-Our first guest tonight
is an Emmy Award-winning writer, actor, and comedian.
New episodes of her podcast, "The Sarah Silverman Podcast,"
are released on Thursdays.
Please welcome back to the show our dear friend
Sarah Silverman. How are you, Sarah?
-Hi, precious. -It's so lovely --
lovely to lay eyes on you.
I do want to start by checking in on your father.
When we last spoke in the fall,
you were on the way to dress his wound.
He had hurt his foot. -Mm-hmm.
You even, I believe, at the time, were voting
to have the foot removed, so badly was it injured.
-I was Team Cut It Off because I think it would be cool
if he had a prosthetic foot, but I was the only one on that team.
-And so he still has the foot?
-He still has the foot. -Good.
-It's fair to middling, I would say.
-Does your dad visit you in L.A.?
Is it nice to see him when he comes out?
-Yeah. He was out here,
and he actually got a pacemaker put in his heart.
And he was out the same day. It was, like, crazy.
But he had a couple zingers
he told me about during that experience.
He, like, went in. The nurse came in
and was explaining what was going to --
what the procedure was going to be.
And he's like, "Why are you telling me?
Tell the doctor!" [ Laughter ]
And then, the doctor came in, and he --
I think this is an oldie, but he said,
"Will I be able to play the piano after this?"
and the doctor said, "Yeah," and he goes, "Oh, good,
'cause I've never been able to play it before."
[ Laughter ] And then --
And the -- Oh! The anesthesiologist came in,
and he was like, "No, way! No!
You are not putting me to sleep! I am not falling for it!"
And the guy's like, "Count back from 100."
And he goes, "No! I'm not gonna!"
And then that was the last thing he could remember.
[ Laughter ]
-Having a daughter in comedy, is he very --
he seems like he has no shame in sharing these jokes.
-He loves being old.
Like, we were at this sandwich place we go to.
This is pre-pan. -[ Laughing ]
-And we go to this sandwich shop that we all like,
and we were there, and these two, like,
huge muscle guys walked up to my dad on their way out
and were like, "Hey!" doing this to him.
And then they left, and we were like, "What was that?"
And he goes, "Oh, when I went to refill my Coke,
I saw those two muscle guys, so I went over and I go,
'You know what? I think I might
kick the [bleep] out of one of you."
[ Laughter ]
He knows that people love it. He loves being old.
And I feel like I'm really becoming him,
because when I walk my dog Mary who's like this big,
when she walks up to people, I always go, "Mary, attack!"
You know? And I'm just like,
"That's what my dad would say," you know?
It's stupid. And then, I'm also, like, so becoming my mom.
Like, I was in the -- I was in line at 7-Eleven,
and the kid in front of me is like 19.
Was buying, like, Doritos and orange soda,
you know, and I just can't -- And I was like, "Really?
You can't get a bag of almonds for the same price?"
[ Laughter ]
-That's good. I do think that is the kindest
tribute we can pay our parents
is to just slowly turn into them.
-I can't believe it.
I'm doing just everything that made me want to die.
-You're probably doing something else
that your parents did back in the day.
I've heard that you have been spending the pandemic
watching a lot of "Columbo."
-That's so funny, because, actually,
I was telling my dad, "We're watching 'Columbo,'
and he goes, "Oh, my God.
I know every episode of 'Columbo.'
Name one episode." I go, "All right.
The one with Bruce Gordon, and he's like, "Uh, next."
And I go, "Okay. Johnny Cash is, you know, a thief."
And he goes -- "No, I don't. Next."
I must have mentioned like eight different ones,
he didn't know any of them.
I'm like, my boyfriend and I have just been obsessed
with watching "Columbo," mostly me,
and I love it so much. And then we were --
You know, we don't spend every night together.
I'm a modern woman, and I need space.
[ Laughter ] But I was alone one night,
and I go, "I really want to watch a 'Columbo.'
Do you mind?" And he's like,
"No, I don't mind."
And I watched this "Columbo," and it was a magician in it.
I think Ricardo Montalban was in it.
