Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic (2005) User Reviews

What's a nice Jewish girl doing in a movie like this?

[Red-125 · 8/10 · 20 November 2005]

Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic (2005), written by Sarah Silverman and directed by Liam Lynch, was shown at the High Falls Film Festival in Rochester, New York.

Sarah Silverman is a unique comedian, and the movie is unique as well. Silverman is strikingly beautiful, and startlingly filthy-mouthed. The result is comedy that is not actually funny per se, but is funny because of the incredible contrast between what you expect and what Silverman delivers.

I've noticed that most reviewers can't refrain from quoting some lines from her performance. The problem with that practice is that if you read enough reviews, you've basically seen the movie. I'm going to refrain from revealing any part of her act. I'll just say that Silverman makes jokes about matters that society assumes can't be funny--9/11, racism, world hunger, AIDS.

Silverman delivers her act in a neutral, confidential way. The contrast between Silverman's straightforward, level manner and the nature of her comedy is what makes her unique.

My guess is that Silverman's humor would wear thin on repeated viewing. However, for the 72 minutes of this movie, she's very, very funny.

Notes:

Silverman was profiled in the 10/24/05 issue of The New Yorker magazine, in an article titled "Quiet Depravity."

Stay for the credits. They contain some funny bits.

Somewhere Between Lenny And Joan

[aguasmarked · 8/10 · 22 July 2006]

Of course there is nothing that could possibly survive between Lenny Bruce and Joan Rivers. That's why Sarah Silverman is unique. She reminds you of others but she's not like anybody else. The outrageous boldness of her comedy is the classiest piece of gross vulgarity I've ever came across. "60 million would be unforgivable" I was gasping and laughing without being able to stop. Dangerous stuff. Wonderful stuff. She's pretty like one of Charlie Chaplin's daughters. Awkwardly so, making the comedy all the more refreshing, shockingly so. I'm buying a few DVDs of "Jesus is Magic" and sending them anonymously to some friends and relatives. Oh yes, my targets deserve the side splitting pain inflicted by this superb Silverwoman.

Sarah is Magically Delicious (and funny)

[WriterDave · 7/10 · 11 December 2005]

I don't care that Sarah Silverman dates a painfully unfunny slob like Jimmy Kimmel or that she often says offensive things just for the sake of being offensive. Ever since her short stint on "Saturday Night Live", I knew she was a brilliant comedienne. Part of her appeal is her natural good looks and charming nature. She seems sweet and innocent, but what comes out of her mouth is often filthy and offensive. She delivers it straight with a style that is both perky and deadpan. She has a contradictory self-deprecating confidence that makes her rather unique in the world of stand-up comedy.

There's some misguided musical numbers and "skits" that are never quite as funny as they are conceptually. It's the stand-up bit that had me rolling in the aisles. Sarah pokes fun at everything from AIDS to the Holocaust to 9/11 and she wears her badge of political incorrectness with pride. In terms of her racial humor, she's more than just the white Jewish female version of Dave Chappelle, she's downright hilarious, and her unique delivery is what makes the off-color jokes go down so smooth. The film is brief at 72 minutes, so be sure to stay for the credits as they contain some funny bits.

Funny, but not spectacular

[IvanX · 6/10 · 12 November 2005]

I saw this movie on opening night last night with moderately high expectations and not a lot of knowledge about Sarah Silverman. I left amused but disappointed. Ms. Silverman is entertainingly acerbic, but ALL of this movie's strong moments come from her stand-up, and the air completely goes out of the film when she goes into her mediocre, poorly integrated songs and set pieces. (And what's up with her repeating the same punchless lines over and over in her songs?)

In the end, "Jesus Is Magic" bogs down under the weight of its own pretension. It would seem better as an ordinary cable special, especially if you removed the fluff and focused on her stage show. The movie wants to present Silverman as something more than a mere comedian, but unfortunately fails -- the haphazard presentation and (especially) the atrocious-looking digital video (I challenge you to find a single sharply focused object in the entire movie) make it unworthy of a cinematic event.

In other words, it's worth seeing, but wait for cable or DVD.

