THE ADAM BUXTON PODCAST - EP.160 - SARAH SILVERMAN

Episode Date: September 12, 2021

Adam talks with American comedian, actor and writer Sarah Silverman about acid trips, adapting to changing times, defunding the police, farts, public toilet cleaning compulsions, Sarah's time writing on American comedy show Saturday Night Live in 1993, the striking voice messages left by listeners to her podcast and other important business.This conversation was recorded in April 2021CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGEThanks to Séamus Murphy-Mitchell for his work on this episodePodcast artwork by Helen GreenRELATED LINKSTHE VIP (VISUALLY IMPAIRED PEOPLE) PODCAST (ACAST)GEAR4MUSIC (FOR MUSIC AND PODCASTING GEAR)SARAH SILVERMAN PODCAST (ART19)THE SARAH SILVERMAN PROGRAMME SE01E01 - OFFICER JAY (YOUTUBE) SARAH SILVERMAN - GIVE THE JEW GIRL TOYS - 2005 (YOUTUBE)IN CONVERSATION WITH SARAH SILVERMAN - 2015 (YOUTUBE)ON LINE STREAMED EVENT REVIEW BY BRIAN LOGAN - 2021 (GUARDIAN)SARAH SILVERMAN IS CANCELLED - 2019 (REASON WEBSITE)SARAH SILVERMAN ON CONAN - 2020 (YOUTUBE)TINY TIM - LIVING IN THE SUNLIGHT (VIDEO FOR ADAM BUXTON'S BUG - DIRECTED BY THE LAYZELL BROTHERS) - 2012 (YOUTUBE) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I added one more podcast to the giant podcast bin Now you have plucked that podcast out and started listening I took my microphone and found some human folk Then I recorded all the noises while we spoke My name is Adam Buxton, I'm a man I want you to enjoy this, that's the plan. Hey, how you doing, podcats? Adam Buxton here, reporting to you, not live,

from a field in East Anglia, Norfolk, UK. It is coming up to the middle of September 2021. I'm out with my dog friend Rosie. She's up ahead. If you're a regular listener, you will know that for the last couple of weeks, she's been a bit funny. She's been a bit funny. When it comes to joining me for a podcast ramble.

But she's up for it today, boinging around. Not far from where we live on this track, there is a house that for years and years has been abandoned. I actually filmed the video for my Nutty Room song there. Painted crazy designs on the crumbling walls now people

are living there some people moved in so they're probably our closest neighbors they didn't move into the scary abandoned shell they're not kind of squatting there it's been all renovated so um i'm a little bit more self-conscious usually I would do this walk and most often not bump into anyone. But now there's a chance of encountering other human beings. And also, I have to be a little bit more aware of where I shout, take care, I love you, bye, at the end. at the end, which I am contractually obliged to do. In my mind, that is. It's not an actual contract. Anyway, this is a boring story, isn't it? How are you doing? I hope you're well. Me? Oh no, I'm fine. I'm fine. Sure, I had COVID. I'm getting over it now. It's still with me i know some people get it really bad i am very grateful to not have been one of those people but it is uh yeah it's still maddeningly tenacious i just want a bit of sympathy that's what i'm getting at poor me is the message of this part of the intro but look buckle stop waffling and talk about your guest for podcast number 160 she is the american stand-up comedian

actor writer sarah silverman silverman facts These are just a few Silverman Facts for you. She's done an awful lot, Sarah, over the years. She is, I think she says in our conversation, in fact, that she's six months younger than I am. So that would make her 51 as I speak. And she has done a lot. But these are just some scattered bits of info. She grew up in new hampshire america

and she writes in her book the bed wetter published in 2010 about a childhood and adolescence that was in part defined by chronic bed wetting and a three-year bout of depression i really recommend the bed wetter if you're a fan and haven't read that one, it's good. Talks all about her stand-up as well, which she began performing at the age of 17, and it didn't take that long before she found herself as a writer and performer on American TV comedy institution Saturday Night Live. That was 1993 to 94 that she was a cast member there, although she talks about the fact that she never did that much as far as actually appearing on the show. Anyway, we speak a bit about that. Her experience there at SNL was something that was partly an inspiration for the

character she played in three episodes of The Larry Sanders Show from 1996 to 1998. She played a writer on that show. And it wasn't the only legendary 90s comedy show that she popped up in around that time. There was also Mr. Show, Seinfeld, and the animated program Dr. Katz. Oh, I used to love Dr. Katz. From 2007 to 2010, Sarah worked on her own sitcom, The Sarah Silverman Program, that she created with writers Dan Harmon and Rob Schraub. To quote Wikipedia, in the show, Silverman plays a fictionalized version of herself, a single,

unemployed woman who leads an irresponsible life. Her most notable trait is her undiluted, childlike self-absorption, which commonly leads to awkward comedic situations in which she insults friends, family and total strangers. The show tackled issues such as abortion, racism and same-sex marriage. In other words, many of the same kinds of topics that Sarah is frequently drawn to in her stand-up and over the years has joked about in ways that have got her into hot water from time to time. Not nice bath-style hot water.

Bad, uncomfortable hot water. Although, as you will hear, there's something about that discomfort she likes. These days, as well as making the occasional stand-up special and taking the odd film role, Sarah also shares her thoughts on life, comedy and politics on the Sarah Silverman podcast, which we also talk about in the course of our conversation. And this conversation was recorded in the middle of April of this year, 2021.

