So I did as I told myself I would on Wednesday, I started and finished The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee by the incomparable Sarah Silverman. In this autobiographical book she talks about a lot, and to be honest it made me respect her more as an entertainer and person. From talking about how Elvis Presley "saved her life" to being the first author in her publishing company to write her own foreword and "midword," this book really delivered. My favorite part was when she talked about a homeless man who used to stash knives all over the city while she worked at a comedy club passing out fliers. I flashbacked to one of my favorite characters on her show, a homeless man who takes her under his wing when Sarah becomes homeless. It's nice to see that she draws her comedy from her real life.
And for anyone who has ever seen Jesus is Magic (a masterpiece film), then you'll also see how some of the jokes from that movie draw from her experiences growing up. My favorite part came when she addressed her "run-in" with one Ms. Britney Spears and how in fact she never had a "run-in" with her. I remember how Sarah got loads of bad press for her skit after Britney bombed at the 2007 VMAs while ill performing "Gimme More." Sarah made jokes that referred to how Britney has already accomplished everything she's ever going to accomplish and how her cute kids came out of an even cuter coslopus (Chelsea Handler term). People starting crapping all over Sarah because she has kicking Britney when she was down and how Britney had heard her act and how she had the jokes in her mind during her performance and that's one of the reasons (out of many) of why it didn't go so well. Remember? Well Sarah never even rehearsed her jokes, MTV trusted her and said "just be funny" and about kicking Britney while she was down, Sarah was backstage during the performance, she didn't even get to see it. Well it was good for her to explain herself and address problems she's faced in her career. And if you ask me, Russell Brand isn't anywhere nearly as good as the Big S.
Another highlight of the book was how she addresses the way adults talk to kids, adult should know better. I agree. I remember teaching one of my friends something and yelling at said person because said person wasn't getting it. Person said, "Oscar why are you so impatient? How do you work with kids?" It sounds pretty intense but it was actually a light-hearted comment we both laughed about. My response was that kids don't know better, I expect more from adults. Adults should know better, and that's exactly what Sarah addresses here. She explains how a mother once went into a furious rage wondering who wet one of the sleeping bags during her child's sleepover party, and Sarah intelligently notes that if she had kids at her home for a sleepover and found out that one of them had wet the bed that she would want to play it off cool to not further embarrass the child instead of making a big deal out of something and possibly setting up the child for a barrage of humiliation to an already sensitive situation. Agreed. And once she was in the lobby at her therapist's office (Sarah was diagnosed with depression as a child), her therapist hung himself, complete suicide, and his officemate went up to Sarah and yelled in her face that this therapist had just done. Screaming in a child's face about death...not so smart. So yes, Sarah and I agree on a lot of things, and this book was a great way to spend a pretty uneventful Wednesday.
Phoebe, this is one for my book recommendations.
Link to Sarah's intro about Brit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNMy0zRCpGE
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