take it. That'll get me to sleep tonight.
And Will, your, your, um, the Reese's commercials.
Oh, Reese's.
Yeah, Reese's.
Sorry, not sorry.
Unbelievable.
So you like watching, uh, drama stuff or do you watch it all?
What about like reality shows?
Like what about Bachelor?
Do you have like a guilty pleasure like that?
I am watching The Bachelor with my lover. Yeah, and we have a lot of fun.
My wife loves that.
It's just fun. It's so dumb.
I know.
But it's so fun. It's just big laughs all throughout.
But besides that, like dramas. Yeah.
Do you want to act in one of those or do you just want to watch them?
Yeah, I would like to act in one of those, but I love watching them.
I think it's like watching comedy can be...
When it happens, I'm like, I enjoy it.
But it's never my go-to because it's just kind of a little more stressful than...
Right.
You know, watching a thriller or...
I would say it's like, you know, doctors don't run home and watch Grey's Anatomy.
Right, yeah, it's like that.
You've never said that, Sean.
That's a fucking lie. You've never said that.
Sean always says that. He does. Yeah, but's like you've never said that Sean. That's a fucking lie. You've never said that Sean always says that he does
Yeah, but a thriller. Yeah, I'd love to be like a
Or like a tactical is that right like a born a born movie or like oh, yeah
You know what I started?
Recording because they've been playing them. I'm is a
Old Columbus from the 70s and they're so good
Oh, they're like watching a 70s movie like they're on film and they Peter Falk, right?
Peter Falk and the episode we watched was Ruth Gordon in a rare role as a rich lady
I love her best. She's my favorite Harold and Maude. Yes, of course and my favorite movie is where's Papa?
Every which way but lose, huh? Harold and Maude, yes. Of course. And my favorite movie is Where's Papa? Every Which Way But Lose.
Huh?
Every Which Way But Lose.
With Clint Eastwood where she goes...
And Any Which Way You Can.
Sure.
Any Which Way You Can with one of my favorite lines in any movie when the orangutan is on
the thing and she goes, what are you doing?
Eating all the oreo scrap and all over the place.
That's one of my favorite lines.
She always leads with her thumb.
Yeah.
Oh.
Let me ask you this.
So, Sarah, I want to go back to when you started doing...
Do you remember...
Hi, you guys.
Hi, Sarah.
I'm just happy to see your faces.
Sorry. Go on.
No, no, no.
We'll let it all this... We'll make it clean.
No, we don't have to.
I'm only asking questions because Sean gets really mad
if we don't stick to asking questions.
But...
He doesn't like conversation.
He doesn't like conversation. And then he feels like the people in the middle of the country
in Wisconsin are mad if we're not getting information out of our guests.
So our guest today is Sarah Silverman just to remind everybody.
Sean, you happy now?
And Sarah, I just wanted, I was thinking about you being 17 being on stage and you're trying
to write jokes and you were joking that like they weren't any good.
But can you remember like your first joke that you thought was funny?
That maybe still is?
Yeah. Yeah.
My friend Eric Noy said, Does my breath smell like tacos?
And I said, I don't know, do you put shit in your tacos?
That was in high school.
But I found an old notebook, like I save all my notebooks.
I found a notebook from when I was like 19 and there were jokes in there that were so
bad like and reading it written, you know, it goes um and a lot of my jokes early on
were like I don't know.
I'm just.
So it was like I don't know why my goldfish died.
I put it in a tank...
Beat...
Top...
A tank top. Yeah, sure.
Do you have a set time each day that you dedicate to,
all right, I'm going to stare at the wall.
I'm going to think of stuff I can write down
for a possible performance or script or whatever it is,
or do you just kinda just let stuff happen to you
and you always have a little thing in your pocket
and you could be at a red light,
you can think of something and you write it down.
Mostly the latter.
When I'm my best self, I do,
sometimes I'm just sitting in a chair
and it really is like, I remember someone calling me and I was just sitting in a chair in my room
and that they're like, what are you doing?
And I'm like working and I know I was being defensive,
but I do feel like a lot of it is just sitting, you know, stillness.
If you can.
I thought about the title of your memoir.
If you haven't got one already and I want you to consider, okay,
goldfish in a Tank top
that does sound like a comedian doesn't it sound like a comedian that would be
great you have to put the ellipses in between tank and top goldfish in a tank
dot dot dot turn page flip over top and then in parentheses get it right Lol jkjkjk
Jk as far as the eye can see
Sir I have to ask the cliche question to another funny person like what do you like favorite food?
What the fuck happened to you as a kid that made you funny?
Well, I mean, I think I was extremely her suit, you know, I was growing up in New Hampshire
Really? I didn't know Jews.
