Episode 1644 - Sarah Silverman

Summary

Summary of WTF with Marc Maron Podcast
Episode 1644 - Sarah Silverman
Release Date: May 19, 2025

Marc Maron welcomes comedian Sarah Silverman to Episode 1644 of his podcast, engaging in a heartfelt and humorous conversation that delves into personal experiences, grief, Jewish identity, and the evolution of comedy. Below are the key sections and highlights from their discussion.

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1. Personal Anecdotes and Roller Coasters

Marc begins the conversation with light-hearted banter about being a proud cat dad, leading into a discussion about their recent experiences at Universal Studios. The topic shifts to roller coasters, revealing Marc's aversion despite occasional indulgence.

• Marc Maron [05:45]:
  "I don't love roller coasters. I can live without it."

• Sarah Silverman [06:30]:
  "I actually am. I have hearing aids. I never wear them, but I wear them to events where it's a lot of noise."

2. Hair Loss, Aging, and Self-Acceptance

The conversation transitions to personal topics such as hair loss and aging. Marc humorously discusses his own experiences and insecurities, while Sarah shares her perspective on embracing changes with age.

• Marc Maron [10:15]:
  "I think how much of a man's ego hangs off of their head in small strands somehow defines 40 to 85% of their masculinity."

• Sarah Silverman [10:50]:
  "There’s Something wrong with you if you really think it's going great."

3. Grief and Comedy in Sarah's Life

Sarah opens up about her Netflix special, "Sarah Silverman Postmortem," which addresses the passing of her stepmom and father. The duo explores the therapeutic role of comedy in processing grief.

• Sarah Silverman [17:05]:
  "It's really touching, it's very sweet. It's about the passing of her stepmom and her father within months of each other."

• Marc Maron [22:05]:
  "When you're at Largo and you're starting over and you're just like, I have nothing."

4. Jewish Identity and Family Dynamics

A significant portion of the discussion revolves around their Jewish heritage, family relationships, and the impact of their upbringing. They share stories about their parents, grandparents, and the cultural nuances that shaped their identities.

• Sarah Silverman [34:22]:
  "We were just Jews by default, really."

• Marc Maron [35:10]:
  "Great art, like, as you get older, even music and stuff, it hits you a different way."

5. Relationships and Personal Growth

Sarah talks about her relationship with Rory Albanese, highlighting how personal relationships influence her life and work. They also discuss the challenges of maintaining connections amidst personal and professional demands.

• Sarah Silverman [63:02]:
  "I'm starting to be a little more disciplined, and writing the book actually helped me with that a little bit."

• Marc Maron [64:24]:
  "It's rare when you have younger comics having deference for you."

6. Evolution of Comedy and Maintaining Relevance

The duo reflects on the evolution of their comedic styles, the importance of authenticity, and the challenges of staying relevant in the ever-changing landscape of comedy.

• Sarah Silverman [32:22]:
  "I don't want to do it all the time. I don't want it to be easy for him."

• Marc Maron [35:37]:
  "I like to add a little part, a little more to it. But, like, I fester about the same shit."

7. Closing Thoughts and Upcoming Projects

As the conversation winds down, Sarah hints at future projects, including independent films, and shares her experiences working with fellow comedians. Marc encourages listeners to check out Sarah's upcoming Netflix special.

• Sarah Silverman [80:28]:
  "I've been a lot more disciplined, and writing the book actually helped me with that a little bit."

• Marc Maron [78:24]:
  "Writing a book that you have to. Deadlines are amazingly helpful."

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Notable Quotes:

1. On Grief and Comedy:
   Marc Maron [22:05]:
   "When you're at Largo and you're starting over and you're just like, I have nothing."

2. On Self-Acceptance:
   Marc Maron [10:15]:
   "I think how much of a man's ego hangs off of their head in small strands somehow defines 40 to 85% of their masculinity."

3. On Jewish Identity:
   Sarah Silverman [34:22]:
   "We were just Jews by default, really."

---

Sarah Silverman's candidness and humor make this episode a profound exploration of personal growth, resilience, and the intricate relationship between comedy and life's challenges. Her upcoming Netflix special, "Sarah Silverman Postmortem," is highly anticipated and promises to deliver the same insightful and touching narrative discussed in the podcast.

Transcript

[Marc Maron]