Remotely, Sarah was in Los Angeles. I was in my nutty room here in Norfolk. And it was late in the evening because of the time difference. The Zoom connection was bad. I made the decision to drink some cognac while I was talking to her, and that did not help my ability to cope with some of the technical problems we have. Anyway, I've done my best to edit around the worst of the freezes and the glitches and the dropouts and I think despite the technical difficulties we were still able to enjoy a good wide-ranging ramble about how Sarah came to be on this podcast, how she's adapting to changing times in comedy, defunding the police, farts, and the compulsion to clean up dirty public toilets. We talk a little

bit about Sarah's time writing on SNL. We talked about some of the more striking voice messages that people leave for her on her podcast. Link in the description, by the way, to her podcast and various other things that we talk about. And I should say, towards the end of our conversation, talk turned towards the nether regions. My fault. There's a fair bit of farting and genitals in this podcast. I apologise.

But anyway, you know, Sarah has never been shy about language and topics that some people might consider offensive, so she was game. And I hope you enjoy our convo. Back at the end for a bit more waffle, but right now with Sarah Silverman. Here we go. Am I freezing still? Or am I a bit better now? You're not freezing, but you look like you're... Middle-aged. Via satellite from outer space. Oh, right. Okay.

Oh, now you're normal. I mean, what is normal, but... I was asking you whether you are at home at the moment is that those personal photos behind you or is that someone else's wall yeah it's I'm home I'm in my first ever house right you just moved yeah so previous to that you've always been an apartment person yeah I thought it would be scary but um I don't feel scared. Like, I even took a bath alone in a house, you know, and I didn't feel like I was going to be murdered. So what are the principal differences between living in an apartment and living in a house,

then, as far as day-to-day life goes? Well, I'll tell you. An apartment, there's people all around, but, you know, I'm kind of a loner, but it was nice because I'd be alone, but there were like people close by, you know, in through the walls. But now I can like sing and stuff and I'm not worried to bother my neighbors. And I have my own washer dryer. That's exciting. Good one. Now, Sarah, so basically what I was doing was like immersing myself in your world, in your past, your career for the last few days. Just to kind of get in the Silverman zone. And I was writing lots of waffly questions. And then I thought, oh, maybe I should be a little bit more streamlined. And then I thought, maybe I'll frame it like one of Sarah's podcast episodes. And I will pretend, I will frame

my questions as voicemails. Do you know what I mean? And I'll make up names for each question. So I'll say, you know, hi, my name is Gareth and this is my question. And then you can answer it as if it were on your podcast. I'm game for anything. Do you mind if I drink some booze? Thursday, I sometimes let myself, you know, go a little crazy. You're so bad. Have a little glass of booze. I've got some cognac here wow are you a cognac person

you're frozen hello hello hello maybe i need to switch my video off as well you need a you need a wi-fi booster i tell you yeah what do they make wi-fi out of in england like sticks and glue? Yeah, exactly. That's where we're at in the countryside here. Where are you? Down in East Anglia, near Norwich. When was the last time you were in the UK?

Three years ago, maybe. Okay, not that long ago. Yeah, when I was with Michael Sheen. Yes. He was a Welshman, Brit, and turned me on to Adam Buxton. Oh, okay. So you have heard of me. I've heard of you.

Yeah. You're the reason why I hired the Lazell brothers to do the opening of, I had a show on Hulu called I Love You America. They did a brilliant animated opening because i saw what they did uh you're frozen i don't know if you can hear me yeah no i'm just i'm just staying still um the tiny tim song you did yeah living in the sunlight yes i've been singing that all morning actually it's so great isn't it when i first heard it i just couldn't believe how sort of joyful it was so good having a wonderful time wow that's great i'm so pleased they're brilliant the lazelle brothers holy shit and yes for listeners they animated tiny tim's living in

the sunlight for a show called bug that i did on tv over here in 2012. And yeah, they're very good. I was reading your book the other day, The Bedwetter. Hey. And it's very good, by the way. Do you ever go back and reread it or listen to the audio book? No, I never have. No. I recommend it. You should. It it's really good and that was published in 2010 yeah I'll probably mention it a few times in our conversation because it's full of good stuff and good stories and it's an interesting artifact in itself because your career has been

through so many stages and you keep evolving as a person and as a performer and as a comedian and so it's an interesting little watershed i suppose that it represents anyway you mentioned in the book taking acid and first of all you take acid and then you get into a car were you in new york at this point oh yes with my friend Dave Jesko. Yeah, we were in New York City. We took acid. You know, we're sitting upstairs at the Comedy Cellar, which is a comedy club there. And the upstairs is called the Olive Tree.

And that's where the comics hang out. And it was one in the morning. I was 19. And some maybe semi-homeless guy said, here, take this. It's a little piece of paper. It's acid. I popped it in my mouth like it was nothing.

I didn't even think twice about it. It's so weird. The next 13 hours were like, yeah, crazy. We were in Washington Square Park with a bunch of just strangers, and we felt like a war had started because we didn't realize we forgot it was the 3rd of July. And all of a sudden, all these firecrackers were going off and phone booth blew up. And then we got into his car and Dave pulled out and we were at a light and the light went red, green, yellow, red, green, yellow. And he just was like, I don't remember how to drive.

I go, push over. He gets into the, we switched places. And then I go, I don't know how to drive either. And we called actually Louis CK from a phone booth who was up. Yeah. And like six in the morning. And he said, you just get in the car. You know how to drive.

Just let your muscle memory take over and put the car back into the parking spot. God, that just sounds absolutely terrifying. I've never taken acid. I'm just, is that true? Yes, it is true. And I'd just be much too scared. I've had some magic mushrooms. Yeah.

And they were horrifying. Oh, really? It was for me. I think I took too many. Yeah. And my penis shrank to the size of a little acorn. Did it ever come back? No.