I didn't, you know, I didn't go to,
like a lot of people go, oh, all the Bar Mitzvah season
and all that stuff.
I didn't have any of that.
Like my parents are atheists.
They call themselves agnostic, to be more polite.
Or Jewish, to be even more polite.
But like, there weren't Jews.
So we, like my sister says, we thought being Jewish
just meant being a Democrat,
because that's how we were different in New Hampshire.
You know?
But I think because of that, I was like,
I was really hairy too, and...
Wow.
Yeah, like my dad goes,
you know, you want your dad to just think
you're so beautiful, and he does,
but he was like, in in high school he goes,
if you want to spend a summer getting electrolysis, I'll pay for it.
And I was like, why would I do that?
Jesus.
Oh, no, never mind.
He really just meant it to be nice, but then I think he was horrified,
because I was like, why would I do that?
We should be acknowledging this, by the way.
I'm sorry.
Well, you know, you don't need to do the brain scratcher anymore.
Why?
Yeah, I want to be thorough.
Did they just stick a thing up your nose for the?
Yes.
The shallow ones are thorough as so is a saliva one now.
I mean, if it doesn't, dude, if it doesn't hurt, if there's no pain, then it's not fucking
valuable.
Have you not learned that lesson in life?
That's what my dad said right before.
My dad was right when he said, God, you what the fuck is wrong with you you'll be nothing
You're not listening to your crime
Right in between the times that he never told me he loved me
Interesting about that. So, you know how that like makes people
Go into show business like my mom only she just read People magazine and she didn't look up from it.
She didn't come to my games.
She didn't you know, so it's like I think a part of me wanted to get into People magazine.
You know what I mean?
Right. Right.
And I think all of us have I'm sure that yes.
Sarah, you mentioned that your parents didn't go to your game.
My dad did.
What game?
What sport did you play?
Every sport.
I was you know, listen, I'm not bragging.
I was a fast pitch pitcher for the state of New Hampshire.
No, come on.
Of softball.
And not to minimize it.
And, you know, and I played soccer and I played basketball.
I still play basketball, although I haven't since COVID.
And now I'm like, do I still play basketball?
Because like my bones are so rickety now.
But when you do play, it's not you're not going down to like the local park
and doing a pickup game.
You have an organized game.
A bunch of your friends get together.
I have gone to pickup games and I do play pickup games.
But the two games I've been playing out here
for the past couple years,
I don't know anyone there outside of that game.
What's the difference between a pick up game and a game?
It's all strangers, yeah.
You just show up and you say, hey, I wanna play.
All right, well maybe I'll sign up for one.
Yeah.
But the last time I played outside,
I played with this guy. We smoked pot together.
You know, he was adorable, whatever.
Thank you.
And then we were all playing.
And then at the end of the game, we finished and that guy had left a little early.
He had taken like five different people's car keys.
No way.
And then pressed them to see what went boop boop and then got in one and stole one of
the guy's cars.
Wow.
This is the cute stoner.
He was all, he's all stoned up. He's the guy's cars. Wow. This is this is the cute stoner.
He's always all stoned up. He's all weeded up.
Yeah. Well, I like to smoke pot when I play basketball because I
become incredible or terrible.
But it's a grab bag.
I'm willing to.
Oh, hang on. Hang on.
We'd love to get you to repeat that for a PSA if we could real quick.
Just hi.
I'm Sarah Silverman.
You know, when I play basketball, I feel marijuana enhances my game
or puts me into a ball.
But either way, it's worth the risk.
But you also like to smoke it when you're not playing basketball.
I like to have a puff at night.
And that's nice.
A little night night puff puff.
Now, do you follow professional basketball?
Are you a Laker fan?
You know, I like watching it.
I mostly like watching
like a close game in the last half last quarter I'm not I don't have like a
right team that I'm obsessed with or something it's tough to watch the first
three quarters like any underdogs I mean but then again I also like the Warriors
just cuz I love Steve Kerr and yeah you know he's cool and I like the Lakers and
I like the Celtics but only just because of various reasons
So Sarah your your your resume is so crazy because not only you're incredible stand-up
But you've been part of some just great memorable shows, you know SNL
Iconic shows I should say SNL Mr. Show
Larry Sanders
I mean, it's incredible that you got to be part
of all these things that, for somebody like me,
were shows that really kind of spoke to-
Are you gonna cry?
I'm trying to. Keep it together.
Just give me a second, I'm trying to fucking cry.
Jesus, you just broke it.
Now I'll never get there.
Now I'll never get there.
But these are shows that that like, you know,
Mr. Show and Larry Sanders, they showed me,
I was like, oh wait, I want to do that kind of shit.
