The Evangelist

I just learned that Sarah Silverman is coming back to town. I also learned that she's in production on a film version of her unbelievable show, "Jesus is Magic". Zoinks! This is a movie that will never been be shown in Peoria.

Sarah Silverman is probably the most dangerous comedian I have ever seen. People talk about "edgy comedy" and then discuss Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. Now don't get me wrong. I like Robert Smigel's work a lot. I think Triumph is pretty funny. I also think "The Ambiguously Gay Duo" is great. And I think his "Fun with Real Audio" is creative. BUT if it's on network or non-pay cable TV, how edgy can it really be?

Case in point: Sascha Baron Cohen is probably one of the most subversive comedians around at this point and his outlet is HBO. I think what's dangerous about SBC is how he can sometimes get people to agree so easily with his offensive views. And also, how the presence of a camera and the promise of being on TV can make people either proffer or support completely silly views.

But Sarah Silverman is in a completely different class. She's something like a combination of Lenny Bruce, Steven Wright and Sascha Baron Cohen. Did I mention that she works blue? Not boring, uncreative, "shock jock", Andrew Dice Clay blue. Silverman's in her own class of deeply peculiar blue. I found her last show to be an emotional roller coaster of laughing and being so shocked I forgot to breathe for whole minutes at a time.

I don't want to give away too much about her work though. I'll just say that she's at Ars Nova for three nights coming up in September. I dare you to go!