No, it never did. It's just a little useless acorn in my trousers uh no it did come back and it was a great relief i must say i was very sad to see it in that condition but that was the least of it really because when i looked in the mirror in my room this was when i was at university and i went back to my room in the halls of residence looked at myself in the mirror and I couldn't I could recognize myself but I didn't feel connected to my reflection have you ever had that existential I have but I do remember taking mushrooms and having not a good time I've had a good time and I've had not good times but one time I yeah I could see every hair follicle on my arms and every i could see

through my skin like the blood going through you know the veins and it just was horrifying would it be too pathetic to imagine that because you are fearless on stage, you are fearless in your personal life too. And that's what enables you to just pop a tab of acid proffered to you by some random guy in a comedy club. Well, I don't think I'm fearless in that. Like I don't, I haven't taken, I had some great experiences on acid though. I can't, I'm so grateful. I didn't have like a mental break. Like it was so careless and excellent mind expanding experiences with ecstasy. But this was all a long time ago. And I don't think I could do any of those things now. I would be scared.

I wouldn't be afraid of my fragile bones and body and spine. So I am a, I'm a, I do have fears. I'm careful. I got an electric bike. It's like a motorcycle. It's so cool. And I have so much fun on it, but, um, you know, I think like, oh, I'm going to like break a bone. I don't want to go to the hospital, you know, like I do have neurotic fears, but I don't want to go to the hospital you know i don't know like i do have neurotic fears but i don't um i don't in other ways that maybe other people do i guess like words and talking and stuff ideas ideas man they don't scare me change the unknown which is a handy thing to have if you're a comedian. Was that always the case? Like for most people, they're, I think, driven by the desire either not to cause trouble or to be liked.

And that really makes it difficult for a lot of people to do some scary things. Do you know what I mean? I do. for a lot of people to do some scary things. Do you know what I mean? I do. I mean, you know, I think all comedians, I think you'd agree, like,

you want strangers to like them, and that's, you know, couldn't possibly be a healthy thing. But I think I've gotten to a place where I've gotten a good balance of it, you know? And I also know that I'm not for everyone. I'm a, hey, is it niche or niche i would go for niche personally but i know a lot of americans go for the niche uh how's your english accent oh it's royally good no i can't do accents at all oh no hi i'm madame buxton hello hello hello i'm from the british countryside Hi, I'm Adam Buxton. Hello. Hello.

Hello, I'm from the British countryside. Amazing. I love it. It's amazing. It's so good. Hello. Hello. Doy, doy, doy, doy, doy, doy, doy, doy.

I heard that when people imitate, you know, like, I don't know French, but I can go, you know, like. Yes. A bit like the way D-Lite used to in some of their songs. Woo, D, remember that album? Oh, that was a summer. World clique. It was so good.

Top to bottom. But yeah but yeah french you can do yeah but um a friend of mine told me that when people who speak other languages like imitate american english they go charla barlala, Charla. Well, it's all about rolling the R's, isn't it? And what is the lockdown situation in Los Angeles just at the moment? You know, I don't know because I don't really do anything, but I've been doing stand-up in an outdoor venue. I heard you talking about doing a show with Dave Chappelle, I heard you talking about doing a show with Dave Chappelle and he flew you and a few other comedians out to do a gig. Yeah, I'm so glad that I did it and it went without a hitch.

But then afterwards I was like, oh, God, well, that could have been crazy, you know, but it was awesome. He was awesome. He lives in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and he would just fly in comics and musicians and just a small group. But, you know, it's like he spends his own. I forget. He's like real rich, you know? Yeah. it was negative. Then we get on the plane and then we get off. It's like a private plane. And then we get off the plane and right there on the tarmac, there's like a little shed right there. And they, he has like a wellness company he's hired and they all give us rapid tests. It was crazy and put on a show for all these people in this giant meadow. Wow, that sounds idyllic. And what kind of material are you doing these days? I don't, how do you say like, what kind of material do you do?

I know that's a vague question, isn't it? Like, I don't know. I suppose what I mean is, are you doing, do you feel as if the tone has changed a lot since you used to gig about 10 years ago um are the subjects very different are you yeah i'm always kind of changing i think like um because i like to uh i was just talking to my boyfriend about this. There's such a difference with, you know, I'm a bleeding heart liberal, you know, he's not as much. But, you know, but I find on the left, like, you know, because that's where I dwell, like an elitist-ness that's not welcoming and a finger wagging thing. elitist-ness that's not welcoming and a finger wagging thing where, and it's just like, just lead by example. Like I like embracing the new language. I like, uh, changing up, like not saying this anymore. Cause you can't unring the bell. You know, it was like, um, a friend of mine was

like, Oh God, are we going to have to not say master bedroom now? Is there someone going to make a big deal about that? Cause like that comes from slavery. And I was like, uh, I don't know, but I'm forever changed. Like you just changed me. I think that, you know, like, I don't know. It's like, I'm forever. I'm not going to call it the main room or the big room or the, you know, like you'd completely changed me with your, with that, you know, like he was going like, Oh God, are make a big deal but i was like you're the one you're making the big deal by fighting it but you know do it do you you know like i just i don't know the uh the finger wagging you know the one thing i know that like when i talk to like people on the right they feel judged you know and like there's no reason to make people feel that way.

Obviously, we're not talking about like, sorry, you carry on. No, no, no, you carry on. All right. I was just going to say like out here, there's like defund the police. Yeah. Have you heard of that? Yes. And I'm for it, but I just hate the name because it absolutely doesn't speak to what you mean by it.

