“I’m worried this isn’t a selling point, but it’s mostly about my parents dying last May,” Sarah Silverman says via Zoom.

The “it” she’s describing points to her upcoming U.S. comedy trek, straightforwardly named the Postmortem tour. Known for her sharp wit and mastery of deadpan humor, Silverman has spent more than three decades pushing the boundaries of stand-up and transforming uncomfortable topics—politics, societal doom, personal grief—into side splitting laughter.

Comedic relief is necessary for people to get over the difficulties of life, and for Silverman, channeling grief into work seems natural. The Weekly caught up with Silverman about her modern approach to comedy, touring, the upcoming election and what’s keeping her grounded.

I’m so sorry about your parents.

Oh, thank you. They died nine days apart last May, so it kind of became all about that. It’s less one-woman-showy, but it’s still hard comedy and a lot of relief laughs. It goes all over the place but the frame of it is about something.

You’re definitely a comic who’s not afraid to touch on difficult topics. What do you find funny nowadays?

I think as comics get older, your comedy should reflect where your head’s at. When comics stick with what worked when starting out they can become a caricature of themselves.

How do you recover when a joke lands in one city but not another?

When you’re on the road you realize [the audience] works as a group … mostly everyone laughs or no one laughs. If something eats sh*t, I just talk about it. I think of the audience as my friends, I’m exposing so much of myself and I wouldn’t do that if I didn’t feel comfortable. But I like putting myself in strangers’ hands because it makes them feel like family.

Over the years you’ve dipped a toe into acting and podcasting, in addition to your stand-up. What medium feeds your soul the most?

I think of myself as someone that does odd jobs. I’m a stand-up comedian to my core. I’m a comedian like the way someone is queer or trans, that’s who I am. But the podcast has become this outlet where I don’t have to be funny every second. People call in with serious sh*t and I really love connecting with them.

Since we’re in an election year, I wanted to ask, what are your thoughts?

Well, I’m a Trumper.

Oh!

No, haha! Could you imagine?

I was about to say that all my research has gone to waste.

It’s wild, because I’m a pretty political person and this [comedy] show is really for everyone. It’s about life and death. But while I’m on the road, I’m doing shows all through the election … My gosh. I’m trying to not be too confident because that’s bitten us in the ass before. What Kamala Harris says is that we’re the underdogs, don’t forget that. People have hope for the first time in a while, but we can’t rest on that; you have to show up and vote.

What do you do post-show in Vegas?

I’ve played poker and I wouldn’t mind a 1-2 or 2-4. But I don’t like high stakes and there’s so much money now, it’s hard to get the lower dollar table. My dad, he loved to gamble, but he’d be like, “I got $100 in my pocket, and I’m not going over it!” Sometimes it’s fun to just watch. But I mostly just like to find a diner, do a little postmortem—which happens to be the name of the show—go into my room, find Law & Order and call it a night.

SARAH SILVERMAN September 28, 8 p.m., $55+. Pearl Concert Theater, ticketmaster.com.

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