Hey, folks, I've been a cat dad for a long time. Longer than I've been doing this show, in fact. And us cat dads, we don't always get a lot of attention. Maybe it's because people think we're just biding our time until we get a dog. But we're cat dads and we're proud of it. And one way we get big attention from our cats is when we've got treats for them. That's why temptations, America's number one cat treat brand, is calling 2025 the year of the Cat Dad. They're celebrating all the guys who are loved by their furry companions, especially when they've got a pocket full of temptations. Ready to go? Show some love to the cat dad in your life and tag your fave with hashtag catdad sighting. Give some love to cat dads everywhere. Yes. Hey, folks. Today's episode is sponsored by Squarespace. And if you have a business or you sell things online, you know how important a good website is. Not just to showcase your stuff, but to make sure you get paid. Squarespace gives you everything you need to sell whatever you want to sell. And they make sure you get all your payments on time with professional invoices and online pay portals. Plus streamline your workflow with built in appointment scheduling and email marketing tools. Check out all Squarespace has to offer, first by going to wtfpod.com and seeing a website powered by Squarespace. Then head to squarespace.com wtf for a free trial. And when you're ready to launch, use offer code WTF to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. That's squarespace.com WTF offer code WTF. Yeah, you know it. Do it. Let's do the show. All right. Let's do this. How are you? What the fuckers? What the fuck, buddies? What the fuck? Nicks, what's happening? I'm Marc Maron. This is my podcast. Welcome to it. How's everyone holding up? Sarah Silverman is back on the show today. Have not talked to her in a long time. I've known her forever. She's been on the show a few times. A live one back in 2009, a full talk in 2010, a short talk in 2016. And now it's time to regroup. So many people I've known for so long. She's got a Netflix special coming out this week called Sarah Silverman Postmortem. So I will chat with her about that. A little bit of grief talk, a Little bit of Jew talk. All right. But anyway, over the weekend, we. We shot some promos for the Bad Guys two, which I guess I think opens in August. The movie's going to be good, if you like that kind of animation stuff. This thing. This thing moves. It's got a good clip to it. But we were over at Universal. It's me and Rockwell, Natasha Leone, Zazzy Bates, Anthony Ramos, Danielle Brooks, Maria Bakalova. We were all there. Naquafina Nora, Craig Robinson, too, for a day or two. And we're shooting all these silly little pieces for this and that. And Rockwell's like, we got. Let's go on a ride. Let's go on a ride. We're right here. It's a Universal theme parks right there. And I'm like, all right, let's go. They couldn't make it happen the first day, and then yesterday they made it happen. And I don't know, you know, I felt pretty excited about it. And I forget that, you know, I'm not a huge ride guy. I can live without it. But we were in it, and I was in it, and I was like, let's do it. They walked us through a back door into the park so we could go on the Mummy ride. And somehow in my mind, I thought, like, yeah, man, I kind of like roller coasters. And I don't. I don't know where that came from. I had a wife who was very into roller coasters, so I did some roller coaster riding when I was with Mishnah. You know, I remember being excited that I did it, that I got through it, and that, you know, it was exciting enough, but somehow that switched in my head over decades to. No, I like roller coasters. So it's not even that much of a roller coaster. It's. It's. It's just a. It's just a lot of jerking around, and it's fast. But turns out, I don't love it. I don't. I don't love it. I. You know, it was me, Natasha, Leon, and Rockwell went on the Mummy ride. And, yeah, I got off, and there was one drop in there where, you know, it made me queasy for the rest of the goddamn day. Like, I didn't even see it coming. I'm not like, a guy who gets sick of things, but, boy, there's one drop there, and I was like, oh, my God, I'm. I'm sweaty now, and it jerks you around a bit. I got a little nervous. Like, there was the first jerk. I'm like, should I loosen my body? Should I tighten it? Am I gonna. Am I gonna get hurt in here? Am I gonna sprain a neck? Mine, but it goes so quick, and then you come up on a wall really fast, and then it goes backwards. And, you know, Natasha was like, we. I think we should be doing this every morning. And there was part of me that thought, like, yeah, I guess I feel. I don't know, engaged, but not great. Can't. I. Can't. I. I'm. I think it's a good ride. I just don't know. I don't know if it's for me, because I can feel jerked around and nauseous, you know, just moving through my day. It's usually mental. I get mentally jerked around. I hit walls all the time. I go backwards. I go side to side. The bottom falls out on me every day. But it's all internal, so I'm glad we did it. Seems like a fun ride. I just think that at age 61 here, I can say with a certain amount of confidence that I don't need to go on another roller coaster. I remember going on, going to Coney island and riding that old rickety fucking Cyclone. And that's a very specific thing. It's a small roller coaster, but there's something about it. Just maybe because it's old, I don't know. It's a very manageable roller coaster, but your fucking body is sore afterwards. And I don't know how much research they put into this, but there was something about that old Cyclone where you got a little nervous that it would fall off the rails, and you could just feel the woodenness of it and the kind of looseness of the. Of the wheels on the old rails and the way it jerks you around. Doesn't seem smooth or on purpose like the. This one. The mummy was clearly all intentional. They got to really pack it in because the ride lasts about 40 seconds and. But, yeah, not for me. I. I don't know why I feel like declaring that, but I'm saying it here. I'm saying it out loud. I may be done with roller coasters, but I think if you like the roller coaster situation, you'll enjoy it. I don't even need to plug it. Still a little queasy was yesterday. Think about what you can accomplish in three to six months. You could pick up a new hobby and get okay at it. If you really work on it every day, you could do about half of your New Year's resolution. 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See website for full details and important safety information. Yeah, get your hair going. I think it's better than flying to Turkey to get like, I don't know how they do it. There's where they just pull a flap off your ass and put it on your head. I guess I'm fortunate in that my hair is fine, but it's not falling out. My hairline has gotten higher, my forehead has gotten bigger. But I guess because of my age, I welcome it. I am not freaking out about it. It is interesting to me, but I guess understandable just how much of a man's ego hangs off of their head in small strands that somehow defines 40 to 85% of their masculinity. And I, I understand not being condescending. I'm fortunate, but I am letting mine slowly recede until I have one of those situations where got a nice full head of hair and back, but not much in front of, but it's happening slowly. Maybe I'll get through the life without it going too far back. I don't know. I don't know. There's things I just don't know about life, folks. So I, you know, I shot the special week and a half ago and there was part of me that was kind of like, oh, I'm gonna take a little time, man. Gonna get off, get off the road, take a break from comedy. But needless to say, I was back at the Comedy Store last weekend and I don't know, you know, something happened, something happened. I in the special. Well, you guys have known me a long time. There's always some part of Me, before I go on stage at a comedy club where it's not my show, but a show, there's some part of me that thinks I don't know how to do it, or that I haven't been doing it all my life, or that somehow or another I'm just not gonna do well, or that the audience is not gonna like me. It just never goes away, and it's so annoying. And I think, again, what I was talking about the last week, about this medicine I'm on, giving me a little space to assess these old patterns, these psychological habits. It's interesting. The ones that are just totally unfounded and kind of just a anxious habit that I do to continue to be an anxiety. So I don't ever give myself a break. But the other night, the store, it was packed, man. It was packed. Both rooms were packed. The place is great. It's always great. It's a fucking comedy store. And I went back because it's part of my social life. I, you know, I like to see other comics. I like to, you know, ground myself at the store. I feel part of that place. It's part of my community. But it was interesting because I was backstage in the main room and they. They were doing it differently. It was one continuous show. Like the original room where it's just like 15 acts. 12 or 15 acts. I had a 9 o' clock spot that usually starts at like 8. So I'm like, I'm going fourth. And it started at like 7:30. So now I'm going seventh. And it's literally packed. And that room packed is like 400 people. And there's some, you know, big acts doing big, big stuff, you know. Who was on? Well, I think Eliza was on. Harlan Williams and Whitney and then some. I can't remember who opened, but it was like, there's a tone to comedy. Like, I don't. I'm not the guy. I don't like a party atmosphere when I do comedy. I like some. Some. I like it to be settled. I like it to be focused. I don't. I don't like. I don't need, like, Yeah, I don't like. You like, oh, here we go. You guys ready? It's just like. Just take it down a fucking notch. So I'm breaking my brain backstage. I'm like, it's packed. They want. They're having a good time. They've seen like nine other people. They're all full of the juice. And I'm gonna go up there and I'm gonna bring them Down, I thought. But it was kind of interesting because I've been running this stuff so much and there's this chunk of material and you've heard it on here in different forms where there's this idea like, you know, just go out there and have a good time. It's like, what? When has it ever been a good time? I mean, I like when I do well, but I don't consider it a good time. So I went on after Whitney and I got out there and look, I'm going to talk about politics a little bit and I realize, and I. And you'll see that, you'll see this in the special too, that there is a different tone to it sometimes. But then at some point I'm just, you know, you'll watch it in the special. I'm like, I just want to be entertaining because I think we need entertainment. Now that I've said my piece about, you know, how I see the world and what's happening, how about some entertainment? And I do these two bits, this full. That full piece about evacuating the fires with my cats. And I went out there and I don't know what the fuck I'm thinking or why I always assume that I'm going to be at odds with the audience or at odds with people or whatever, or why I feel like I'm the outsider. It's just. It's not true. Somebody tell my brain it's not true. But the reason I'm talking about this and I'm happy that I notice it and I don't take it for granted is I just went out there and killed so fucking hard. And I guess I did have a good time because I didn't expect it. I thought, like, I'd have half the house with me on the politics and then, you know, I'd be, you know, kind of pull, you know, kind of trying to get out of that. But that shit killed. Everybody knows what's going on. Everyone's fucking nervous. Everybody knows it's fucked up. Of all, you know, all right wing, left wing, Republican, Democrat. After a certain point, there's no way to deny it's fucked up. And if you really think it's going great, there's something wrong with you. You're. You're. You're not a great person if, you know, seeing the amount of people that are scared or in pain or being denied their rights or their voice or ripped out of their homes, if that's something that you think is, like, makes this country what it is, and there's Something wrong with you. And I don't know, it just. It landed in a way that was so explosive. And then I did the cat piece and it's just huge. It was just. It was felt good to kill that fucking hard. And to know that, you know, in my bones already that I can do that. And then there's part of me that thinks like, well, why don't you just do that all the time? Why do you choose to do material sometimes that is provocative or challenging? And. And then I guess the answer to that is it's like, well, you know, I don't. I don't want it to be easy for him. I don't want to. What am I supposed to do? Just make them laugh. Come on, man, let's take it to the edge. See how, how far we can go and still get those laughs. Dig around in there. Let's go into the tunnel, see if we can get a laugh down there in the dark place. But that's just me. But I can lighten it up. I can just be funny. And it was exciting to do that. All right, look, you guys, Sarah's here. And I think I've known her since she was like 18 or 19 years old. And now we're grown people. And it was kind of nice to have a grown up conversation with Sarah Silverman. Postmortem, her new special premieres on Netflix tomorrow May 20th. And it's very touching, it's very sweet. It's about the passing of her stepmom and her father within months of each other. But. But she really, she really kind of, kind of keeps the balance. It's really something. All right, this is me and Sarah. I've been talking about trying to take it easy lately. And once I'm done traveling to make all my tour dates, maybe I can actually travel for vacation. That means I should think of some places where I can actually relax. I mean, I've been to a lot of places. I used to go to Kauai a lot. I went up to Vancouver island for a trip. The point is I can travel to enjoy the trip and not just travel for work. And the next time you're enjoying a vacation somewhere, you can have someone back home dealing with all the details to host your place on Airbnb so you can make some cash while you're away. An Airbnb co host is a high quality local co host who takes care of your home and your guests. And you don't have to worry about the listing or managing the reservations. The co host does all of that for you. Then they're available for anything your guests might need while they stay there. So relax, enjoy your time away knowing that a co host is taking care of everything. Find a co [e-mail] host all right. How's that? Too.

[Sarah Silverman]

No, I don't hear anything.

[Marc Maron]

No. Really? Why is that happening?

[Sarah Silverman]

Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Oh, there she is.

[Marc Maron]

Really? Are you fucking deaf?

[Sarah Silverman]

I actually am. I am. I have hearing aids. I never wear.

[Marc Maron]

Are you serious?

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

How long has that been going on? For.

[Sarah Silverman]

Years. That my hearing was shitty and I just kept going, what? What? And people around me were like, fucking, go. Fucking get your hearing.

[Marc Maron]

But, like, from when you were a kid.

[Sarah Silverman]

No, from, like. No, like five years ago or something.

[Marc Maron]

You just started losing your hearing.

[Sarah Silverman]

So I got hearing aids, like, a couple years ago.

[Marc Maron]

Oh, my God.

[Sarah Silverman]

I never wear them, but I wear. I'll bring them to a party or an event where it's a lot of noise.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Sarah Silverman]

And it's incredible.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

They work.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

And you can't see them.

[Sarah Silverman]

You really can't see them, huh? I mean. Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

So what's going on? Are we just aging? Is this just what's happening?

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah, we're just aging. I mean, it's. There's not a reason for it. I wasn't a drummer in a rock band or anything.

[Marc Maron]

It wasn't all those loud shows you were doing?

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah. No, nothing. I mean, there's not a good. Oh, I'm always near amps. No, no. My body is dying. My body's slowly stopping.

[Marc Maron]

Come on.

[Sarah Silverman]

And, you know, I finally did it because. Well, I was driving people around me crazy. And then I read something that said. Or no. You know who told me this? Rivers. Mark Rivers has them.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, he does. Well, he's been in the.

[Sarah Silverman]

Well, he has reasons. Yeah. And he said. I think he told me this, but I saw an article about it, too, where people who have hearing loss, untreated hearing loss, easily get dementia.

[Marc Maron]

But they're saying that about fucking everything.

[Sarah Silverman]

That's true.

[Marc Maron]

Like, everything.

[Sarah Silverman]

And I asked the hearing lady, the audiologist, rather about it, and she said, it's not something that happens in the brain. It's just because. And I totally relate to this, when you can't hear well, you just avoid loud, noisy places where you can't fucking hear anything. I've become my nana, where I'm like, what? And they repeat it and I go, I'm what? And they say it again, and I still don't hear it. So I just go, oh, yeah.