And so you're asking people to look further into what it is, and they're not going to. They're just going to say, defund the police, fuck you. And it just means it's actually an excellent idea and can happen. But the name for it is, I think, elitist. It's not like anyone who understands what it is would agree to me, I think. What is your understanding of what it means? I think. What is your understanding of what it means? My understanding of what it means is to tear down the system of police, the idea of police, and replace it with community protectors, community guardians, you know. Police is a military sentiment, you know, and it's police in America started, was a force that was formed to protect white people's property from freed slaves. And it has that DNA still.

I mean, how many examples do we, how many people need to get shot, you know, for us to understand that. But to build a program that is community protectors, you know, that is basically the, a similar job to the police, but they actually serve and protect all people and are supplemented by money going to social programs that are right now being glommed on to the police and they're not trained for it. You know, I mean, like when there's a mass shooting on any given day, the right says it's not guns, it's mental health. Great. Let's put money into mental health. Let's get mental health experts, trained social workers to answer calls that are appropriate.

You know, like instead of putting it all on 911, on the appropriate, you know, like instead of putting it all on 911 on the, on the police, you know, or a community protector, I made that up. I don't know what it'd be called, you know, community protector and a social worker shows up to a domestic call or, you know, like, um, does that make sense? Yes. Yes, please. Yep. Yes.

Look, I've got a fart machine. Oh, oh my God. It's so funny because I moved and I actually like, I got a moving company like that packs your stuff. It was so incredible. But, you know, they labeled everything. And in my pantry, there's a big crate that says fart boxes, because I buy a bunch of those remote control fart machines, you know, because they're great for gifts. Yeah, that's exactly what I've got. The remote controlled fart box. Is that the guy? Could you recognize that fart?

Yeah, that's Steve. Can I see it? Sure. I'm gonna show you my fart box. Yeah, that's what I have. Yeah. show you my fart box yeah that's what i have yeah you can be as political as you want but the truth is like nothing beats a remote control fart machine well you know i'm just for me that's more familiar territory kids 5 to 95 yeah it's a great leveler a fart how about a real fart because i've now reached the age i'm 51

i can feel that i'm entering the uncontrolled fart zone no oh i'm so scared you're six months older than me i wikipedia'd you okay and um my biggest fear is that i'm going to have senility and masturbate in public genuinely is that because you're so fond of masturbating that at that point you just won't be able to control yourself or will you suddenly turn into a masturbator no well i i do notice my boyfriend noticed and then i you know that know, that like, I will like be like kind of pressing like my vagina while I'm watching TV mindlessly. Okay, yeah.

He's like, ooh. And I'm like, no, no, no, no. It's just like how you cradle your balls. You're not like trying to have sex. You're just watching TV. That's what i do so then i but it is rather mindless you know and so i um i'm alone a lot you know like so i uh yeah that's my fear because i think that's a real thing right i was going to ask you about whether you have been genuinely embarrassed by a fart in the past like a that came out of me

yes uh i'm pretty contrived i've got good control over that you know but i um i do remember one time being on an international flight and i must have been sick or something, but like silent, teeny tiny pieces of like thousand degree air was coming out of me and I couldn't control it. And it was, it smelled like I must have been sick. I, this was like a very, like I remember this time and there was nothing, I was on a plane. And so I had just had like a look of disgust, like I was disgusted by whoever was doing this. Yeah. You know, I was like, ugh, disgusting. Like putting my shirt over my nose, like, ugh. Oh, wow. You really committed to it. Yeah, I had to because I was a whore.

If I didn't, I would probably be like crying, laughing with a beet red face. Yeah. The other day I was at the supermarket and I was at the checkout. Everyone's got their masks on. But I opened up my reusable shopping bag to pack my food. And evidently there was a bit of broccoli at the bottom of the bag that had been there for a few weeks that I just hadn't taken out before. And it had gone all disgusting. And suddenly this waft of rotten vegetable fart smell came out of the bag.

And I didn't know what to do because it was so like I'd just done a massive fart. Why wouldn't you just go like, oh, God, that stinks. I'm sorry. There's like old broccoli in here. Yeah, I know. It's silly. But I just get you just get embarrassed in those moments. You know, it's like coming out of an airplane toilet.

you have befouled it. Exactly what you're saying. Or if the person before, you know, worst is if the person before you befouled it and you come out and there's someone waiting and you want to say to them, that wasn't me, I didn't do that smell, by the way. That was the person before. Yeah.

But I can't say any of that. I just have to just, oh, just shuffle past and get back to my seat as quick as I can't say any of that. I just have to just shuffle past and get back to my seat as quick as I can. No, well, like if there is like poop on a seat or in a public toilet, I will clean it up. Same here. Yeah. It's so disgusting. Yes, I'm so glad I finally met someone else who does that.

Yeah. I spend hours doing it. I mean, I have. Once I went into an airplane toilet and it was carnage in there. And I just, there was like liquid sloshing around. There was, oh, it was really like a horror film. I don't know what had happened. And I just spent about half an hour solemnly cleaning it up and then disinfecting myself as well as I possibly could when the process was finished but I had to do it that's

above and beyond it is above and beyond and maybe slightly mentally ill I just bumped into you at the supermarket I was backing out of a parking space and I hit your car. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. But you're angry now, very angry now. And that's making me very angry too. No, fuck you. And your mother too