Holy cows make the best hamburger

[d_alexander · 9/10 · 5 September 2005]

Sarah Silverman is subtle, provocative, and disturbing. Her guileless, deadpan parody of profane ideas is like a naive child faithfully repeating something horrifying that she overheard her parents whisper. Reviewers who compare her to Andrew Dice Clay don't understand her comedy. Clay pandered to his audience's bigotry without irony, telling his audience what they wanted to believe but were afraid to say themselves.

A more apt comparison would be to Carroll O'Connor: a gifted writer, comedian, and actor. Sarah Silverman presents a persona that makes people squirm; she creates a dissonance between her apparent lack of anger or malice and her socially unacceptable material. To accuse her of racism, sexism, homophobia, internalized anti-Semitism, or going for cheap shock is to miss the point. Holy cows make the best hamburger, but it's easy to choke on if you're laughing.

Silverman forces audiences to confront their own gut reactions about unacceptable ideas without providing anyone easy to blame. She is a polite, educated, attractive young woman. To hear her say things we refuse to believe polite, educated, attractive young women think or would even admit is disturbing.

The Anti-Defamation League, the National Organization of Women, NAACP, and the Human Rights Campaign won't laud her as a transgressive comedian who forces audiences to confront their own unacknowledged bigotry. Sarah Silverman is not a social crusader; she is a comedian who tickles your funny bone with a sharp spear. She could preface all her material with, "Can you believe there are idiots who think, '(assume character, insert content),'" to avoid controversy. Gutted by incorporated disclaimers, her comedy would lose its ability to induce awkward guilt in her audience. The power of her comedy is its ravaging of social beliefs that we are all supposed to share.

No comedy is universal, but hers is biting, subversive, disturbing, and fascinating. Instead of laughing at her content, you laugh at the attitudes she portrays and worry if you should find them funny. You either miss the irony of her comedy or you have to appreciate her genius as an actor, writer, comic, and social critic.

Doesn't always work, but it's edgy and often funny

[guyfromjerzee · 7/10 · 31 March 2007]

I've seen Sarah Silverman in plenty of films and TV appearances, but this is my first time seeing her stand-up act in its entirety. Altogether, I enjoyed the film. I'm sure this won't appeal to all tastes, especially if you're easily offended. I wouldn't say Sarah is nearly as good as George Carlin or Richard Pryor or other classic envelope-pushing comedians, but she is good and definitely has a unique comic style (not something I say about many comedians nowadays). I like the way she delivers her profane, offensive humor in such a mundane fashion. I think it makes the jokes even funnier. The flaw in her comedy, in my opinion, is that despite her significant intelligence and wit, Sarah does have a silly, absurd side. Some of the musical numbers definitely bordered on the silly side. Altogether, the film is hit-or-miss, thankfully with more hits. And of course, Sarah is quite easy on the eyes, which is part of the fun of seeing her in a starring role.

"I always feel crappy when I do that joke...but it gets such a good laugh."

[moonspinner55 · 4/10 · 26 December 2009]

Sarah Silverman--with her gummy smile, coltish stance, and clear voice which bubbles up from deep within her chest--wants to come on like a huggable shock comedienne, yet she's more performance artist than stand-up personality. Cleverly and carefully (one may say 'precisely') dropping taboo words into her stories, Silverman gets laughs by pretending to lead the audience in one direction and then undercutting those expectations with a surprising low-keyed zinger. Silverman doesn't overwork a punchline--which are often nestled in the context of her stories anyhow--although she returns to older topics too often. Also, she relies far too much on pseudo-cute facial expressions and aw-shucks body language to soften the blows of her words, though the topics (9/11, the Holocaust, AIDS, vaginal sex versus anal sex) are tiptoed through in a facetious yet frisky manner. The fantasy edits, imagining Sarah in different manners of celebrity, work well, better than the purposefully-wooden prologue and epilogue with friends. Still, one expects to laugh more with such touchy material. Silverman is so laid-back and blasé, it's clear to viewers she is giving them a made-up creation. Other shock comics manage to make audiences feel as if they are hearing something true, but this personality that Silverman is displaying (playful, naughty, grounded, unaffected) is unabashedly artificial. This is entirely deliberate on Silverman's part, yet is tends to render her act phony: smoke and mirrors prodding at the national funny bone. *1/2 from ****

Refreshingly Crisp

[bgstahl · 10/10 · 21 March 2005]

I saw Sarah Silverman's "documentary" as my last event at the 2005 SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas. It provided a perfect, lingering finish to the week.

