No one can deny that Sarah Silverman is a risk-taker. The comedian and actress is known for her edgy takes on topics like sex and politics, and she’s just as quick to throw in a poop joke to keep the laughs coming. But sometimes risks, no matter how calculated, have aren’t rewarded.
As Silverman took the stage at MGM Grand’s KÀ Theatre, she thanked the crowd for being there for this “workout session” for her new special. If you haven’t been to KÀ Theatre, it’s a beautiful space that holds 1,900 people, which shows Silverman’s considering drawing power.
When I heard workout session, I assumed she must be filming a new special soon, and that this would basically be a run-through of what we could expect to see on television at some point—a polishing exercise to get the final kinks worked out and finalize her rhythm before taping.
Not so. Silverman, notepad by her side, used the hour set to work out concepts, find the meat and fat of new jokes, and pull from many directions to see if there was any gold. That’s a mandatory part of the process for any comedian, but it’s an extremely odd approach to take in a 1,900-seat theater, considering Silverman could walk into any club in the country and riff away.
There were certainly highlights, including her take on the way movies romanticize masturbation: “You never really see women masturbate in movies, but when you do they’re on their back and it’s very dreamy and sexy. It’s never, like, on their stomach dead-eyed and slack-jawed. They never show the work.”
Her unique thoughts on the benefit of having children was also a benchmark of the evening, “It’s great when you have kids, because kids are a great marker of time. When you have kids you can be like, ‘Well, Bobby was 7, so that was 1993.. When you don’t have kids, all you have is 9/11.”
The notes themselves aren’t the problem. From Bill Maher to Janeane Garofalo, comedians tour with notes onstage. But there’s a difference between a setlist and an idea napkin. Given the Las Vegas’ long history of showmanship, I’m baffled as to why Silverman would use this city the way one might use the Belly Room at the Comedy Store.