I'm going to ask you some questions in the form of the kind of voice messages you get on your podcast. Is that okay? Yes. First of all, I should say, though, that you play a good range of those voice messages you receive from listeners. Because I think conventionally, when most people do that on a podcast or on a radio show or something, most of the messages are fairly light. But I've noticed that you play some quite heavy messages yeah did you always just assume that that's the way it was going to be you didn't have a conversation with anyone about like well I

don't know if we should should we just keep it light and fun or are we going to really lean into some of this heavy stuff? I don't know. I never think about it. Like to me, comedy and not comedy or, you know, like, or drama or trauma are so adjacent, so connected. Like, I don't know. I'm interested in it. You know what it is? I like getting uncomfortable. Yeah. Do you? Yeah. Like, I don't know't know yeah but what about making yourself uncomfortable being out of your comfort zone saying something that you later regret how do you feel about that well you know it's interesting because i was talking about like what people say cancel culture or whatever and you go like well with that there needs to be some kind of path to redemption or do you want these people to be

changed? Or do you want them to just stay wrong so you can point to them as wrong and yourself as right? But then on the other hand, if you think of yourself as someone who takes risks or takes chances, that risk is consequences and you got to suck it up and take them. So I don't know. I find it all interesting. You know, I want to be able to keep doing what I do, you know, but I don't like doing things out of fear, you know, but I like realizing I fucked up because then I can show what it's like to be someone what it could be like to be someone who fucked up and you never have a moment where you suddenly your heart is cold and you think oh shit maybe I'm just a bad person uh I'm not saying you should by the the way. I'm just asking. No.

I mean, sometimes I have certain people in my life where I go like, I can't tell what the right thing to do is and I'll ask them, you know. I'm just impressed by the way that you deal with the stuff you get. Like, for example, the other day I was listening to a fairly recent one and there was a man who called in and he left a message saying basically that he felt he had nothing to live for. And he said, I'm not thinking of imminently ending my life. telling you that I feel as if it's totally empty and I don't have anything that I care about or I don't have friends or a wife or anything I mean it was really a very sad message and I just thought what the fuck are you gonna say about that and you I mean you gave a thoughtful response but I just thought that it was impressive that you even played that message. Yeah, well, in my stand-up, I'm more concerned that there's jokes.

But in this, I don't. It's just, I just talk about whatever I think is interesting. And I don't remember what I said, but I'm guessing maybe, I think he was very self-centered. Yeah. You know what I mean? Just literally. Like, he couldn't see past himself, which is, I understand, you know, being familiar with depression. But I think, like, if you can focus on, you know, care about others, it takes you out of that a little bit sometimes.

Sometimes it's impossible and you know but i don't know what i said i don't remember there was also a woman who called in and she was very emotional because she was overcome with guilt and shame for being a white person benefiting from privilege in a kind of structurally racist society. And she was in tears. And I'd never quite heard anyone in that state before. Obviously, I've read a great deal about the concept of white guilt and white privilege and thought about it a great deal myself and talked to other people about it. But I'd never heard anyone calling in and actually being distraught to that degree.

It's so sweet. And then I also like ironically self-centering, you know? Yeah, that's right. It was pretty wild. Help me, I'm privileged. Yeah. You know, Jesus said like, deal with your shit or your shit will deal with you. But it had like doth in it, you know jesus said like uh deal with your shit or your shit will deal with you

but it had like doth in it you know paraphrasing uh if you don't if you do not bring forth what is within you what is within you will destroy you holy shit i think that's what it is yeah um okay so here's a couple of questions i know we haven't even done one no here's a couple of questions which i have written just to be clear but i've written them in the style of one of the voice messages you get on your podcast i apologize for this kind of tortured okay device um and also to add another layer to the tortured device, I have made up some place names for where they're from, the imaginary people. And some of them are real English places and some of them are made up. And so you have to say made up or real when you hear the places. Oh, fun.

Okay. Oh, boy. Okay. I'm really loading a lot onto this now. Okay. Here is a question. Hi, okay. Oh, boy. Okay. I'm really loading a lot onto this now. Okay, here is a question. Hi, Sarah. Lushandra from Upton Snodsbury here. Fake.

Upton Snodsbury is a village in England located five miles east of Worcester, just off the A4220. Ooh, Worcester's in Massachusetts, too. Worcester. Yeah. So that's real Massachusetts too. Worcester. Yeah. So that's real, up to the Snodsbury. And Lushandra says, Over the years, you have appeared on many classic American

TV shows, including Seinfeld, Bob and Dave's Mr. Show, The Larry Sanders Show, and Star Trek Voyager, a two-part time-travelling episode. Please can you tell me some amazing stories about all of those? Thanks, Sarah. You're amazing. Oh, there's so many. Let's start with Star Trek Voyager. Were you a Trekker anyway?

Not really, but I dip in and out. I have Trekker friends. My stepbrother's a big Trek. We were just texting about it actually. Cause my friend Tig Notaro is on a Star Trek show right now. Oh, that's right. Yeah. And, uh, it's, I watch clips of her on YouTube because they're so funny and they're, it's a really good show. Um, yeah, I was on a two parter, you know, it was like one of my first acting roles on TV. And so I went to a, I was playing a scientist in a SETI lab and they crashed down to the past. So that was our present of 1997. And, uh, you know, I was a scientist, but like with a pushup bra and a half shirt, you know, I was just like, yeah. But, um, I went to a acting coach, you know, to work on it. And, uh, he finally just

kind of tossed up his hands and he goes, look, sometimes when you're running from lasers, you just have to pretend you're running from lasers and I was like it was very freeing because you know it was just like right it's acting is pretending that these circumstances are real yeah you can do that how about uh let's see how about Larry Sanders I mean you were in a few episodes of Larry Sanders right yeah that Yeah, that was incredible. And I became very close with Gary Shandling. And he was just a wonderful, generous mentor to so many comedians and writers. And, but I remember, you know, he, they wrote such brilliant scripts. And then they would, you know, he would say, listen, I don't care what you say, the words you say, as long as you get the idea of the script across.