The film is one of the tightest pictures I've seen on comedy -- great clips from her live performances, with a balanced sprinkling of scenes about Silverman the person. I liked the use of her sister and brother-in-law to delve deeper into Silverman's approach to her craft. I see three things in Silverman from the work depicted in this film: (1) she catches our attention with stuff that is real -- themes with just enough current of truth; (2) she makes us pause and think with her incredible comedic timing; and (3) she relieves the tension, making our sides hurt with punch lines that elegantly tell us all not to take ourselves or life too seriously.

Those who take the time to research the background of Silverman's sister will appreciate the great wit contained in the simple act of casting her sister in the film. This flick takes a refreshing stab at people and life through comedy. Be sure to stick around for the outtakes – more great fun. I hope Silverman keeps honing her skills and doing great work. I imagine she will constantly be forced to ignore those who would like to restrain her. It's clear that Silverman works hard at her writing and her stage presence; stuff this good doesn't just happen.

Silverman and this film are like a great Zinfandel -- strong intoxicating elements, with layers and layers of transcending substance and flavor.

Silverman is Amazing, This Movie Is Not

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 17 July 2007]

Narrative digressions on sex, race, politics, and more from comedienne Sarah Silverman.

I love Sarah Silverman. I love her jokes, her songs, her face. So it saddens me that this is supposed to be her big break for a DVD. Even with Liam Lynch directing and helping write the song, it just never excels.

Some really good material appears on this movie -- some of her best jokes, and at least one really good song ("You're Gonna Die Soon"). But there is a lot of filler. The backstage scenes are not funny and serve little purpose, the opening and closing really are not funny, and the closing song is mildly amusing but more childish than clever. Worst of all, twenty minutes of jokes are stretched to 45 minutes due to a lot of pauses and silences. What we hear is great, but we have to wait too long to hear it. Cutting the video down in time, or adding more jokes would really have done wonders as far as keeping me laughing.

But there is hope. She has her own show now, which is doing well, and has one of the most memorable scenes from "The Aristocrats". So Sarah Silverman is just getting started, I think. Her next DVD, should there be one, will likely blow us all away.

The Nepotsim Files

[glgioia · 4/10 · 15 February 2007]

Stand up performer attempts to be the next Lenny Bruce and isn't.

Sarah Silverman is the bombing comic on the old Johhny Carson show, mysteriously given show business carte blanche a la the bizarro world. Is she offensive? Who can even say anymore. Pushing the boundaries of good taste in the year 2007 means a young woman can now stand on stage and tell "in depth" bathroom jokes one after another without clearing the house. Example:

Sarah: Cause now I'm at that point where I'm comfortable peeing in front of my boyfriend, and you know its kinda nice...now Im going to try it in the bathroom.

Not just A bathroom joke, but perhaps the Oldest bathroom joke in the catalog. Eyes on the prize ladies, lol. To be fair, the show isn't all 80 year old jokes and vaudeville/burleque. She has a few funny lines and even at her embarrassingly low moments, Sarah Silverman remains an engaging and attractive on-stage personality. Her overt charms notwithstanding, the question that kept running through my mind was not, How is "I hope the Jews killed Jesus, I'd do it again!! considered funny, but "Who exactly is this chick and 'Why exactly is she on my television?' Who exactly is Sarah Silverman other than a look alike for her namesake semi-successful not brother, Jonathan Silverman, and the next Mrs. Jimmy Kimmel? Is there such a dearth of female comics that this is what distills out of the machinery? I don't think so. I think Sarah only gets to do and air a bad show like this or get booed off the stage at an awards show because.... boyfriend Jimmy K has got a lot of juice! That is indisputable. Just as Sarah's nonstop passage on the Bad Comic Forgottenville express was abruptly interrupted as soon as she starting dating Mr. Kimmel is likewise not in dispute. That's Hollywood, and it ain't gonna change. Now if seeing the not particularly funny girlfriends of talented people act out in a feature length video/stand up thingamajig is your idea of a good watch, by all means, have at it, this movie is for you!! I'd personally prefer to watch someone with a little more talent. Or to take a page out of her act, Sarah Silverman successfully debunks the 'all Jewish comedians are funny' stereotype.