Yeah, they're like comedy gold shows.
Oh my God, yeah.
Like, yeah, set the standard.
I mean, I got to be on all of those
are iconic shows that I had nothing,
you know, I was like, zeleg.
I just got very lucky and ended up in a...
Not true.
I'm not being modest.
I just, you know, I had nothing to do with creating the, you know, I mean, but yeah,
it is.
I've been in a lot of like very culty Star Trek Voyager.
I know.
I love that.
Wait, what was your time like at SNL and do you watch it now?
Yeah, I watch it.
I watch it and I'm a fan of it.
We can take the pause out in post.
No, no, no, no.
I mean, I had the year that I was there, I would never want to take back.
It was like hard and it was long and it was frustrating and you know, but I got along
with everybody, you know, and stuff.
It was really a different time, you know.
I mean, it was, I mean, they didn't have computers.
Like we wrote our sketches on legal pads
and gave it to a room of typists.
Right. Wow.
Well, how did you like living in New York?
I love New York, yeah.
I moved there when I was 18.
I love New York.
I love just walking through the streets.
Do you wish you still lived there?
Well, why do you, because I'd love to live there,
but I have to live here for other reasons.
I'd love to live there too,
but I mean, the last time I had an apartment there it was
$450, you know, I lived on a five-floor walk-up where I you know, I
We there was a guy who lived on our floor
We had our own bathroom, but it was a building that had a lot of like padlocked
Bathrooms in the hallway that the apartments shared. It was a real dark kind of place.
And then this guy who just got out of prison lived in on our floor.
And my roommate and I were walking downstairs and he was walking behind us
with a friend and he dropped a box of bullets.
Bullets were just running down our legs, running through our legs down the stairs.
And neither of us acknowledged it.
We just acted like it was not happening.
We were so scared.
That's hilarious.
Sarah, who do you find absolutely hilarious?
Either growing up or now, who you're just like,
oh my God, I can't get enough of blank
because they're so funny.
So many people I know if I stared off.
Have you seen Kate Berlant?
She's incredible.
I love Tegna Taro.
I love Zach Galifianakis.
I love Kyle Dunigan. This guy Kyle Dunigan. He's just, you know, other people that just make you, you know.
Or like...
Zach, Zach's like that for me. Zach kills me. He kills me.
So funny.
And then he's just got this huge heart too. you know he's just like a good such a solid lovely
Person and he's so funny. You know, that's I like what about back in the day somebody who made you laugh that
Well, I guess you can't really say who made you laugh back then but based on how your sense of humor has changed now
Kind of doesn't I mean there's certainly television shows and movies that I thought were funny back then that I would watch today and go,
oh no, that doesn't hold up.
Or my sense of humor has just changed.
Yeah, I mean, I've gone so many directions.
Like my friend Mark Cohen years ago, when I first started,
he put a nickel on his head and said Jewish Ash Wednesday,
and I cried because I was so sensitive and then I went like
180 degrees you know but I'm the same inside you know but like I was so upset
by that you know. Oh really? Yeah an example of how people change people's
tastes change and you kind of have you find yourself trying not to factor that
in when you're thinking of stuff that
might be best suited for something that needs to appeal to a wide audience because the people
who are financing this don't want it to appeal to a narrow audience?
Do you have to fight that urge?
Well, I mean, that's why I think I prefer to be niche.
Right.
You know what I mean? Yeah. You know's there's a lot of rules in the mainstream
Right that's why I'm doing this podcast now
Yeah, and
Called the Sarah Silverman podcast and the one cool thing about it is like even if you're on cable or streaming or something
I mean you can really say anything I think I said fuck way too many times in the first few episodes because I felt so free
And you have to have the kind of get those same lessons that you have when you do stand-up where it's like
Now it's just gratuitous. It's lost any power. It isn't cool
You're using it as a crutch
But I had to kind of learn it over again because I was suddenly so excited to get to say anything I wanted that I was like fucking this and fucking that and I listened back and I was just like,
yeah, yeah, yeah.
What I always thought you did such a great job of doing you do it when you were like on a panel like on a guest on a talk show or whatever you found ways to I think a lot of people you were for a long time considered kind of like dirty or you would do you would dress jokes up you you never knew what you trojan horse like you'd
come in and you dressed up and be kind of super bright about it and then the punchline
would be really dark and you found a way to constantly it's kind of going back to Sean
I feel I sound like an old man like you were edgy but you found ways to push the boundary
and you didn't necessarily swear but you did not shy away from making jokes
that were hit really hard?
I never felt dirty.
Like everyone would be like,
she's a putty mouth and she's dirty.