[Marc Maron]

And he still didn't hear. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You just kind of agree and smile. Yeah, but what's that got to do with dementia gasti. Hearing doctor?

[Sarah Silverman]

Yes.

[Marc Maron]

Because your brain doesn't get the stimulus.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah. Because you just stop socializing. Oh, yeah.

[Marc Maron]

But my, my dad has it.

[Sarah Silverman]

Oh yeah.

[Marc Maron]

And. And he hasn't socialized with anybody.

[Sarah Silverman]

Right.

[Marc Maron]

And like his wife, like, I worry about it all the time. Cause now it's just gotten to this point where she's like, she's annoyed, but she's taking care of him. But so that all the dialogue he has is her going like, just use the spoon. Just pick up this, you know, like just this. It's not hostile, but it's just.

[Sarah Silverman]

Well, that's the thing is when you can't hear and you keep saying what eventually your loved one goes, I said, do you want salad? And then you're like, you don't have to have that tone with me. I'm just a human being.

[Marc Maron]

But not wearing their hearing aids. Yeah. But I think that because my dad doesn't socialize, he's just always been kind of lost in his head. And now that's become a more confusing place, I think with a lot of silence. But I wonder if he, like. I don't know, it seems like I watched your special.

[Sarah Silverman]

You did?

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, of course.

[Sarah Silverman]

Wow.

[Marc Maron]

Postmortem, it was very good. As somebody who tried to deal with grief in a comedic way, it's not easy to do it, but.

[Sarah Silverman]

But I think it was because it's scary. You don't want it to turn into like. For me, and I'm sure for you, you don't want it to turn into like a one person show. You want it to be a stand up set. Right.

[Marc Maron]

Well, that's. But yeah, that's why I only made it a section, you know. But the thing is, when you deal with your parents, it seemed like first of all, you had not a lot of time with your stepmom or I guess with your father either from knowing they were dying to them dying.

[Sarah Silverman]

Right.

[Marc Maron]

But it was a few months to where you had time to adjust, show up and have the conversations that a lot of people regret not having.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah, I mean, totally.

[Marc Maron]

And there's no way that's not going to be hilarious.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah, I know.

[Marc Maron]

But there is that fear, like. Well, how much? Because when I was trying to run that stuff and I do everything much too soon in terms of like, right after she passed away, I talked about it on the show, but I was inconsolable. But I Was going on stage trying to find it. Cause I don't do it the way I don't write jokes. Yeah, you need to talk it through. And there were times where I'm like, I don't know. I don't know if I'm gonna be able to keep it together. Did you have that?

[Sarah Silverman]

No. I don't know why I didn't, but I didn't. I think there's an.

[Marc Maron]

You had closure.

[Sarah Silverman]

I really had closure. And I think I cried so much while it was happening because it was just so much. Yeah, it was just. And not that, like, once they were gone, it was. I ache for them. I miss them so much. But it was a massive relief in many ways as well. Like, especially with my stepmother, who just watching her suffer was awful. And she loved life so much. My dad was just like. He died of kidney failure, but it was pretty much of a broken heart. He could have probably fought it, gotten better, but he did not want to. He was talking to Janice.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, that's like the. That, to me, is the most revealing and funniest moment of the special, oddly.

[Sarah Silverman]

When I'm listening to the WhatsApp.

[Marc Maron]

No, the moment where, you know, they give her the diagnosis and your father goes, I'm alone.

[Sarah Silverman]

That's what I'm talking about. Yeah, yeah, I'm listening. We would have them record on their iPhones doctor's appointments as they got older so that we could listen back. We had a family WhatsApp chain, and then we could listen back and make sure everything was taken care of. And when. Yeah, when.

[Marc Maron]

Oh, so you heard that second, like, from the WhatsApp.

[Sarah Silverman]

I'm listening to them in their doctor's appointment, and the doctor. The worst thing you could hear, you know, Janice, I'm so sorry. You have stage four pancreatic cancer, and you just hear him go, I'm alone. I'm a widow.

[Marc Maron]

I'm alone.

[Sarah Silverman]

Psychopath. And it's widower, of course, but, you know.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, but it's like there's. There's something about a particular type of personality that, you know, like, my father's like, you know, a cantankerous Jew as well. And when his. Years ago, his wife was diagnosed with, you know, breast cancer. And she's okay now, but when. When she was diagnosed, I talked to my father. He goes. He says. I go, what's wrong? He goes, well, you know, Rosie. We just found out Rosie has breast cancer. I said, jesus, I'm sorry, dad. He goes, yeah, I got bad luck.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah, it's. I mean, It's. And of course screaming I'm alone is just wild narcissism. Like, I know, it's just unbelievable. And he was a total narcissist. But it was mostly adorable. But that was like very revealing and insane. Just insane.

[Marc Maron]

Well, it's adorable because it's a naturally funny thing. But the reality of it is like, it's horribly insensitive and weird.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah, he was losing his caretaker.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, exactly. He was losing everything.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah, his. Everything.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. But you know, the fact that the point to go to that lack of sensitivity innately, you know, when she's diagnosed is so crazy.

[Sarah Silverman]

Well, the plan with all of us was always that he would go first, you know, so it was like. And I feel guilty cause I remember yelling at him once. He was being a fucking asshole to her. And my dad was a delight. But he, you know, he could be an asshole to her. And I was just like, you know, anything you say to her, just know we will hear about it, you know. And I said, you act like, you know, all she's doing is trying to help you stay well. And you know what's gonna happen? She's gonna die first because you're killing her. You know. And then I felt bad. Cause she did.

[Marc Maron]

But you don't have to feel bad. It's all over now. It's all done. There's nothing that can. There's nothing that can be done. But how long did you. How long after they passed away or that he passed away did you start doing that material? Where were you working it out?

[Sarah Silverman]

Kind of immediate. Well, immediately that I was talking about it, because as they were dying, my last special came out. And I never do specials. I've done this before.

[Marc Maron]

Which one was that?

[Sarah Silverman]

The fifth special of my life. Yeah, it was called Someone youe Love.

[Marc Maron]

Oh, what was that about?

[Sarah Silverman]

It was just a stand up special Mat lots of thing. You know, I never. This is the only time I have like a team. And so my special came out as they were dying. So I was at zero. Yeah, you know, I was at zero. So when I went back to doing standup after they died, I had nothing. And so I just started. That's all I talked about. You know, I go, I have fucking nothing. You know when you're at Largo and you're starting over and you're just like, I have nothing. And I just used my. What I said at my dad's eulogy. Cause there were so many funny stories.

[Marc Maron]

To sort of start. Yeah, yeah. Well, that. But also I feels like in. In, in Terms of a genuine way. This is the first time you've really talked about yourself.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah. Yeah, I guess. Yeah, right.

[Marc Maron]

Like, you know, you're actually engaging with the reality of how you feel about your parents, your family.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

You know, their passing, your childhood, on some level, your relationship with all of your, you know, with your mom and her husband and then your dad and his wife, it all comes into play. And that seems like it's the first time that you've actually revealed yourself that way.

[Sarah Silverman]

Oh, yeah. Where I'm not, like, lying or making up a joke or something.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. Starting something that sounds, you know, like, oh, this is about her. Oh, no, it's not. It's about cock.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm kind of honest and sincere in it. But I get worried to say that because, you know, I guess I'm here to sell my special. And I always worry that people are.

[Marc Maron]

Gonna be like, don't worry. My audience. Are you kidding?

[Sarah Silverman]

Homework.

[Marc Maron]

My audience, they're like, oh, bring it. Honest, sincere, vulnerable, sad. Yeah, that's what we live for. Yeah. But like, that insecurity is so. It's kind of weird because we're organically funny people. I mean, there's plenty of people in our business where you're like. You meet them way back and you're like, there's nothing funny about that person. And they become, you know. Because they have a certain sense of commitment. It's very weird because I've known you since, you know, you started, and when I was only a few years in. Yeah, but there are peers of ours where I used to watch people that turned into funny people struggle. But the vulnerability of it, I mean, you didn't feel any shift from. I know there are points in the special where you'll tell a real story and then you'll throw a joke in because, you know, you need to kind of lighten it up. But you make light of that. It seems like there's a self awareness to it all that, you know, you're talking about real stuff and it's. And it's sweet, but you balance it and you found the humor in that real stuff. Did it feel different?

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah, yeah, it felt different. Yeah. But I mean, also, I'm not like, I'm different.

[Marc Maron]

I know.

[Sarah Silverman]

You know, I mean, so, like, yeah, my first couple specials were like, way more kind of hardcore.

[Marc Maron]

Jokes. Jokes.

[Sarah Silverman]

Character ish. You know, like, horrible person saying something sweet, you know, or like you had a good sense of the other way around. Sweet person saying something horrible. That's Right, whatever.

[Marc Maron]

That was your bit.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah, it was like my thing. And then I just, you know, as you grow and you change and you learn shit and you can't unring bells.

[Marc Maron]

You know, it's kind of interesting, though, because that was your bit for a long time, and on some level, it still is. It's still the way you think in terms of joke writing, right?

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah, yeah. Joke structure, I guess.

[Marc Maron]

But. But since we've all been alive for as long as we've been alive, and I think, you know, talking freely on your podcast, I don't know how often you do it, but engaging in that way where you can sort of work the muscles of who you are in terms of an empathetic person and helping other people and listening to other people, that you realize there's this whole full part of yourself that can have confidence on stage.

