Meeting in the Aisle: Sarah Silverman

Every so often I come across a subject on which I feel compelled to write. This is an example.

Comedy has, to put it lightly, a chequered past in terms of political correctness. In the 1970s, English comedian Bernard Manning became popular for his style of comedy which involved jokes about ethnic stereotypes and minority groups. He was effectively gradually exiled from TV appearances before his death last year.

Since then, we have had Jim Davison, Roy 'Chubby' Brown and, more recently, Michael Richards making a living out of telling jokes about people of different religion, race or creed to them. More on this later.

One of Bernard Manning's most famous quotes is: "I tell jokes. You never take a joke seriously. We have to tell jokes about everything and everyone." It's a motto which may well be employed by the newest 'star' of the comedy world, Sarah Silverman.

I had only heard Silverman's name in passing before coming across an article about her in Saturday's Guardian newspaper. If necessary, you can get a clear, and much better written picture of her personality and upbringing from Katie Puckrick's largely partisan piece.

Having read the article, in which Puckrick quotes a couple of Silverman's most shocking 'jokes', I felt compelled to visit youtube and check out her stand-up for myself.

You can make up your own mind about it (the video follows this post).

Silverman reels off a tirade of astonishingly crude, tastless jokes, seemingly experimenting with just how far she can go.
"I love how Palestinians and Jews hate each other," she says. "It's so cute. Honestly, what's the difference? They're brown. They have an odour. It's like sweet potatoes hating yams."

She goes on to talk about how the most precious diamond in the world can only be found on the tailbone of Ethiopian babies who are de-boned in order to attain the jewel, and it is "so worth it."

You name the taboo, Silverman dives right in and attacks it head on.

In the Guardian interview, she is quizzed on the controversy surrounding her racist material. She implies, somewhat limply, that anyone who does not understand the irony of her statements simply does not understand the humour.

There are many comedians who play racist, bigoted, prejudiced characters or personas. The key to it all, however, is that the audience should always be able to tell where the line is. If a comedian is making a comment on society, making us laugh and then making us feel shame and question our morals, this is often a clever piece of social commentary. Anyone who has seen Pip Utton's superb 'Adolf' will understand this incredible feeling.

Questioned further, Silverman would probably argue that her onstage persona of 'Sarah', who she plays in her new TV show 'The Sarah Silverman Show', is not her. It is an extreme version of the views of society which are stifled by political correctness. I would argue, however, that the aim of the comedian does not make a lot of difference. To me, all Silverman is doing is standing in front of a microphone and telling racist jokes.

Bernard Manning, Jim Davison, Roy 'Chubby' Brown and co are frowned upon nowadays. They are considered to be bad memories of bygone era when these kind of jokes were ok. We are supposed to live in a tolerant, multi-cultural society of intelligent individuals. To me, what Silverman is doing is not very far removed from these guys. It is not just her, either. There is a worrying trend in the comedy of Ricky Gervais, Chris Rock and others who come onstage as themselves and say things which make the audience's jaws drop. Their defence is that it's 'ironic'. It doesn't wash with me.

There are the inevitable comments to accompany the youtube video, which sum up the counter argument:
"You don't have to like her, but calling her a racist makes you sound like an idiot"; "She's making fun of racism. That's what makes it a joke. It wouldn't be a joke if she were just saying racist things"; and " I just love how she can make everyone with an IQ over 70 laugh and make everyone else get angry and call her racist."

Silverman has the last word, as is her wont: "I'm not afraid to say something if I think it's funny, even if it's harsh or racist," she says. "I really think everything is fair game". Look at that Bernard Manning quote again.

Are we going backwards?