And to be so not precious with, you know, his own words, I thought was really interesting. Did you write on those episodes as well? No. I mean, you know, we would, the scenes were loose, you know? Yeah. So there's looseness, there's improvisation, but it's not like Curb where like the scenes are just like paragraphs. It's written and it's written so well, but you can also just, you don't have to, it's not like Aaron Sorkin,

you know, it's not Bible. Like he just wanted people to be real and and I think because I'm not you know my acting is I always need to change a little a word here or there to like make it real for me yeah and I learned early like when I had my own show I would tweak and tweak and tweak and tweak. And what I realized was I'm always going to change what's written. So like, just leave it. It's fine. You know? Yeah. And in Larry Sanders, I think I'm right in saying you were playing a writer and some of that storyline was informed by your years on SNL as a writer and performer. I think Gary would say that, you know, I think that was like his inspiration and his mind of it.

But I don't, you know, I was there for one season. Yeah. And certainly, yeah, the kind of, the way women writers were treated then. I mean, obviously it's come, it's progressed like incredibly, you know, I mean, I was there in 93, 94. And, um. Were you the only woman at that point?

I was, there was sometimes this writer, Marilyn Suzanne Miller, who was like an original writer would drop by, but I was the only woman of a lot of people, a lot of writers. Yeah. And I was 22. And, you know, so I was just, I remember I thought of a bit that, I did well in Punch-Up. Like that's where I shined. Ah. Can you explain the concept of Punch-Up for the non-writers amongst us?

So people would write sketches, and then they would pick the sketches that were to be on the show. And then Thursday night, we'd just spend all night going over as a group, all the writers going through the scripts and punching up jokes, you know um just fine-tuning them and making and adding jokes right so um that was where i i did well but um there was the goodfellas sketch the long scene of going through the back of the kitchen and introducing all the people and you know johnny two times you know how you doing how you doing you know that remember that yeah we were thinking of different people and I said, Tina via satellite. You know, just like a TV on the bar where she's like, hey, how you doing, Tony?

You know. And they loved it, but they said, it's not funny as a woman. You know, I was hoping I could be Tina because it's just a little ancillary part, you know. Yeah. It's not funny as a woman. It should be a guy and i just thought what a weird ingrained thing that that's not funny if it's a woman like it's huh and that's 1993 yeah i'm not here to litigate the past adam but it's interesting it is interesting and who were

some of your contemporaries the cast members at the time i think you were there with norm mcdonald right who's very funny quite inscrutable character yeah there's nobody like him yeah he punched a guy really yeah a writer named ian maxton graham why did he punch him he was smoking a cigarette in the writer's room, and Ian said, there's no smoking in the writer's room. And he put out his cigarette with a bit of water, and Norm punched him. You know. Sure.

But hey, can you imagine smoking inside? That's so odd, thinking of it now. Yeah. Remember when there was police? Imagine smoking inside. That's so odd. Thinking of it now. Yeah. Can you imagine? Remember when there was police? Yeah. Let's see. It was like Adam Sandler and David Spade and Kevin Nealon and Phil Hartman and Chris Farley and Julia Sweeney and Ellen Cleghorn and Melanie Hutzel and Rob Schneider and Al Franken.

Al Franken. That's right. You talk in your book about suddenly giving into the impulse to shove a very sharp pencil into his hair. I just meant it to go through like his big Jewish head of hair and it went right into his temple. And then I couldn't explain what I was thinking because I was laughing too hard and it must have looked insane, like an insane person. I remember he just went, why? Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh Conversation Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah I really love talking to you so much I wanted to ask you about the Sarah Silverman program, which I watched to remind myself, like I watched it at the time, but I watched a couple of episodes the other day and i was reminded of the extent to which

it was sort of prefiguring so much of what's going on today in a way like it was the storylines and your character were kind of satirizing this is what it looked like to me right so maybe you have a different take on it but to me it looked like a satire of a lot of kind of empty virtue signaling well yeah you know i'm wary of using that phrase because i'm aware that it's the kind of right phrase that's bandied around like cancel culture too much yeah at the same time that is a thing like virtue signaling whatever you want to call it people uh cynically going through the motions the aids episode where i like get an aids test and then become like a a voice you know like a the face of it you know that oh yeah yeah or like yeah and and even to

the extent like you know going in and tig notaro is playing a cop and she's gay and you come in and you just you just sort of suddenly decide like, oh, I'm gay. So you're probably quite excited about that because you're gay, too. And, you know, in just a very patronizing way. But it's so many of the things and the narratives that you see playing out on social media now were the storylines that you had in that show that's so funny and i was gonna say like do you think that it's possible to satirize the current cultural climate without taking sides politically like is there any way to take the piss out of what's going on on both sides, on the left and the right, without really being biased to one side or the other? Yeah. I mean, I think that I am biased to one side, obviously, but like, I definitely see its quirks and downfalls, so i mean yes but no one's doing it though are they because

it feels as if it's too hard to do because it feels like you would get co-opted too quickly like if you criticize the left at all you just get written off and lumped in with all the slightly creepy, alt-right, more conservative commentators? Yeah, I don't know. I don't really like... Or am I talking out of my arse? No, I don't think you are. I think that's what people say, but I don't know. I don't feel that way. I guess it just all depends on what transcends past the words. You know what I mean?