[Sarah Silverman]

Well, yeah. Yeah. Right, right. Yeah. We have so many facets of ourselves. All people I'm talking about. And I was just thinking, it's like, who am I gonna be? Am I gonna be Bully Jackass? You know, Sarah makes fun of her friends, or am I gonna be, like, sincere? It's not weird, you know, Therapy Sarah or like. But like, you know, we're all different people depending on who we're sitting with.

[Marc Maron]

We have broad personalities. Yeah, expansive. But, you know, but we. We. Not so much me, but certainly, like, in terms of your decision to. To do the comedy you did, which was just natural. But I mean, like, was there a point where you were like, man, I'm tired of this character I'm doing.

[Sarah Silverman]

I don't know that it's like, sitting and consciously thinking about. I never really plan, like, I'm gonna be like, this. Or which.

[Marc Maron]

This is what you were. And then you had to kind of feed it.

[Sarah Silverman]

But yeah, I mean, I really loved kind of doing that character that was me, but was like, arrogant, ignorant, asshole, you know, and surprise, you know, shock humor. But it's like, how do you continue shock humor? If it's what they expect. If what they expect is to be shocked, yeah.

[Marc Maron]

They're just waiting for it. Where's it going then?

[Sarah Silverman]

Where's it going? And then you have to just. Then you're trying to be this thing for an audience, and then you. I thankfully realized, like, comedy dies in the second guessing of what your audience wants to see. Like that. And, you know, there's always gonna be. There's always gonna. People that fall off and new people or some people kind of grow with you, but there's always the people that Remember when she was funny? And I'm like, yes, I do. You know, but like, you got so.

[Marc Maron]

Mad at me last time when I told you the joke that I liked it, that I remember you kind of got mad at me.

[Sarah Silverman]

What?

[Marc Maron]

It was just like. Because it was like one of your first jokes and I was like, my favorite joke of yours is this one. You're like, oh, my God, I've done four specials since.

[Sarah Silverman]

Oh, no, I don't know. Then. I don't know. But yeah, like, doing that character, and I love doing it. And I had the Sarah Silverman program where I was like, really got to play it out and be a huge asshole. And I loved it. And of course I changed and whatever. I grew up and everything, and my comedy kind of stayed the same in some ways. Changed in some ways, whatever. I mean, I think if you become beholden to some character you got, like, famous with, you become such a caricature of yourself, it's like, they'll sell tickets. But it's sad in my view.

[Marc Maron]

Well, yeah, but, like, it can be sad. But that's what people do. I mean, I mean, they do the.

[Sarah Silverman]

Voice or they do the thing until they're 80. Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

And then, like, they don't even know when they're losing relevance anymore. Because all the people that come are people that were there 20 years ago.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. There's no, like, new people.

[Sarah Silverman]

Right. And I always think of. I love Joan Rivers, who, like, if you really look, she reinvented herself so many times. Sure.

[Marc Maron]

She did all kinds of shit.

[Sarah Silverman]

Wild.

[Marc Maron]

I was in bed with her, doing.

[Sarah Silverman]

A show in bed with Joan.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Sarah Silverman]

But I love that she said, like, she didn't really feel like she came into her. Like she found herself standup wise until she was in her 70s. And I think that's so cool. Like, I want to be able to look forward to. We're comics. There's. They're every age, every. You know.

[Marc Maron]

Sure. I mean, like, I, you know, I think I feel like for me, you know, like everything I'm doing is just this ongoing conversation as I, you know, kind of expand my perception of the world. Like, it's all one conversation, you know, because there are times where I'm doing standup and I'm like, I'm just. I've said this same thing nine different ways over, you know, two albums and four specials.

[Sarah Silverman]

Wow.

[Marc Maron]

It's basically like. But that's not great. But I like to add a little part, a little more to it. But, like, I fester about the same shit.

[Sarah Silverman]

But everything is about the same shit. Everything there is. You know, it's. That's what art. That's why you can look at, like, a painting of a red square and see something different and get something new out of it, depending on what's been happening in your life and the world around you, and only if it's a.

[Marc Maron]

Really deep red square. Like, you have to believe the guy who made the red square was a genius.

[Sarah Silverman]

You know Larry Charles.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Sarah Silverman]

We wrote two pilots together years ago, and it was so fun and I loved being with him. And I remember going, like, well, it's a fucking red square. If you paint a red square. I could paint a red square. And he goes, yeah, but you didn't. This guy did, you know, And I always thought that was interesting, you know, it's true.

[Marc Maron]

Well, I think, you know, great art, like, you know, as you get older, even music and stuff, it hits you a different way. Even stuff that you liked when you were a kid. You're like, why do I still like that? And you're like, oh, I don't even understand it then.

[Sarah Silverman]

I mean, this is so stupid. But, you know, when I was little, I watched Mr. Rogers. And then when I was in high school, it was on before school and I'd have it on and I just, like, saw it in a whole new, like, mind blowy way, you know. This is fucking brilliant.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Sarah Silverman]

You know in Sesame Street.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Sarah Silverman]

It's kind of like how if you experience grief as a child, you re experience it at every stage of development. Well, that's kind of like the same with art or anything, I guess, like.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. Well, I also think it's interesting that, you know, you and I, neither of us have kids, and so, you know, we have to grow up, you know, slower, I think, than other people because we're just like, almost like children.

[Sarah Silverman]

We also have more space to. This is gonna sound really like, eye rolly.

[Marc Maron]

Do it. Well, it's not. It's audio, so it's very hard to make audio viral.

[Sarah Silverman]

To raise ourselves, to continue to raise ourselves. Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

Because we needed to.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

I mean, the fucking thing about being brought up by narcissists, and I don't think your mom was one, but your dad was. But is that, you know, they take up so much air.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

That, like, you know, all you, you know, for the first 15 years of your life, you're just an appendage of theirs.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah. And like, how. What mood are they in when they come home? And that's. That's my future. That's like, what my night will be exactly with everything.

[Marc Maron]

So there's no way for you to kind of. In order to get a sense of self in the midst of narcissistic parents. The fight is real, man. And, you know, I think it's sort of why I became a comic. Cause it was sort of like, I'm me.

[Sarah Silverman]

I'm me, right?

[Marc Maron]

Oh, fuck you. And then they gotta deal with that and you figure out. Cause comedy gives you that edge. Eventually you kind of outsmart them and they can't do their little mind fuck on you. And then they have to all of a sudden, kind of reel it in a little bit. It's a great day.

[Sarah Silverman]

But also it's like, you know, my mom. My mom, she was interested in show business. And she'd read People magazine and she knew all these, like, fun facts and who was dating who. And like, it's not a surprise that I found my way into getting into People magazine or getting onto TV to see me. And then you don't get. You don't get it. You know, Like, I remember calling my mom and saying, why don't you call me after I've been on tv? And she goes, well. And in her mind, I think she thought, why would I care? Or something. Why do you think I'm in show business? I'm in show business. So my mom will call me and say, I saw you on tv. And my stepmom, my dad told me my stepmom would call her and beg her to call me, you know.

[Marc Maron]

Really? So your mom was like. Your mom was like that too. She was kind of like, she couldn't.

[Sarah Silverman]

No. My dad and my stepmother, anytime I was on TV or something, they always called me. Oh, we watched you. You were wonderful. You know, my mom just couldn't, you know, she loved Rachel Maddow. Like, oh, her.

[Marc Maron]

Rachel. Sure, sure, sure.

[Sarah Silverman]

So I like, I was on Rachel Maddow doing something, and I like, I had a terrible appearance. Cause I mentioned her name. Oh, my mother loves you. And she was like, oh, hi, Mrs. Oh, it's actually O' Hara. You know, And I'm like going so far on this very quick appearance on a political show for my mother when I needed to talk about other things. And I was so excited. Cause she would see it. I know she watches it every night. Didn't hear from her, really. You know, called her. Like the next day or the next day I go, did you. I gave you a shout out on your favorite. Did you see? Oh, yeah, I saw.

[Marc Maron]

Oh, God.

[Sarah Silverman]

You know, Just like, you're never gonna get what you need.

[Marc Maron]

I didn't realize your mom was like, more difficult one.

[Sarah Silverman]

She, you know, my. My dad was in the first half of my life, and my mom kind of was. It was, you know, everything. I could paint a heartbreaking story. I could paint a perfect, picturesque story just like anybody else.

[Marc Maron]

Well, no, it's heartbreaking, but it's. It's like that withholding thing is so mind fucky more than, you know, like, look, you know, my mom was sort of like slightly dismissive. You know, it was always sort of like, well, why. Why did you get a B? You know what I mean? Like. But it was like, I guess that's okay.

[Sarah Silverman]

You mean instead of a C?

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. In my. My. They were such bad parents. But not. But not, you know, they didn't beat me. They were.

[Sarah Silverman]

Oh, they should get an award.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, they were regular sort of like they had me when they were like 20, in their 20s, and then just a couple of, you know, New Jersey Jews who were, you know, overextended, had no idea how to be parents. But it got. It just gets. Just gets kind of interesting because, you know, whatever their insecurities are, you know, you're gonna answer for them somehow.

[Sarah Silverman]

Wow.

[Marc Maron]

Right?