And they revealed a magic trick,
and I'm not a fan of magic, but I was like, "Oh, my God.
I'm gonna do this when Rory's here."
So then I go, "Pick a number from 1 to 5."
And he said 3, and I go, "Look under the blender."
He looks under the blender, and there's a note.
It says, "I knew you would pick number 3."
He was like, "No way!"
And we're laughing, and I felt pretty cool.
And then he goes, "What is it? Like a psychology thing?
Like most people pick 3?" and I go, "No."
He goes, "What if I picked number 1."
I go, "Look under the stapler." [ Laughter ]
He's like -- We were laughing so hard because it's so dumb.
Like, it's just leg work. Magic is just leg work.
-In general, you're not a fan of magic?
-Uh, no. I don't know why.
I'm not proud of this, but it enrages me.
-Mm-hmm. -Like, I feel like I would be
somebody who would, like, burn a witch at the stake
in Salem or something.
I don't know what's wrong with me.
Not that I relate to that now,
but when I feel, like, the rage I feel when I see magic,
I don't know what it is. It's not rage,
but I'm just like, "So what? He learned a trick."
-Yeah. -But I get that's what
comedy is, too, so... -Well, I think
the difference is -- and, again, my rage
towards magic, I want to make it clear, is also irrational.
When you see comedy, you don't go backstage
to somebody after they told a joke and say,
"How did you do it?"
Because the joke, you're showing all parts with a joke, right?
-Right. But they might go,
"Did you think of that in the moment?"
And sometimes you do, but many times, you don't.
-Right. I guess that's our magic.
-Yeah. -Hey, you did a few --
I guess not that many, but a lot of people
have been trying out how to do comedy
in this very dark time for the live arts.
You did a few outdoor shows. How was it?
-Yeah, I've just started doing some outdoor shows,
and it's -- it's pretty cool.
Like, there's this one that is, like, people in lounge chairs,
kind of like -- lawn chairs. You know...
And with the ticket, they get, like, an Igloo
'cause there's not wait service or anything.
It's kind of no-touch. And the Igloo has --
You know, we're in California so it has beer, water, and joints.
You know, tons of joints. So the air is just smoky
with weed and --
But they give you, like, a new mic.
Each comic gets a cleaned mic that they wipe down.
And, you know, it's like, you know how strippers
wipe down the pole, like, in between dances?
It just really embeds, like, reality.
Like, you know -- Like, "Oh. Right."
But it's been fun. It's fun doing jokes
for a live crowd, you know, and trying --
I've been trying this joke, and I won't even say it.
It's not really for TV.
But it's very dark, Holocausty, Hitlery joke,
and it keeps not working.
You know when you just stay with a joke too long --
Like, you're like, "Something -- It's not that it's a bad joke.
Maybe it just needs an 'and' or a pause."
It's probably just heinous.
-Hey, your podcast, obviously, you're not the first person
to have a podcast, but it's very unique in that,
Instead of interviewing people,
your listeners leave you voicemails.
Are you enjoying this format?
-I love it, yeah.
People are calling in from all over the world, you know?
It's so cool.
Like Scotland and Finland and Sweden.
You know, it's, like, places I've never, ever, ever been.
-Well, it will come as no surprise to you
that I greatly enjoy hearing your voice,
both here and also in podcast form.
And it is just a delight to have you.
What are you looking at? -I was trying to remember
what I was supposed to say to that question.
Because I haven't looked at any notes.
I haven't followed any notes.
-Oh, my God. You really have turned into your mother.
And I haven't even met her, but I'm guessing...
[ Laughter ]
-You can cut this out. -No!
Sometimes it's not that it's specific to the question.
Sometimes I'm just in the moment.
I'm genuinely curious. Don't -- This is --
You know, when I interview magicians,
they don't give this much away.
-What is it about magicians that gives them ponytails?
[ Laughter ]
-Well, I think that's a perfect question to leave our viewers
wondering what the answer is.
Hey, it's so great to see you.
I hope next time I can see your face in person.
-Bye, thanks. Good to see you.