Austin Movie Show review - brutal, politically-incorrect and brilliant

[leilapostgrad · 8/10 · 11 December 2005]

I've never seen a stand-up comedy hour get national theatrical distribution before, but I know why this one did. Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic is some of the most subversive, brutal, politically-incorrect, and brilliant stand-up comedy out there. Silverman splices up the stand-up routine with silly and obnoxious musical numbers, and it works. Though it may not make $1 million at the box office, Jesus Is Magic will undoubtedly become a comedy classic along the lines of Eddie Murphy: Raw and Bill Cosby: Himself.

What makes Silverman so ballsy is fearless take on race ("The best time to conceive, of course, is when you're a black teenager"), religion ("The only time religion matters is when you have kids and you're deciding what to teach them. If my boyfriend and I ever have a kid, we'll just be honest with it. We'll say that mommy is one of God's chosen people, and daddy believes that Jesus is magic!"), rape ("I was raped by a doctor… which is kind of bittersweet for a Jew"), the Holocaust ("The Holocaust would never had happened if black people lived in Germany in the 1930s and 40s… well, it wouldn't have happened to Jews"), and 9/11 ("I think American Airlines' new slogan should be: We were the first to hit the twin towers") – every topic you're NOT supposed to joke about. Obviously these jokes are better on screen than read in print.

Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic is comic genius. Your cheeks will hurt from laughing so hard. It's the perfect cure for the holiday blues.

Sarah's Only Okay

[Hammeranvil · 11 November 2005]

I think the only people who would really find her work refreshing are people who are too used to lying and believing lies about social conditions and beliefs.

Too many of the people she pokes fun at (minorities, rights organizations etc.) are well aware that most people are bigoted and racist and are firmly committed to hiding this fact by confining their personal hatreds to what they think are subtle, undetectable acts of prejudice. Her comedy loses it's punch on people who have no illusions about what people think and what they say in their hearts or behind closed doors.

In other words, if you're well aware that most of the people smiling in your face are racist, bigoted bastards ... someone informing you of this fact isn't going to wow you all that much.

It wasn't that great.

[siderite · 6/10 · 12 April 2006]

We don't have a history of stand up comedy where I live and my only contact with the genre were Seinfeld, Jay Leno and Sarah Silverman at Jay Leno :) I did research the net a bit because I thought Sarah was both funny and incredibly cute at the Jay Leno show and I've read an excerpt from this show, with the funniest jokes. I've also seen The Aristocrats, where they showed her doing a hilarious bit.

So maybe because of this, I expected a lot from this show. Unfortunately, I got only to the point of a slight smile. The good jokes I already knew from the net article and they were 5 or 6 at most. The rest was just race jokes, porn jokes, old people jokes and (I loathe this) some silly songs. I understand there is a history of Broadway musicals financed by Jews in Hollywood, but movies are movies and singing is singing. Keep them apart! This also applies to cartoons.

In conclusion, Sarah Silverman is terribly cute, but this show is not really worth it.

Definitely has its moments, but lukewarm overall

[totallynatural1 · 5/10 · 19 November 2005]

I walked into the theatre fully expecting and eagerly anticipating the type of offensive, edgy humor Silverman is known for. And while there were certainly some great jokes (and songs!) that had me bursting out laughing, the rest of the movie only raised a smirk and an occasional chuckle. The ending felt particularly flat.

Some jokes just weren't creative enough to be funny, and I'm guessing Silverman hoped the shock value alone would get laughs. When you're sitting in a packed theatre and a "funny" joke/moment comes up, and you can only hear one or two people discernibly laughing - sorry, those are pity laughs. And there seemed to be quite a few points in the movie where this occurred.