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

Because my mom was like so preoccupied with her weight. You know, I'm doing a whole bit in my show now about how she, you know, she used to put diet pills in my lunch bag. Cause I was chunky.

[Sarah Silverman]

Oh, Jesus Christ.

[Marc Maron]

And I used to do this joke about. It never works as a joke. It's too sad. I used to say, like, I think for the first nine years of my life, my mother just saw me as her fat.

[Sarah Silverman]

Her fat.

[Marc Maron]

And that if she just stopped eating, maybe I'd go away. But there is that sort of diminishing element that I don't think I think about it enough. Cause I always think about my dad being the stronger personality of the two. Cause they were chaotic. And that was kind of exciting. I mean, if anybody. I thought it was always my dad who was responsible for my charisma or wanting to be in show business. But I think it was my mom's biting, horrible, fucking sarcastic self that did it. You, outside of the approval of your mother, calm. Your dad was pretty entertaining.

[Sarah Silverman]

My dad was so funny. And when I was young, very scary, but really funny, but would lose his shit on a dime. You know, if he called my sisters, ultimately all moved with my dad and I was the one left at my mom's. And I mean, like, if he called if the phone rang, it's like, I would turn the TV off. Like, God forbid he heard the TV in the background. Like, he had a whole hangup that, like, my mom was lazy. She was clinically depressed. Clear. Right. And you know that I'm gonna now be lazy. And it's a real hang up for me now.

[Marc Maron]

Whenever you're being lazy.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah. Which is like, I love to do a whole lot of nothing any second I can, but then I'll have, like, immense guilt around it. And then I'll project that onto my partner, Rory, and he's like, I don't think you're lazy. I think you're the least lazy person I've ever met. Get that out of your. That's you. That's your thing, you know? But it's. I still have that thing where it's like, you know, my dad's gonna see I'm watching tv.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. I still think I'm fat.

[Sarah Silverman]

Oh, my gosh.

[Marc Maron]

Never goes away. It's wired in there. Was. Your mom's Jewish, right? It's so funny, because my memory of the one time that I. Way back, I was like, you know, I met her husband, and I met her because I stayed at the house. And I met your dad, too. You know, I don't know why we went over there or something, because we were. But we were so young. But I remembered, like, this is your mom's house. I'm like, this is somebody who does not want to be Jewish anymore.

[Sarah Silverman]

Well, you could not tell she was Jewish. You know, pale skin, blue eyes, you know, like, overalls, not into. Not bobbles. Like, you know, the Jews that, like, we're New England Jews. Like, I don't know what that is. Country Jews, a little different.

[Marc Maron]

A little different. The Boston Jews and the New England Jews. Yeah, but your dad is like, you know, he's. He's about the most aggressive sort.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah, He's. Well, he looks like.

[Marc Maron]

Like. And also he's got an attitude. You know, Like, I noticed that, like, sometimes, like, in Boston, the Jews I met were. They didn't want to be too Jewy.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah, right. Well, my. The thing is, like. Well, both my parents were atheists. And, you know, we're just Jewish culture. We were Jewish by default, really.

[Marc Maron]

Because you're Jewish. Your dad can. There's no way he could not be Jewish.

[Sarah Silverman]

Right. So it's like my sister, the rabbi who, you know, she always said, we thought being Jewish meant being a Democrat because that's how we were different in New Hampshire. Like.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, but, like, Susie too. Like, I'm trying to think.

[Sarah Silverman]

I love hearing you say Susie.

[Marc Maron]

Why?

[Sarah Silverman]

Because she's Susie to me. She was Susie to you, but now she's like Rabbi Susan. So she always says when someone calls her Susie, she knows that they know me. They know her from my podcast. You're from me.

[Marc Maron]

But it's interesting if I'm just going to stereotype, you know, like, I mean, we weren't close friends, but she didn't, she wasn't that Julie back in college. And if I really think of the siblings, I don't know, I know Laura. Laura is like the most aggressively Jewish. And you, I think somehow.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah, I became very. I mean, I have no religion.

[Marc Maron]

No, I know, but we're Jews.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

So like, you know, so we. You can't escape that.

[Sarah Silverman]

No.

[Marc Maron]

You know, no Jew outside of Orthodox Jews expects you to be religious.

[Sarah Silverman]

But I grew up with no Jews, so I didn't. My experience of people knowing I was Jewish, I'd be like, oh, yeah, I'm Jewish. But like, totally not.

[Marc Maron]

Right.

[Sarah Silverman]

You know, I was like, immediately apologizing.

[Marc Maron]

And then they'd meet your dad. It's so funny because, because there's other, like, New England, like, like Cedar's Jew. But you know, he's like. Is sort of like a New England Jewie.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

You know, but it's there, like, you.

[Sarah Silverman]

Know, self loathing, I would say.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. But he's like. But it's not New York. And he's like aggressive and he's intelligent and, you know, and he's quick witted. He's got all of the attributes. But then he's got that Worcester thing.

[Sarah Silverman]

The Worcester Jew.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. And that's what your dad was, John Benjamin.

[Sarah Silverman]

He was from Brockton, Boston and Crockett.

[Marc Maron]

Izzy, the Jew. The Boston Jew thing. Yeah. I just heard from John Benjamin for the first time in six years today.

[Sarah Silverman]

Really?

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. Yeah. He's so funny.

[Sarah Silverman]

He is.

[Marc Maron]

Sam's so funny. It's just like he was one of those guys where it's like, just, just, just be funny. Just be. He's very smart and he's very political and I'm very happy that he's doing what he's doing. But there's still those moments when he.

[Sarah Silverman]

Is funny where you're like, oh, yeah, we, I, we. I text with him more often and.

[Marc Maron]

What, to get to answer questions about politics?

[Sarah Silverman]

No, well, different, different things that we ask each other.

[Marc Maron]

Oh, that's nice. But like, Susie, like now, when, when. So like, I don't, I don't Know, the oldest one, really?

[Sarah Silverman]

Susie.

[Marc Maron]

Well, who's the one between? Who's the next?

[Sarah Silverman]

Jodine?

[Marc Maron]

Jodine. I don't really know.

[Sarah Silverman]

It's Susie, then Laura, then Jodine, then me. Yeah, Jodine's Janice's daughter. So we met when we were both seven. She's three months older than me.

[Marc Maron]

Oh, okay. But, like, I kind of know Laura.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

You know, and Susie. I know a bit. But, like, when all this stuff is going down, when, like, how does the rabbis influence you? Talk a little bit about it in the show, but, you know, she's got to bring somewhat of a spiritual element to it in terms of how she not believes in God, necessarily. But, you know, rabbis handle this stuff.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah. But also, she's a rabbi to everyone else.

[Marc Maron]

Right.

[Sarah Silverman]

And us, too. But also she's like, dark as shit.

[Marc Maron]

A dark silver movie.

[Sarah Silverman]

I mean, dad died the night, like, at 2:00am on the 11th. Her birthday. Her 60th birthday was May 10th.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. The day before.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah. And he's literally she video. This is. I don't know if this is okay to say. I hope it is.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Sarah Silverman]

She videotaped just for us, like, herself, just sitting next to Dad's bed where you can like, literally just hear the death rattle. Like, this is the end. And she was just like, happy birthday to me. Which is just. It's very. Our family to just be so fucked up.

[Marc Maron]

That's the best.

[Sarah Silverman]

I know.

[Marc Maron]

It's so good. But that's the nature. Like, I do that with my dad all the time. When I call him, I'm like, it's Mark, your son. Do you remember me still? And he goes, yeah, yeah, of course, of course. I'm like, all right, then. What's going on? Not much. Well, he's at the. I call it the. He's a ventriloquist dummy now to his wife because he's got no day of memories. So I'm like, did you go to the movies last night? He goes, yeah. What'd you see? He goes, rosie, what did we see? He's got old memories still.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah. It's interesting.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, it is.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah. I made a mixtape for my dad of just all the hits from, like, the summer he was 17, and I.

[Marc Maron]

Made him for him.

[Sarah Silverman]

He knew every word to every single day.

[Marc Maron]

But he wasn't losing his mind, was he?

[Sarah Silverman]

No, he wasn't at all, actually. But it is interesting just how you remember 17. Maybe 12. You're gonna remember every word to every hit song.

[Marc Maron]

Isn't that wild? Yeah. Yeah. I tried to bring that up on my old man. He definitely remembers that stuff.

[Sarah Silverman]

That's cool.

[Marc Maron]

Cause they kind of wired into you too. You get to hear the songs he likes when you're a kid because they play em all the time.

[Sarah Silverman]

Right.

[Marc Maron]

And all that stuff. The crazy. The commercials and everything. He found all that stuff.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah. I don't know if you watched through the.

[Marc Maron]

The credits. Yeah, that was funny. It was the actual commercial.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, there's a commercial.

[Marc Maron]

Where'd you find that fucking thing?

[Sarah Silverman]

I had. It's so funny because I had digitized a bunch of stuff and I was like, fuck, I only have these like two going out of business sale commercials on my phone where he's like crying, fake crying and saying. Which I have on my phone. But when I was working with the editor, he taught me how to search my computer, the hard drive or whatever, and I found a bunch more.

[Marc Maron]

Really?

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

That you just put on there years ago or.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah, yeah, I digitized from a cassette or something that I had.

