MOVIE: Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic

Title: Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic
Director: Liam Lynch
Starring: Sarah Silverman, Bob Odenkirk, etc...
Production Company: Black Gold Films
Year: 2005

Review: I like Sarah Silverman for the same reason most other guys do. She is cute, funny, has a cute squeaky voice like a teenager and a mouth like a sailor who hasn't seen land in over six months docking on a topless beach for porn stars.

Primarily a filmed stand up concert, Jesus is Magic showcases Silverman's self deprecating and socially challenging humor as well as her penchant for song while backed by her band, The Silvermen. Silverman is obviously working the Lenny Bruce angle of comedy here when she freely tosses around racial stereotypes and dimestore realizations about the absurdity of all religions. Though unlike Lenny Bruce's era where offensive language and adult subject matter was frowned upon across the board, dirty language and taboo subjects will make you laugh, but don't seem to have the lasting power they once did. Even when you are immediately offended by one of Silverman's jokes, your first reaction is to laugh while before the next punchline hits, you are simply laughing instead of fuming or thinking the way Bruce's humor caused people to do.

Jesus is magic is framed in absurd skits and musical numbers that take you inside the mind of Silverman's narcissistic showbiz persona, which is purposely made a caricature. Mr. Show's Bob Odenkirk makes an appearance as Silverman's bumbling manager in a scene where she is outraged by the water chosen for her dressing room. Though some of the skits elicit a laugh, none of them are as funny as the stage material. At one point, Silverman offers up her most daring joke where she suggests that American Airlines change their slogan to "First to the towers." The great thing about her standup is that nothing is sacred. Blacks, Jews, Chinese, Jesus, Incest, Gays, AIDS. They all are fair game in the twisted mind of Silverman. The bad thing about this is that in our society, nothing really is sacred. The audiences of today are too quick to forgive and (more likely) forget, that social humor has become a tough game. Silverman masters it with her sweet voice and self-loving, innocent persona. Beauty and brains seem to be a good combination for standup comedy.

Even though I enjoy listening to Silverman wax comedic about anal sex and the quandary of Jewish people driving cars manufactured by companies with Nazi ties, I'm not so sure her stand up routine warrants a feature film. This Jesus is Magic clocks in at just a little over an hour, which makes me wonder if the Magic wouldn't have been better as a straight to video release or a HBO special. You will laugh out loud, just don't look at the price on your ticket stub until after you leave the theater.

Rating: 3.25 / 5