By Doug Deutsch
Attending a Sarah Silverman performance is not like seeing most comedians, even in these unpredictable days. For as long as I’ve followed her, the 52-year-old comic/actress has always been one to push the envelope, not just content to make you laugh – but rather, to make you think as well.
For her recent “Grow Some Lips” Tour – which made a stop at Ocean Casino Resort’s Ovation Hall in Atlantic City earlier this month – Silverman was in rare form, tackling a myriad of subjects many might consider taboo, including the specifics of how men and women wipe their buttocks front to back (in hilariously graphic detail); Anti-Semitism (she’s Jewish; she also got a huge laugh from the crowd by pointing out that ‘probably every Jew in the Atlantic City area is here tonite’), the Catholic Church, and the Boy Scouts. During her hour-long set, Silverman took to sitting down on the stage, something we have never seen a “stand-up’ comedian do, making for a more personal in-concert experience.
Silverman often referenced her current beau, comedy writer/comedian/television producer Rory Albanese, as well as good friend, comedian Chelsea Handler, the latter whom she called a mensch (Jewish for ‘good person’).
One interesting situation occurred regarding a heckler in the front row, who evidently was upset with Silverman for a fifteen-year-old skit from ‘The Sarah Silverman Show’ where Silverman’s character wore dark face paint to see whether it is more difficult to be black or Jewish.
“I’m playing a character, and I know this is wrong, so I can say it. I’m clearly liberal. That was such liberal-bubble stuff, where I actually thought it was dealing with racism by using racism,” she previously explained in an interview with GQ magazine. “I don’t get joy in that anymore. It makes me feel yucky. All I can say is that I’m not that person anymore.”
The heckler – seated in the front row, dead center to the stage — also derided Silverman’s opening act and in this reviewer’s opinion, Ocean’s security personnel was totally justified in escorting him out of Ovation Hall. Silverman addressed the situation from the stage professionally and with no overt emotion – a true pro.