[Marc Maron]

So in the process of doing the show, were you just primarily working out like pieces at Largo to see if you could find the humor in the real stories?

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah, I mean, it was so raw. Like I remember coming straight to Largo from cleaning out their apartment, you know, and just like being.

[Marc Maron]

So they were here.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah, they had an apartment. We got them an apartment in la. And so that's where, you know, that's where we all were, which was great. We're all here.

[Marc Maron]

Right. Not Susie, though.

[Sarah Silverman]

Susie came immediately.

[Marc Maron]

No, of course.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah, she was there for a long time. Yeah. And three of her kids.

[Marc Maron]

Oh, really?

[Sarah Silverman]

Three of her five kids.

[Marc Maron]

Oh, and they all had a relationship with him?

[Sarah Silverman]

Oh, yes, very close.

[Marc Maron]

Oh, that's good.

[Sarah Silverman]

Oh yeah, the Zayd.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, yeah. It's good when you have a relationship with your grandparents.

[Sarah Silverman]

Oh yeah.

[Marc Maron]

Did you.

[Sarah Silverman]

I was so close. My grandparents. My dad's mother, I was close with.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. What was her name?

[Sarah Silverman]

Rose.

[Marc Maron]

I love the old Jewish names.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah, Nana, her name was Rose.

[Marc Maron]

My grandma was Goldie.

[Sarah Silverman]

My other grandma, my mother's mother was Goldie and she was a cunt monster. And when she died, I remember my dad told me and I said, good. Which is. I don't think I've ever felt that way about anyone. But she was extremely, you know, the one thing that bonded, I think, and I don't think consciously, but they were definitely trauma bonding, you know, unconsciously when my parents, when they met, because my. They're both the older of two siblings. My dad had a younger brother and mom had a Younger sister. And they both were the only one of their siblings that was deeply abused by parents. My dad's dad beat the shit out of him every day. And my mom's mom abused her horribly.

[Marc Maron]

Isn't that. And that, I guess, creates some capacity for empathy for. Yeah, yeah.

[Sarah Silverman]

I mean, I didn't know about. I knew she was awful, but I didn't really know about the extent of the abuse until I was a little older and Laura told me. And I remember being so angry at her because I couldn't now unknow this.

[Marc Maron]

Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Sarah Silverman]

And. But of course, it. I'm glad I do. And it made me understand my mom so much more.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. You can see them as people and kind of get off. You know, it's a burden off your back.

[Sarah Silverman]

But how my mom didn't seem at all Jewish is like she comes from that generation where it's like her mother was an immigrant from Poland and didn't want made. I did that finding your roots show.

[Marc Maron]

Oh, I did that too. What'd you find out?

[Sarah Silverman]

Nothing interesting, really. I mean, he was wonderful, but it was. And it was. He said it was the farthest he was able to go back of a Jew.

[Marc Maron]

He said that to me, too.

[Sarah Silverman]

Did he really?

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. Maybe you were after me.

[Sarah Silverman]

He said, all the way back from Pale of Settlement. Catherine the Great, Russia, Belarus.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, me too. Belarus.

[Sarah Silverman]

We're probably related.

[Marc Maron]

No. Well, he found out I was related to Barbara Walters somehow. Or no Lewis Black, maybe no Barbara Walters. And then he told Lewis Black.

[Sarah Silverman]

How are you confusing those two things?

[Marc Maron]

Because I think he told Lewis Black that he was related to me. But when I was on his show, he somehow tracked me to Barbara Walters. But now the whole thing is in doubt. Cause he told me that I was the furthest back he ever got with a Jew in the Pale of Settlement.

[Sarah Silverman]

But it was ultimately very boring because it was a million names, not many pictures or anything. It was just like they signed censors, you know, and everything, but it was just all their jobs. It was just peddler, peddler, peddler, dressmaker, cobbler, peddler, all the way through my dad. Yeah, yeah.

[Marc Maron]

We got it all the way to a tailor in Belarus.

[Sarah Silverman]

You know those rich Jews, right?

[Marc Maron]

Well, no, we don't come from those. That's the funny thing. That was the other thing I realized about some Boston Jews is like, there's a difference between, like, German Jews and Russian Jews.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah, we're Russian Jews, right?

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, we're peasant Jews.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

But the German Jews were aristocratic Jews.

[Sarah Silverman]

That's why they were. You know, they were. That's like. What's his name? David Badeel.

[Marc Maron]

Oh, yeah. Badeel. Yeah.

[Sarah Silverman]

You know, he says, like, yeah, my family were rich in Germany, and they. They went right into their real big house and murdered them. Like, who? Fuck. You know. But, yeah, we were poor Jews.

[Marc Maron]

That's right. And we were like. And I think there, because my mom dated a German Jew, like, you know, several generations, but, you know, he was sort of like, he. He wanted. You know, anywhere he'd go, even if it was a fucking diner. You know, he put out a napkin as a placemat and he was all very. You know, there was a. Almost like that. That bit about Chris Rock does about nobody hates, you know, the N word more than black people. You know, it's. I think it was the same with.

[Sarah Silverman]

Aristocratic journalism or that when they're being lynched and the one spins toward the other.

[Marc Maron]

Oh, no.

[Sarah Silverman]

What are you looking at?

[Marc Maron]

Oh, no, I don't know that one.

[Sarah Silverman]

Oh, my God.

[Marc Maron]

It was Rock's big joke. But it was just a class thing that the peasant Jews, the Polish Jews, the Russian Jews were just, you know, they were garbage to the German Jews.

[Sarah Silverman]

Vermin.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, well, I don't think they went that far unless they were trying to get on Hitler's good side.

[Sarah Silverman]

Oh, I was on the Finding youg Roots related to Maggie Gyllenhaal.

[Marc Maron]

Really? Is she Jewish?

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

No shit. They found a story about my family that was completely crazy. So it was kind of interesting. Well, that my. I think. I believe that my dad's mother and her line, the most Awitzes, like, somehow, I believe ended up. They all came in from. Most of them came in through New Jersey. But there was a time in Reconstruction after the Civil War, where they wanted people to move down south so black people wouldn't take over all the businesses.

[Sarah Silverman]

So.

[Marc Maron]

So, but my. My. I guess great, great, great grandfather had this whole life in, like, South Carolina where he owned a grocery store and his son was involved in the business, and they owned a building and maybe two grocery stores. And he was just nuts. And him and his son were suing each other. And there was all this, like, you know, paper trail of this fucking insanity. And my dad's, like, bipolar crazy guy. And that came down through his mother, the warrior. And so it was. It was kind of a bit of drama to track, you know. And then I found out that my mother's maternal line goes back to Galicia, which is in the Ukraine or Poland. It kind of switches. And that was some sort of oil boom town in the 1800s. Galicia was the Soviet oil boom town. And so, like, there's an outside chance that some of my relatives were like, you know, roughnecks, you know, work in the wells.

[Sarah Silverman]

Oh, wow.

[Marc Maron]

I kind of like that. I was hoping for a Viking, but I didn't get a Viking.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah, that will never happen.

[Marc Maron]

No. I thought maybe somebody raped somebody, came down into Poland.

[Sarah Silverman]

Well, yeah. That's why I, like, Laura has Asian features because of the, you know, Mongolian.

[Marc Maron]

Is that true?

[Sarah Silverman]

I think so. That's why I was always told that, you know, like, when Jews.

[Marc Maron]

Well, what was your percentage of Jew when it came?

[Sarah Silverman]

134%.

[Marc Maron]

I know because I had done 23andMe it was 95. But Gates told me it was 99. And I'm like, all right.

[Sarah Silverman]

And a tiny percentage. Siberia, which was. What does that mean? Like just a prisoner. A Russian prisoner.

[Marc Maron]

Somebody really had a little Siberian.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

Somebody made a deal to get out of prison. Yeah. Somebody fucked a guard. But in terms of what. What'd. You guys. Was very sweet that Jeff Ross was, you know, there.

[Sarah Silverman]

He was close with them.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, of course he was.

[Sarah Silverman]

Of course.

[Marc Maron]

You just. You could put an old Jew. I could put an old Jew in front of my house now within, you know, six hours, Jeff would find him.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yep.

[Marc Maron]

He's just like. He's always been an old Jew.

[Sarah Silverman]

He has. And he's always had older friends, you know. Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

Because he. He loves them.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah. Well, you know, he was kind of orphaned. Pretty. I don't remember him. His mom when he was 14, his dad when he was 19, and then he lives with his grandpa when we knew him.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. When he was Jeff Wifschultz.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

I always used to say to him, do you remember the movie the Shining?

[Sarah Silverman]

Of course.

[Marc Maron]

The very end, where the bartender says, you've always been here, Mr. Torrance. And then they go into that picture and you can see from the building it's Nicholson. I say that about Jeff. It's like, you've always been here. Jeff in show business.

[Sarah Silverman]

And he comes from catering.

[Marc Maron]

My mother and father got married in their hall. No. Yes.

[Sarah Silverman]

Sorry, Emily. That's amazing.

[Marc Maron]

He was like, I have the wedding album. And I gave him pictures because it's of the place they did their wedding party and everything there.

[Sarah Silverman]

Oh, my God.

[Marc Maron]

Cause it's in Jersey.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

And when we put that together, he was like, oh, my God, I need the pictures. And he's using them in his one man show.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah. He's Got his one man show. Take a banana for the ride.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. But he used one of my parents wedding pictures to show the place.