Like Jeff Ross does roast jokes and he's brutal to everyone, but there's so much love behind it that like nobody gets hurt, you know? And maybe the same jokes out of someone else's mouth who isn't as joyful would hurt someone, you know? So it's, there's like some nuance that goes beyond like the, you know, it's how like people on the right will like get comedians by saying they said this. And it's terrible written in transcript because there's no heart behind it. There's no soul behind it. It's just like words. Like there's a meme that somebody made in the far right of me. And it's like a picture of me speaking at the DNC, but the words are from a comedy special I did in character that says,

I'm glad Jews killed Jesus. I'd do it again if he showed up. And, you know, I've gotten like death threats from it because people see it and get very angry but it's it's totally misrepresented and um that's dangerous like whoever made it knew it was disingenuous yeah how about material that perhaps hasn't been taken out of context but it did give offense perhaps back in the day and and maybe you wouldn't do the same stuff now but people can't move beyond it they just say no that's what you said that's all there is well that's fine they can do that i mean you know it's like i can't control how people think of me or who i am in their lives you know like, like what villain or, you know, whatever I, you know, I can't control it. So yeah, that's when I just go like, I'm not for everybody. And you know,

I am, I like to grow and change and shit like that, you know? And then I, I, so I have to forgive myself, but I also accept like the consequences that come with it. Like I've lost jobs for things I did 12 years ago that I would never do now. And that I've definitely talked about and stuff, but I have to just suck it up because that's how it goes. You know? Yeah. Final question. And I'm maybe I'm not going to do this in the voice message format. No, I'm not.

I'm just going to ask you like a normal person. But I was watching you talking to Moshe Kasher. And am I saying his name right? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And Natasha Leggero on their Endless Honeymoon podcast. Aren't they great? Yeah, very good.

I was really enjoying it. And they got someone who called in there and they were talking about having sex. It was this bloke who'd had sex with a woman, an older woman, although that wasn't really germane to the story. She was a cougar. And he was on ketamine and coke and ecstasy and it was really quite an

explicit story which i won't completely repeat but the punch line was that he hadn't realized that he had basically torn his frenulum oh yeah what is His taint? Is that what it's called? The banjo string. Oh that! Yeah I don't know what the taint is. Oh god is that like the thing that's like between your balls and your asshole? No that's the gooch. Oh that's the gooch. Well hang on I'm googling this. Oh, that's the gooch. Well, hang on. I'm Googling this. Both men and women have a perineum or taint located between the anus and genitals.

Yeah. For men, the perineum is especially sensitive because beneath this small patch of nerve endings lies the prostate. Or as some people call it, the male G-spot. Hmm. There you go no i'm talking about the frenulum which is also known as the banjo string as i said and it is the small bit of skin that connects the foreskin if you are uncircumcised to the um bell end to the what do you not say bellend in america bellend the bell end oh like the head of his penis yeah the helmet oh oh yeah wait so the guy what i'm trying to remember it because i remember it was crazy so he isn't circumcised he was uncircumcised i think right and then

and he was going at it with such gusto and there was blood right yeah there was blood everywhere it's a horrible story oh my god i was like it even makes me nauseous it must make you nervous but it made me laugh and um why am i bringing it up now i suppose because i was thinking you know you're frank and you're open when it comes to the subject of sex um but i was wondering if you ever get embarrassed have you ever been embarrassed in a sexy situation oh sure i have but i i feel like you this was like the first question you asked i'm trying to remember was it oh no i asked you if you'd been embarrassed about farting i'm sorry i mean this is just just saying this out loud i don't have a good answer for it no of course you don't i'd be disappointed if you do it would be a great question

have you i mean surely i'll tell you when i get embarrassed is when I make an effort to be a little more spicy in the bedroom. And, you know, like say things maybe. Yes. And I find that very embarrassing. I can't remember. I think it's Colin Quinn who had a joke about that where he's like, oh, yeah, lick my balls. And she's like, what? Lick my balls.

You have to repeat it. It's just so embarrassing. That's the thing. And I have a terrible hearing. So he'll say things. That does happen where I'll go like, what? And he'll be like never mind yeah no that's the only time i i get properly embarrassed i think

but that's what booze is for in a way or at least that's what sort of mind-altering substances are for yeah i like a puff before sex sometimes you know but it's a bit of a grab bag because it could go either way. And then also you need water nearby because you get so dry. Your mouth gets so dry, you know. It's not as good for kissing, but I like it. Yes. Shall I do another question in the form of a voice message? Yeah.

All right. Just trying to think about the accent for this one hi sarah harry from hareton here now that's a made-up place you don't even have to guess hareton hareton i made it up but it relates you'll find out to the question i've often heard you talking about how you were made to feel self-conscious about being hairy when you were younger how do you explain the squeamishness about hairy women in certain parts of society i find hairy women extremely hot thanks sarah you're amazing great question i had a boyfriend who was like i like that you have hairy arms because that means that you have testosterone in your body and that that's why you like sex okay i don't know if that's i'm not sure that's yeah i don't know

what the i mean yeah like well you don't have to have testosterone to like sex no exactly unless women are just pretending that they like sex well maybe it's like i'm i'm more of a pig about it, like testosterone. But I had two sessions of laser hair removal, but you're supposed to get eight. But it was just it hurt too much. So I said, fuck it. On Sarah Silverman program, I had fully hairy arms and I liked it because I liked the idea that I was like starring on in a television show and I had hairy arms and little girls that would have hairy arms. I, you know, I'd show mine and be like, we're soul sisters. I love that. Like I'm seeing young women with hairy or I don't have hairy armpit. Like I, I don't even think about it when I'm in the shower. I just go whisk, whisk, whisk, whisk. But I love these young women with hairy armpits.

I think it's sexy. I don't know. Yeah, I think it's good. I was happy when Julia Roberts had hairy armpits. Do you remember that? Oh, yeah. What was that? It was just like a picture of her?

She was at the Oscars, wasn't she? Or something like that. That's so cool. um it looked fine i mean i had a girlfriend when i was 19 and she was a bit older than me and she had hairy armpits and i do remember like a split second of acknowledging it and thinking oh she's got hairy armpits but then that was the end of that and it would just um it was cool i liked it and also i suppose that it made me a bit less self-conscious because i had a hairy back so i mean you could argue that a hairy back is more disgusting than hairy armpits on a woman i don't know i. I hate to see you leave, but I love to watch you go. Wait, this is an advert for Squarespace.