So while I was walking out of the theatre thinking of several funny lines, as a whole Silverman's stand-up was so-so. I've laughed much harder and longer at other comedians' routines.

Joan Rivers without crutches.

[JohnDeSando · 28 November 2005]

A comedienne who looks like a cross between Marlo Thomas and Sandra Bullock pretty much can command the attention of an audience for 70 minutes even if her material is uneven. Sarah Silverman, Jewish and sassy, is neither borscht-belt loud nor SNL smooth; she's just out to gross you out with her out-there racism, sexism, and self-defecating humor.

Silverman is funny at times, fails sometimes, and smiles most of the time to let you know she's cute enough to get away with stuff Jon or Martha Stewart wouldn't dare for fear of alienating their WASP audiences. In this way she's closer to Sarah Bernhard and Steve Chappelle, or maybe Richard Pryor without his manic delivery and Joan Rivers without her Jewish crutches.

So what do I consider offensive and funny? Try "The best time to have a baby is when you're a black teenager." What do I consider offensive and not funny? Try singing "You're gonna die" in a nursing home and then shaking grandma's corpse in a casket. That reminds me--whenever she's not on stage, she's not funny, as if the stage protects her from the PC police and her own poor writing. At least a third of the film is staged offstage, so you have an idea why I award it barely a "B." Judging it only as film-making would land an unarguable "C" for its awkward editing and uninspired camera-work (the film repeats the same long shots and close ups as if it were a crime to vary from a lockstep pattern). It has an amateur look even for the low demands of documenting a stand-up act.

As it turns out, I spent some of the time admiring her as she does herself in a mirror, making out with herself on that mirror. Now that's a bit I never saw before. I did laugh at her girlish correction of a PC violation: "When I say 'retards,' I mean they can do anything." That's the wit she could fire at us in more rapid succession to let us see the brain behind the beauty.

Good, but it seemed to be lacking

[Agent10 · 7/10 · 13 January 2006]

Sarah Silverman has established herself as the preemptive voice for the female comic, but sadly, this movie isn't her opus to the genre. While she has some very heady and socially deliberate jokes, there seems to be a real lack of material. I blame the songs. though they were funny and pretty entertaining, they seemed to take the life out of the movie and force the viewer to reassert the notion that "I'm watching a stand-up comidienne."

Sarah Silverman will crack me up till the day she dies, or when I die, whichever comes first. But hopefully, she'll try to make another movie that seems fitting to her talent and her deadpan outlook toward life and race. Watch this movie because Sarah brings a different breed of comedy to the screen, but don't look at this film as her shining moment in the medium. That movie is still on the horizon.

Mr. Black Rating B-

[dvdguy2005 · 6/10 · 24 December 2005]

2005 Toronto Film Festival Report: Back out in the sun and over to the Paramount of the next film: "Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic". Sarah was there to introduce the film, but she did not stick around for a Q/A afterwards. Never seen "Sarah Silverman" do stand-up before, but I have seen her on Talk shows and the like. To be honest, was not sure what to expect.

Sarah has a potty mouth! Very politically incorrect (in a good way), and completely fearless.

Plot Outline: Narrative digressions on sex, race, politics, and more from comedienne Sarah Silverman.

And she does it all. I like her delivery… she 'pauses' well. It isn't rushed; Sarah allows time for the words to sink in. Now the film itself is basically stand-up… and a number of songs/skits intertwined. Sarah has a decent voice, is quite beautiful in my mind, and dirty too! Should you rush out and see this film on the big screen? Nah. HBO or DVD will do just fine. In her introduction Sarah said "Ah… comedy at noon" (The screening time was 12:30 in the afternoon). Is comedy funnier at night? There was a Midnight screening of the film the night before, did it play better then? Maybe.