[Sarah Silverman]

That's amazing.

[Marc Maron]

And he knew like the people that were working there. He could say, well, that's my uncle, you know, like it was crazy. Oh, isn't that nice? Connection.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

So what do you, what's the plan? What are you doing now? You doing movies? Anything?

[Sarah Silverman]

Oh, maybe. I, I, there's, Yeah. I am going to do like an independent. Something.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Sarah Silverman]

Coming up. Which you know, will be.

[Marc Maron]

How do you decide which ones you're gonna do?

[Sarah Silverman]

I don't get a lot coming my way, you know. Or it's something where it's like if you attach. We're gonna try to get money and funding. I go, if I'm your hope, this is doomed, you know.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. Did you have fun doing the Bernstein movie?

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I did. He's one of those guys that is so prepared and so Cooper, Cooper, Bradley Cooper. That what would probably be days and days and days. We were done early every time, you know, three days to do an 11 page intricate party scene. We got done on the first day, really, which is awesome. Yeah. He's so prepared. He knows exactly what he wants to do.

[Marc Maron]

He must be some gifted fuck, I'll tell you that.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah, you must be.

[Marc Maron]

I mean, to be in front of the camera and also directing. He did a great job with it. The movie's a little all over the place, but it was certainly great to watch.

[Sarah Silverman]

People have all sorts of opinions on it, but. Yeah, he did. He did. He made the movie. You wanted to make it. It's gorgeous. I really liked it. I was, you know, again, I didn't totally get it until I saw it at home with subtitles because I can't, I realize I can't hear it.

[Marc Maron]

What was there not to get?

[Sarah Silverman]

I can't hear well, that's what's not to get. I'm hearing every fourth word, pretty much anything.

[Marc Maron]

And the music didn't sound right?

[Sarah Silverman]

No, it's just like, you know, I mean, I just, I can't fucking hear. As a matter of fact, he was directing me from wherever, you know, and yelling out direction. And then he got really pissed because I wasn't listening to him. And I had, you know, I had that trump card of I, I can't hear well. So if you, if you want to tell me something, I need to you to walk. And then he was, you know. Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

And what's your boyfriend's name again?

[Sarah Silverman]

Rory.

[Marc Maron]

Rory what?

[Sarah Silverman]

Rory Albanese. Rory. I can say it better if I.

[Marc Maron]

Say it Rory Albanese.

[Sarah Silverman]

Rory Albanese, which is Italian for Albanian.

[Marc Maron]

Oh, really?

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah. I was thinking.

[Marc Maron]

Well, I like that you found an Italian that kind of looks like your dad.

[Sarah Silverman]

He does. Well, his mother's Jewish.

[Marc Maron]

You know, it's like, I've tracked your boyfriends over the years, and I'm like, all right, thank you. That one's another one. Another one that looks like her dad. And then he went out with the British guy, and I'm like, he doesn't look like your dad.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah, that was a different direction. Although I will say his accent sounds hoity toity, because, you know, it's British, but it kind of is. It's a very small leap to Boston.

[Marc Maron]

That's true. Well, yeah, that's.

[Sarah Silverman]

It just sounds fancier, you know, but.

[Marc Maron]

Like, when you think about it. No, maybe I'm talking out of school, but I track weird things. But, you know, from, like, the Attell Cedar Cohen, that was like, oh, my God. I full dad full.

[Sarah Silverman]

Oh, my Attel looked exactly like my father when he was young. Like crazy.

[Marc Maron]

I know. It's so funny. But you've been with this guy for a while, right?

[Sarah Silverman]

Five years. I can't believe it.

[Marc Maron]

I know. Well, Covid kind of fucked us.

[Sarah Silverman]

We were Covid lovers.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. And then, like, you lose all that time, I feel like I should be able to. Like, I'm 61, but because of COVID I think I should be 58.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah, that sounds good.

[Marc Maron]

You know what I mean?

[Sarah Silverman]

I love. It's just you saying rattling off like, the Met I've dated is, like, Makes me. It's such a warm feeling, like, yeah, we really know each other. We've known each other for so long.

[Marc Maron]

I know.

[Sarah Silverman]

Maybe we talk every few years, see each other at Largo or whatever, but it's like we really do know each other.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. I think I kind of. Well, I don't think we dated, but I knew you.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah. You slept with one of my roommates.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Sarah Silverman]

Did you also sleep with Beth Tapper?

[Marc Maron]

No, I think it was Allison. Cause she was the star. The Star wars person. Right.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yes.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

[Sarah Silverman]

She loved Star Wars.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. Like, she reached out to me at some point not long ago, and I was like, hey. Yeah. Cause she was kind of intense.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah, she. Oh, Jessica Wenoli. I always laugh because I still am in touch with her, and she's sober and she's doing great. She's a drama teacher in New Jersey.

[Marc Maron]

Oh, great.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

And she was gonna be an actress, right?

[Sarah Silverman]

She was an actress, and she wrote plays. And she was in, like, the experimental theater wing. And we always have this. I don't know how to. If this is too visual. But Jessica. And I remember, you know, college. I had already dropped out, but she was still in college, and I adored her. And we went to see one of her, like, experimental plays that she was in it. Cause she was in, like, the experimental theater wing, you know.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Sarah Silverman]

And it was one of those plays, like. But I. Or she, you know, whatever. Just very disjointed. And she comes out, and she's in a big fur coat. And then she drops the fur coat, and she's completely naked. Full bush, like, the whole thing. And I'm sitting next to Jeskow, and Jeskow's sitting next to Allison's mother, Carol. And I hear him turn to her and go, you must be so proud. So funny. And the greatest was that we always laugh because when they came out to bow at the end, she didn't, like, have her robe on. She just came out naked, you know. And then, like, everyone's clapping, and then, like, the pointing out the band, you know.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. She's just naked.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah. Oh, she was so comfortable in her body.

[Marc Maron]

Experimental theater.

[Sarah Silverman]

Love her.

[Marc Maron]

It's so weird being. Cause I was talking to Peter Schorb from the store about, you know, working there, and he goes, you're one of the senior citizens. I'm like, crazy, am I? I don't. Because I'm like, you're a little younger than me, but it's kind of.

[Sarah Silverman]

Well, just like, having, like, younger comics having, like, deference for you, and you're like, oh, God.

[Marc Maron]

I know. And there's, like, four generations after us now. Like, it's like. It's fucking nuts.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

I have no idea who anybody is anymore until they kind of pop through. What do you think of Robbie Hoffman?

[Sarah Silverman]

Obsessed.

[Marc Maron]

Crazy.

[Sarah Silverman]

Oh, my God. I love her so much.

[Marc Maron]

It's crazy.

[Sarah Silverman]

I do it in pressure because during the strike, I had a lot of young comics. I became friends with a lot of young comics. And we would pick it and then come over to swim in the pool, you know, And I just love it. Cause it's. You know, it's inspiring. I think it's important. You gotta know, you know, I don't know everybody. I'm shut in mostly, but just, you know, through standup, through Beth's. I'm close with Beth Stelling. And then all of her friends and all the comics she knows and. And Robbie ended up in the pool. And it was funny. Cause Rory said something funny. Like, you know, I finally have like topless women in the pool. But they all have top surgery. Robbie said something so funny and it so defines her. Cause she's almost like dice or if she wasn't in a. Or they, they, it's okay. They don't care. And they get mad that I get mad at myself. But they're. They, they're, they. But they were like, you know, they're from Crown Heights, very orthodox.

[Marc Maron]

That's the amazing thing about her is that like, you know, all of comedy came from Jews who spoke Yiddish. But we're three or four generations past that. Like, you know, all the Jews that were in the 70s, they were just, you know, like slowly going away. You know, that rhythm.

[Sarah Silverman]

Right.

[Marc Maron]

But she's like direct. Like she's one generation beyond Yiddish. Cause she grew up in that fucking crazy community. So she has that thing that used to be all over the place.

[Sarah Silverman]

Sound like Jackie Mason.

[Marc Maron]

Right? But it's earnest.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah, it's completely earnest. It's not a bet. So she's in the pool and she's like, you know, my brother, my brother called. He's like trans people fucking gross. You know. And I'm. What am I supposed to do? Not pick up the phone when he calls me every Tuesday? You know? And it's like there's. To me, there's an importantness about her that she will hopefully never take on herself. You know, it's like almost like how Billie Jean King was like a huge feminist icon, but to her she was just a tennis player.

[Marc Maron]

Right.

[Sarah Silverman]

And to Robbie they're just a comic. But I think their existence does a lot of work where of kind of bringing people together and not making such.

[Marc Maron]

A big deal about that gender and whatever.

[Sarah Silverman]

Not that. Not. I don't mean they shouldn't make a big deal about it. I mean, in the face of hatred, she still sees her brother and connection and love.

[Marc Maron]

Oh, and the good.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah. And just like, you know, rolls her.

[Marc Maron]

Eyes and still painfully optimistic.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

And self actualized.

[Sarah Silverman]

Articulating it well.

[Marc Maron]

No, no, I know what you mean. Is that like just by her being and staying like she's like, it's all good to her. Like she's not reflect, she's not neurotic. She's like totally self accepting. She loves life and she, they.

