Sarah Silverman discusses Nashville politics, how context inspires her humor

Few people are better equipped than Sarah Silverman -- who plays The Ryman Auditorium for her "Grow Some Lips" tour on Mar. 22, 2023, at 7 p.m. CT -- to discuss humor's importance as an aid in navigating the absurdities and traumas of post-modern, post-COVID life.

Tickets for the event start at $35 and are available via https://www.ryman.com/event/2023-03-22-sarah-silverman-at-7-pm.

"The new drag laws in Tennessee are insane, but from the standpoint of making it illegal to have a show -- I mean, as a comedian, that touches my world," Silverman says to The Tennessean, diving directly into the particular absurdities and traumas that some feel are directly impacting their humanity as Nashville residents.

"These [politicians] are people who have never once in their lives ever been interested in investigating the world of drag on any level. However, they make laws based on fear and [fear-mongering]. I have nothing but love for people -- all people, including those who have these fears and are influenced by politicians manipulating them. The politicians? They can go to the hell I don't believe in."

"People who make laws need to invent emergencies -- it's like when [Donald] Trump said that there were caravans of violent, rapist Mexican immigrants coming to get us and then when he was elected, that problem disappeared," Silverman adds.

"I have very little compassion for politicians who make decisions for people based on their own unevaluated lives. They're disingenuous and filling an unfillable hole in themselves by not working for their constituents but to line their pockets."

2023 finds Silverman 30 years into a career that began, on a mainstream level, as a cast performer and writer for Saturday Night Live in 1993.

Currently, she's busier than ever.

Aside from guest hosting gigs on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and Comedy Central's "Daily Show," she's also in Hulu's "History of the World: Part II," hosting TBS' "Stupid Pet Tricks," plus recording an HBO comedy special while amid a 22-date tour, nationwide, through May 2023.

As well she's a Primetime Emmy Award-winning actress and creative with nearly 150 credits to her name, including Comedy Central's "The Sarah Silverman Program" from 2007-2010, a comic memoir, "The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee" and her current side project, "The Sarah Silverman Podcast."

The perpetual motion of her is made more impressive when she states the following:

"I hear comics say that we can't say anything anymore. That's true. But I'm progressive, so it breaks my heart that people get canceled without redemption for trying to lead the way back -- in divided, fear-filled and violent times -- to the joy apparent in making fun of hard stuff."

"It's corny to say this, but we can still talk about and make fun of anything if the [purity in the] heart of the matter transcends through it. Of course, comedy is subjective, but I view my job, especially in these times, as discovering how and when humor is better than heartbreak."

As much as Silverman's statements denote a particular high-minded notion to her comic art, she's also the person responsible for the following lyrics from the song "You're Gonna Die Soon" -- as sang to a room of geriatric patients in a nursing home -- from her 2006 film "Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic."

"You're gonna die soon / We're all going to die / But not as soon as you guys / You're gonna die / You're gonna die / You're dying."

As is the tradition in SIlverman's brand of comedy, a social taboo -- like her work discussing racism, sexism, homophobia, politics, and religion, among many issues -- is delivered in a deadpan fashion.

When asked to break down the logic and theory behind her stylings, she makes a one-word statement, then dives into making the previously mentioned song.

"Context."

"Currently, my dad (famously, the person responsible for teaching her to curse as a child) is 85 and we always joke about death," Silverman says.

"But when I was making 'Jesus Is Magic,' I was working all day with elderly actors -- one of whom was an 89-year-old woman who was an Army veteran whose body I had to slam a coffin lid on. So pushing past awkward taboos together via laughter is uncomfortable but beautiful."

Silverman then quotes PBS icon Fred Rogers and Garry Shandling -- a comedic inspiration and former peer who passed in 2016 when asked to dive deeper into how context drives her skill.

"Nobody is more qualified to be you than you."

As well she adds from Shandling, "Just be yourself. Don't worry about being funny; just worry about being yourself."

"Aside from being great advice for comics, that's just great advice for humans in general," Silverman says.

"People walk around thinking I'm not enough. All we have to do is be in better touch with ourselves by figuring out where we come from and who we are."

"Im sorry. I'm not being funny. This interview is all so corny," she says, off the cuff, to The Tennessean. Then, as if lifting the veil of her fourth wall back to roughly a second or third level, she endearingly does a metaphorical peering over the veil to make a final, touching statement about her work.

It humanizes the caustic nature of her 30-year career.

"At my core, I love people so much and hope that comes through."

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Sarah Silverman discusses Nashville politics, how context inspires her humor