Quick story: Before the film I was chatting with a lady next to me about the festival. She was seeing 30+ movies, but was a little disappointed about the lack of German language films at the festival this year (only two). She was obviously of German decent. About half was through the film Sarah starts ragging on Jewish folks that buy German cars (Sarah is Jewish). The lady beside me starts to squirm a bit. Sarah moves from the stage to a sing skit where she once again starts to sing about Jewish folks buying German cars. The lady beside me stood up and left. As I watch her leave I thought to myself... what would Sarah think of that? "Yeah... I got someone to walk out, must be doing something right". Or would she be disappointed that the lady just did not get it. As Sarah says several times during the film, "It's just a joke folks". However, for some, it just might be too much.

I'm not sure why they call it a "movie"

[apexdawning · 3/10 · 9 June 2006]

Because it's really not. It's stand-up with two little bits of plot tacked on to the beginning and end of the DVD.

I rented this last weekend because I like Sarah Silverman's acting - I was a big Greg the Bunny fan - but I find her comedy sort of lackluster. I'm not sure I can explain why, it just seems kind of forced, like she's in high school and she's trying to get all the popular girls to like her. "Look, I said something offensive! Do you like me now?" Anyway, I was pretty disappointed when I found out that it was not, in fact, a movie, but a "look what I can do" showcase of Silverman's alleged talents. It was the most self-absorbed thing I have ever seen. I can truly believe that this movie-thing is based on the premise that she wrote a show in one night.

So, in summary, great for people who like Sarah Silverman's stand up, not-so-great for Greg The Bunny fans.

What Sarah says and how she presents it differ

[NJtoTX · 8/10 · 25 December 2005]

I saw this film on Christmas Day. It was pretty obvious that the audience was just a wee bit, shall we say, Jewish??? This definitely got her some points - we were all comfortable laughing and not worried about how it would go over with the goyim.

There is a bit in the film involving her understudy, which applies well to what has been written in reviews here. Those who 'get' Sarah and her humor don't care to hear someone else deliver the lines. So when you see quoted material in reviews here that ask 'now how is that funny?' I submit that they don't know the difference between Sarah Silverman and the understudy. I can't tell you why it's funny, but it's her personality that sells the jokes.

Actually, I forgot virtually all the lines and jokes the instant the movie ended. And that's not a bad thing - the film 'right-brained' me. It wasn't perfect, missed at times, and I was a bit tired going in. But I left with a big smile on my face and those others who analyze the words didn't.

FYI - If you like this film, catch Sarah in The Aristocrats.

"Oh lord, please let them find semen in my dead grandmother's vagina."

[jzappa · 7/10 · 12 May 2011]

Sarah Silverman is clever, hilarious and sucker-punches you with unanticipated reversals. She's one of the most skillful current young comics at prickly and violating humor that cuts through the watered-down amateurism of so many modern male comedians who kill their own timing with a rock-star façade and stadium atmosphere. Silverman is tall, brunette and certainly attractive, and she says outrageous things with the clear-cut diction and self-assurance of a girl who was raised knowing how to make a good impression. The detach between what she says and how she says it is part of the effect. If you're going to use not merely the homeless and the handicapped but sacred cows like cancer, AIDS and 9/11 in jest, it's good to know how to pick up the go-ahead from the audience. Her way of doing that is by seeming as if to be too polite to understand what she's saying. When she uses the word "retards" she at once clarifies that it's offensive and explains: "When I say 'retards,' I mean they can do anything." None of her shticks last long enough to develop. She gets a laugh, and then another one, a third, then quits while she's ahead and goes off on another trajectory. We want her to persist more, heaping one political black eye on top of another. We want to see her in a groove.