[Sarah Silverman]

She get away with so much and it makes it. It's wonderful. It's refreshing. It's just like such a.

[Marc Maron]

Because like she's got a free zone.

[Sarah Silverman]

Oh my God. They posted, they heard she doesn't give a fuck. We're struggling, but we're trying to do what is most respectful. But they posted just them doing stand up, like in Brooklyn somewhere. And it was the funniest bit. I'm sure it's in a special or something. But they go, the Property Brothers. What is this? Twins are for kids. He wears blue, he wears red. Like the gay. You know, like, it's just. It's kind of nonsensical.

[Marc Maron]

Right.

[Sarah Silverman]

It's kind of semi hate speech. But it's like. Because it's coming from her. It's like. It's just so.

[Marc Maron]

And I think also it's the delivery. It's like historical.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah. Yes.

[Marc Maron]

I mean, like, it's like. It's like from out of the fucking Jewish past.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

And it's. And whether they know it or not, you know, people, it's ingrained in us. The rhythm of that Jewish thing was all of comedy.

[Sarah Silverman]

Just even if you look at her talk, the way she. The place where she keeps her tongue.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Sarah Silverman]

You know, it's like there's a cultural.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, it's crazy. I just talked to Modi. He's like the biggest, you know, star in the. For Jews in the world.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

It's crazy, right?

[Sarah Silverman]

Right.

[Marc Maron]

He's so Jewish.

[Sarah Silverman]

Modi is like the Russell Peters of Jews. Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

It was so funny because I can't read it any other way. Like, he came over here, you know, and he's got his meshua energy hat. Like, he's all about, like, you know, he's like, it's such an amazing thing that things turn for people. That it just happened the way it did because of Zoom shows that he became this international sensation. Like, he was like, we've known him forever. And, you know, he was doing Jewish corporates, him and along gold or whatever.

[Sarah Silverman]

Right.

[Marc Maron]

But he started doing these characters online during the pandemic and they took off.

[Sarah Silverman]

Oh, wow.

[Marc Maron]

And now he's got this international following of Jews of all ages.

[Sarah Silverman]

That's amazing.

[Marc Maron]

And he's another one who's out and, you know, and very Jewish. And he defies, you know, stereotype in a way. Like, he came over and he did the thing and then like a week or two later, I get a package from him and it's a framed. I guess it's the Shema. Right. And the note says, I noticed that you didn't have a mezuzah outside of your house. And like, you know, I thought it was a very kind Jewish gesture, but I thought it was a little fuel. It was guilt.

[Sarah Silverman]

Well, it was a very Jewish gesture.

[Marc Maron]

Exactly, exactly. It's like, since you. You don't have the courage or the wherewithal to put a mezuzah outside your house, maybe you would hang this inside the doorway because you're a Jew. That's how I read it.

[Sarah Silverman]

Can I tell you what? I've never had a mezuzah. And for my birthday this year, Jeff Ross got me a mezuzah.

[Marc Maron]

Keepers of the flame.

[Sarah Silverman]

We put it up, you know.

[Marc Maron]

You did?

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

Is it a nice one or a weird modern thing?

[Sarah Silverman]

It's pretty. No, it's. It's. I don't know from. But there's a story in our family. But I feel it might be, like, an old joke or something. Cause my dad would often say something was real and it was something you heard. But as the story goes, when my parents got married, they moved into an apartment. They were given a mezuzah. You know, neither of them are religious.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Sarah Silverman]

And they're just like, how are we supposed to hang this? What do we do? And my mother opened it up, and she goes, oh, there's instructions inside. And then she opened it, unscrolled it, and said, oh, they're in Hebrew.

[Marc Maron]

That's a great story.

[Sarah Silverman]

Because the Jewish scroll in there.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. I think it's a shema. Yeah. I remember, like, taking it out of the mezuzah once and thinking, like, we're doing something very. Taking this out of Mrs. I don't have any good stories.

[Sarah Silverman]

It's funny that Jews don't have hell, and yet we seem to fear hell in every move we make.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. I don't know what the hell is. I think there is a hell, but I'm not that deep in. I think that, you know, there. Maybe if you get deep into the Torah, there's something. I don't know what. I don't know what it is.

[Sarah Silverman]

No, I don't think Jews have hell.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, this is it. I'm hoping. I'm hoping it doesn't have hell, but I don't have any good stories. But back talking about my mother and her weight issues, that's the only story that she used to tell, is that she had a grandmother who was Polish. My mother's. My grandmother's mother, Goldie's mother used to live with them when she was a kid. And she said that she made me fat. And she just always would tell the story about how her grandmother would flip her boob over her shoulder to powder underneath it. And that was just this terror of my mother was all based on that.

[Sarah Silverman]

Oh, yeah. The underboob sweat of the heavy Jewish bosom. I do understand.

[Marc Maron]

Traumatizing.

[Sarah Silverman]

Wow.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. Good stuff. All right, Jew.

[Sarah Silverman]

All right, Jew.

[Marc Maron]

We had a pretty good Jew talk. I like doing that now. Like, I like talking to Modi. I like talking to Ravi, and, like. And Jessica Kherson was in here, and we spent 10 minutes just talking about, you know, the generation of our grandparents. Names. We're just naming people.

[Sarah Silverman]

Well. Oh, that's what I was saying about my mother being. My mother's name was Bethann.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Sarah Silverman]

Cause my grandmother didn't want anyone to sound Jewish. They changed their last name from Cohen to Halpin, which was. I didn't know until I did. Finding your roots.

[Marc Maron]

Wow.

[Sarah Silverman]

But, you know the actress Tovah Feldshue? She's in everything. I worked with her, and she was probably about my mother's age. And she said her real name, her given name, is Terry Sue.

[Marc Maron]

Really?

[Sarah Silverman]

And that it was a boyfriend in college that she was madly in love with who was like, you should be proud that you're Jewish. You should have a Jewish name like Tovah. And she was like, okay, I'll be Tovah. Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

Oh, that's so funny.

[Sarah Silverman]

Isn't that funny? But that generation, they don't have Jewish names because their parents don't. They work so hard to assimilate.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But your name wasn't different, was it? Silverman, Silverman, Sarah Silverman.

[Sarah Silverman]

No. Yeah, yeah.

[Marc Maron]

Silverman, Marin. Like, apparently, that's the name. People are always like, what was it? I'm like. And it was Marin.

[Sarah Silverman]

Wow.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Sarah Silverman]

My grandmother is similar.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. My grandmother was Mostowitz.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. My Goldie was Fear. F E, I, R. Whoa. Yeah. Goldie Fear. I don't know if that was shorter or not. She had a brother named Georgie.

[Sarah Silverman]

My grandmother was Goldie, too. And nothing. Not short for anything.

[Marc Maron]

No. I think it might have been Golda, maybe. I don't know. And then somehow my mother was. Do you know your Hebrew name?

[Sarah Silverman]

It's like Sara.

[Marc Maron]

Sara.

[Sarah Silverman]

Like Sarah without an H, maybe.

[Marc Maron]

Mine's like Michael. It's the closest to get. Michael. Michael David.

[Sarah Silverman]

I always know Howard Stern's Zvi.

[Marc Maron]

Zvi. Yeah, that's what his is, Zvi. Are you going to do that tomorrow morning columns? V. You ready for Howard?

[Sarah Silverman]

How do you prepare for that? I just have to wake up so early. I'm going to. I'm going to sleep. As soon as I get home. From here.

[Marc Maron]

Well, thanks for stopping by. And the special was great.

[Sarah Silverman]

Thank you, my friend. I love you.

[Marc Maron]

There you go. Sarah Silverman and me catching up. Her new special, Sarah Silverman Postmortem is out tomorrow, May 20th on Netflix. Hang out for a second, will ya? Hey, folks, you can check out the first time Sarah did a full WTF episode. If you have a WTF subscription, it's episode 116, which is only available to subscribers.

[Sarah Silverman]

I work really slow, I'm not prolific, and I have actually, when I have a timetable or a deadline, I make it. So I should probably do that. I've been a lot more disciplined, and writing the book actually helped me with that a little bit.

[Marc Maron]

It's amazing, right? Writing a book that you have to. Deadlines are amazingly helpful.

[Sarah Silverman]

Yeah. It becomes your job. You know what I mean?

[Marc Maron]

And get up and do it every day.

[Sarah Silverman]

And I did realize, like, gee, if I spent three hours a day working on my act, I would. I would have a lot more material, a lot faster. But I'm a lazy fuck, like all of us are. But I am starting to be a little more.

[Marc Maron]

Do you work like that? Do you write jokes?

[Sarah Silverman]

No, but I'm starting to, you know, like, you know, what I did is, like, whenever I have, like, a show at Largo or show at UCB or something, I. I'll go, all right, I'm gonna take today and I'm gonna go to some hotel lobby and sit with a legal pad or my laptop. And because I'm around people, I'm gonna have to look like I'm working, and it forces me to get something done. And that night, I'm always happy I did.

[Marc Maron]

To sign up for WTF and get every episode of WTF ad free, go to the link in the episode description or go to wtfpod.com and click on WTF. And just a reminder before I go, this show is hosted by Acast. Here's some guitar. I think it was kind of meditative.

[Sarah Silverman]

Sam.

[Marc Maron]

Sa Boomer lives monkey and La Fonda cat Angels everywhere.