And I guess I am, but like, I never feel that way
because I was raised in a house where you used just,
the words weren't taboo, you know?
So it's not like I swear a lot really.
It's not like I use technical language or explicit, maybe.
Right, you didn't say fuck a lot.
You didn't do that at all.
Like you found a way to bring people to a punchline
that was potentially really, they hadn't heard it before
and it was kind of dangerous
and you were kind of pushing the boundaries.
Can I ask you this?
So are there any kind of, Jason asked you if you want to do like a drama or anything
like that, but are there any like comedy people for reals that you would want to work with
or comedy directors that you think like, oh, I can-
You know, I haven't done a lot of comedy.
Well, this is the thing is the things I've been in in comedy, like in movies, it's like,
this has changed a lot, but since, you know, it's the angry girlfriend or the angry roommate
or the sleazebag executive, but it's like,
so I go, after a while I go,
I just don't even want to be in comedies
because the access I have to comedies is, I can't be a comedian in a comedy playing a straight role.
It doesn't, it's stupid of me. It doesn't, I don't make money from doing movies. I lose money making movies.
Of course, yeah, of course.
I get the least amount of money. I can't be on the road. You know, so that's why it's like dramas or something where I'm in like someone else's domain is just makes sense.
I just want to play the out. If I'm in a comedy, I want to be funny in that.
Right.
And otherwise, you know, I just want to do interesting things.
You know, I like acting, but I like doing everything.
Sarah, I don't even know where to go. I mean, we could talk to you all day.
It's so fun having you here.
You've been talking for so long. I can't imagine.
I'm so sorry.
We're taking a lot of your time.
Very generous.
I'm so happy to be just seeing you and talking to you.
Likewise.
But we'll wrap it up.
Let's someone wrap it up.
We're going to wrap it up.
But we're going to say you're an absolute delight.
You are a comic titan.
I'm going to say that.
I find you to be so fucking consistently hilarious.
You've made me laugh so many millions of times.
So thank you.
Royalty.
Yeah.
Royalty. Doesn't it make you feel all day?
I remember when Joan, when you go, Oh Joan, you're a legend.
She'd be like, fuck you.
I'm still vital.
You know, like it makes you feel done.
Yeah.
The next thing I do, you know how like your agent will go, ooh, but we got with or and for the credits.
And you go, who cares?
Why is that a thing?
I want and introducing.
That's really...
Sure.
I want them to fight for that.
My thing I keep going to is I'm asking my...
I'm like, I want to fight for...
In advance, fight for my position in the memoriam segment on like the Emmys and stuff.
I wanna get-
Oh, I'm already working on my reel.
I wanna get the final, yeah.
Final card.
Yeah. Fuck, and I wanna bring down the fucking-
Do you know the song, Will?
Do you know the song you wanna play?
Five Dollar Footloan.
Five Dollar, Five Dollar Footloan.
I love that fucking song.
We love you, Sarah.
Thank you, Sarah.
Bye, Sarah, thank you.
Bye, thank you.
Bye, Sarah Silverman.
Bye, thanks so much.
So funny, always, you know, there's that gross word again,
but always edgy, dark.
Like, she's the kind of comedy you choose
when you really want to, it's like truth comedy.
I always thought of her, and she's one of the cool kids.
She was just so funny in such a great, real way.
You're like, shit, man, I just don't wanna fuck up
around her, she's so funny.
I don't wanna be unfunny at any moment.
I don't wanna be a fucking loser.
Shit, you guys are so stupid to even think that, and then I just don't even get out of my car. I'd love to go see her do standup. I don't think to be unfunny at any moment. I don't want to be a fucking loser. You're so stupid to even think that and then I just don't even get out of my car.
I'd love to go see her do stand-up. I don't think I've ever...
I saw her do a stand-up at the Improv in Melrose and her opening joke was about rape.
Just to sort of drop the flag and say, here it comes.
So you have to be a fan and be open-minded,
but I am and I'm a huge, huge fan.
Well, I think, you know, and she made such a great point.
She's made a lot of jokes that like has taken people back
over the years or whatever, but she's right.
It's all about intention and her intention is good.
She's a good person and she's going the right direction
and she wants, I think that, that sometimes she has to
make jokes like that to kind of shed light on the other side.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And that's her style. Yeah. And I love it. I respect it. And she's got a
new podcast, the Sarah Silverman podcast, and it is great, of course. I've heard it.
It's fantastic. Yeah, it's super good. And she's a stone-cold babe. Yeah, she's she's don't go babe. She's babe. She's a stone-cold babe
And you know what the thing is? Yeah, we can say that the third thing is Smart. Bless. Smart. Bless.