Every time I visit your website, I see success. Yes, success. The way that you look at the world makes the world want to say yes it looks very professional I love browsing your videos and pics and I don't want to stop and I'd like to access your members area and spend in your shop. These are the kinds of comments people will say about your website if you build it with Squarespace. Just visit squarespace.com slash Buxton for a free trial. And when you're ready to launch, because you will want to launch,

And when you're ready to launch, because you will want to launch, use the offer code BUXTON to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. So put the smile of success on your face with Squarespace. Yes. Continue. Rosie! Let's head back. Come on. Come here. Come and say hello. Hey, I'm glad you're out on the walk with me again and not being grumpy you having fun yes i am it's amazing it's one of the best times i've ever had good

come on sweet dog so that was sarah silverman talking to me there thank Thank you, Sarah. I'm very grateful indeed to her for making the time to appear on the podcast and put up with some fairly ropey avenues of inquiry, I would say. But look, before I continue my outro ramblings, I just wanted to give a shout out to another podcast the vip podcast or visually impaired people podcast and it is a i'm quoting from their blurb they're also on a cast same platform that i'm on of course and I'm quoting from the ACAST blurb. On the VIP pod, we talk to a range of fascinating guests from all walks of life with one thing in common, being visually impaired. Through this series, we hope to raise awareness of the many different conditions that can affect visually impaired people and the amazing ways people adapt and thrive. I was in touch with the folks at the VIP pod last year. Was it last year or was it even the year before?

I kind of lost track. It was maybe pre-pandemic because I put them in touch with Gear 4 Music, who I've mentioned a few times on this podcast. Suppliers of music and podcasting, recording equipment, etc. Fantastic outlet online. Brilliant service. Anyway, Gear for Music were able to help me out and get some podcasting gear together for the VIP pod. But I'm not sure they've actually had a chance to use any of it yet because everything's had to

be remote anyway I wanted to give them a shout out check out that podcast I just listened to episode two in which Emma one of the hosts talks to a guy called Darren Marinas who works for the expert citizens CIC charity and he was born with cataracts and he had a difficult home life anyway but with his visual impairment he ended up going to a boarding school for people with various disabilities and a combination of factors led him into a life of addiction and then crime and then prison. Anyway, Darren made it out the other side and has kind of turned his life around in spectacular fashion.

He talks about that on the VIP pod and there are many other stories of people dealing with the challenges of visual impairment on the VIP pod at the moment. They've only put a few episodes out so far. It's early days, but give it your support if you can. It would be very much appreciated.

And thanks to Gear for Music, once again. Link in the description of the podcast to both the VIP pod and Gear for Music. So yes, I was saying about my conversation with Sarah Silverman, it was a bit of a roller coaster because the technical problems we had were so bad. And yeah, what a mistake to have a cognac. I don't know what I was thinking. I guess I was thinking, well, I was nervous and I thought maybe

it would calm my nerves a little. And I was also excited to meet Sarah talk to her and I thought yeah how about cognac I'm never going to do that again because that was a real mistake it just made it that much harder to deal with all the technical problems and stuff I'm making it sound like I was absolutely hammered I wasn't I just had one shot but, I could have done with being completely clear-headed. Because it's so difficult once you start getting the zoom dropouts and freezes to maintain any kind of conversational rhythm, you know? And to connect. And that's what it's always about.

Just an effort to try and connect with people. Which is a lot easier if you know the person already. But if you've never met the person before, it's so tricky to try and gauge the kind of thing that is appropriate. I don't know what I'm doing. And as you heard, some of my questions were questions were just well a little bit in the toilet and also what was I expecting I think I was just you never know with a guest you sort of think is it worth taking a chance on this stupid question maybe they'll respond to it maybe they won't I don't know anyway she was extremely generous and patient if you're a fan of hers i really do recommend the bed wetter as a snapshot of where she was back in 2010 a different time with a lot of stories and language that probably seem a lot different now than they did then.

That is the dog. I don't know if you heard. Back there, there's a barky dog. And that is the dog belonging to our new neighbours. Rosie, just don't even start. I think the dog is called Kiki. So Rosie, I'm sure you and Kiki would get on. Rosie's looking at me like, can I go speak to Kiki? I don't think it's a good idea just yet. Let's leave Kiki alone just for the moment. Come on, Rosie. Please don't go and antagonize Kiki it would be so bad for neighbor relations thank goodness

Rosie's coming with me see you later nice to meet you hope you enjoy this part of the world bye she's very barky Rosie isn't she Rosie come on all right that's it for this week thank you very much indeed once again to sarah silverman thanks very much indeed to seamus murphy mitchell for all his invaluable work getting this episode together thanks as well to becca tashinsky for additional production support thanks to acast for all their ongoing support on this show much appreciated and thanks to you podcats hope you're doing all right out there back next week with another rambling conversation until then please take like the absolute best of care do you want a hug quick hug come on

yeah keep it formal I love you Salute best of care. Do you want a hug? Quick hug. Come on. Yeah. Keep it formal. I love you. Bye! Bye! Give me like a smile and a thumbs up Nice like a pat when they bums up Give me like a smile and a thumbs up Nice like a pat when they bums up Like and subscribe Like and subscribe

Like and subscribe Please like and subscribe Give me like a smile and a thumbs up Nice like a pat when they bums up Give me like a smile and a thumbs up Nice like a pat when they bums up Please like and subscribe Bye. Thank you.