There's a joke here that perfectly captures Sarah Silverman's skill set as one of our most compelling living storytellers and most uncompromising comedic voices.
It's a tale about her sister, who got so blitzed one night, when she got home and stripped off her clothing, she could barely make it to the bathroom in time to vomit. As Silverman tells it, in the process of helplessly regurgitating the contents of her stomach on her hands and knees, her sister experienced a frightening tugging on her underwear from behind.
It's such a riveting story the entire room is silent, rapt with worried expectation about where Silverman is taking us, after a healthy, funny mix of social and political criticism, dirty sex talk, an incisive look at the abortion debate, and critiques about gender inequality and the unrelenting male gaze.
And then the punch line arrives, like a mudslide, and Silverman rightfully pegs the reaction as a "relief laugh." She's quite meta about her standup during A Speck of Dust, which actually renders this a warm, inviting, darkly charming special despite how alienating (and occasionally, purposely corny) some of the jokes might be.
As the title implies, Silverman is keen to find perspective in a mad world. Luckily her most recent search was captured at a time when she's still among the most vital and brilliant comedic minds of our time.
Exclaim! is reviewing every standup comedy special currently available on Netflix Canada, including this one. You can find a complete list of reviews so far here.
It's a tale about her sister, who got so blitzed one night, when she got home and stripped off her clothing, she could barely make it to the bathroom in time to vomit. As Silverman tells it, in the process of helplessly regurgitating the contents of her stomach on her hands and knees, her sister experienced a frightening tugging on her underwear from behind.
It's such a riveting story the entire room is silent, rapt with worried expectation about where Silverman is taking us, after a healthy, funny mix of social and political criticism, dirty sex talk, an incisive look at the abortion debate, and critiques about gender inequality and the unrelenting male gaze.
And then the punch line arrives, like a mudslide, and Silverman rightfully pegs the reaction as a "relief laugh." She's quite meta about her standup during A Speck of Dust, which actually renders this a warm, inviting, darkly charming special despite how alienating (and occasionally, purposely corny) some of the jokes might be.
As the title implies, Silverman is keen to find perspective in a mad world. Luckily her most recent search was captured at a time when she's still among the most vital and brilliant comedic minds of our time.
Exclaim! is reviewing every standup comedy special currently available on Netflix Canada, including this one. You can find a complete list of reviews so far here.