Jesus is Magic is not the best showcase for that like it should be, seeing as it's a theatrically released feature film. There are episodes of her show The Sarah Silverman Program on Comedy Central that strike comedy gold. Jesus is Magic hardly even plays as a greatest hits tape by comparison to the episode in which Sarah becomes enraged with the Mongolians after learning that her Russian ancestors were raped by them, or the one where she tries to raise awareness about 9/11 by staging a play in which the Twin Towers are speaking characters and a performer dressed in black tights stretches his arms out and chases them, to which they respond with lines like, "I'm a nice building! Why are you doing this to me?" Here, she cuts away from the performance to small sketches. The opener, in which her sister Laura and her friend Brian Posehn boast about their recent endeavors, is funny because she impeccably plays someone who has never finished anything and never will, and lies about it. Then we see her in a car, singing a song about getting a job and doing a show, and then she does a show. No problem. But what's with the scene where she amuses the elderly folks at her grandma's nursing home by singing a song telling them they'll all die soon? It works owing to the ostensible oblivion of the old people, but to talk about the film's editing pattern is to imply it has one. There are brusque and sudden cuts between various forms of material: She's on stage, then she's at the nursing home, back on stage. There's a way to make that changeover, but it doesn't necessitate a cut that seems like she was barged in on in the middle of something. And the movie ends too hurriedly, lacking any sort of culmination or conquest in the material. Her act seems brought to a halt a mile before the border. The 70-minute running time is worthy of note, because if you take away the offstage scenes, we see less of her than a live audience would.

If Silverman were untalented or her material wasn't funny, those criticisms would've been a lot easier to write. I love Sarah Silverman. She has a genuine flair, and she is hilarious in a way that's her own. And, as I described before, I think she is skillful at honing writers to her distinctive, self-consciously low-brow style. Jesus is Magic is still a fun watch, but it's mostly because of inestimably hilarious one-liners that she springs on you in pitch-perfect form with the persona I've described, like "I was licking jelly off of my boyfriend's penis and all of a sudden I'm thinking, 'Oh my god, I'm turning into my mother!'" It's just that this is a vehicle that could've launched her, and it's basically a shapeless succession of sometimes hilarious and sometimes not…well…stuff.

Malicious, cruel and worst of all, not very funny

[glimgliree · 1/10 · 18 January 2007]

Sarah, honey, do you want Santa Claus to bring you toys on Christmas? Then become a Christian. We don't trash Hanukkah and Passover, so show a little respect for our holidays, okay? Everything goes wrong here: the ultra-cheap production values, comedy routines that are no more than mildly funny and sometimes misfire, and mean-spirited musical shorts that leave you wanting to sit Silverman down and give her a parental lecture about respecting other people. One bit with the star running around a nursing home screaming "You're gonna die soon!" to the elderly residents is particularly cruel. Sarah, what was supposed to be funny about that? I'm not persnickety about edgy humor. However, there's a fine difference between edgy and just being a jerk. Silverman's a jerk.

Funniest stand-up show ever

[cattledogit · 10/10 · 9 August 2017]

This is the funniest stand-up movie I've seen, and I don't make it through most of them. It's far better than its 6.5 IMDb rating. Some viewers who were offended gave low ratings. What did they expect? If you don't like edgy, possibly offensive, humor watch something tame like a romcom or sitcom.

I just don't get it.

[lastliberal · 6/10 · 1 June 2007]

First, I have always been attracted to Sarah Silverman. I cannot explain it, but there is something about her that just lights me up. I really looked forward to seeing this movie.

Having said that, I cannot understand her humor or this movie.

It just wasn't funny. Simple as that. Jokes at the expense of others are cruel and do not make me laugh. I really believe that Sarah could be a great comedienne if she focused on political humor and used her capabilities to expose the injustices in the world, rather than spew racist crap that just isn't funny.

Racial jokes aren't funny. Fart jokes aren't funny.

Sarah, you coulda been a contenda!

just not funny

[rustyshakleford_42 · 1/10 · 25 April 2006]

It's not edgy, it's not a dangerous and daring send up of our conceptions of American culture, it's just very poorly done comedy. Sarah Silverman has no sense of craft or relevancy. For instance, her MLK joke would have been so much better if she had mentioned something relevant, like his rumored infidelities. But instead she has him farting in a car with all the windows rolled up and the heat still on. This is just tasteless. I fine with raunchy humor when it is done well, but Silverman does nothing but spew out an assault of meaningless fart jokes. If it were not for the professional quality of the filming I really would think she got high and wrote this in the mourning to preform later in the day as the into suggests. It seems like she just got up on stage and read unrelated jokes from her B notebook. This movie is not worth seeing, I am shocked that this film could get the funding to be made.