Sarah Silverman

Whenever people ask me who my favorite standups are (as if this happens) my response is always “Louis CK, Demetri Martin, Patton Oswalt, John Mulaney, and Bo Burnham, but not necessarily in that order.” It’s automatic, it’s not even something I’ve had to think about. Or at least not in the moment. Every time I watch a new show, I try to rate it against everything else I’ve seen. Funnier than Chewed Up? That’s pretty good. Dick jokes that fall flat? No thanks. But, during the process of making my SDA, I’ve come to question why there aren’t any female comics in that list. I’ve laughed at Sarah Silverman easily as much as I have at John Mulaney, and probably harder at that. I thought that Amy Schumer’s Leather Special on Netflix was awful, but Inside Amy Schumer is hilarious, and Live at the Apollo was fantastic. I have memories of lying on the floor of my basement, crying laughing when, at the end of A Speck of Dust, Sarah Silverman asked a Protestant if he would let God cum in his mouth (https://youtu.be/uVOxSrGrDDw). That joke has stuck with me for over a year. The man said no, because of course he would, but isn’t that amazing? You would die for your God (or so you say), and you won’t sin for your God, but you won’t let the omnipotent creator cum in your mouth. The point she makes is one I haven’t heard before, even though I’ve heard hours of standup by angsty atheists (Ricky Gervais, Patton Oswalt, etc). Anyway, I’ve realized that I shouldn’t forget female standups. It’s unacceptable, especially in an industry that’s overwhelmingly male-dominated.