Sarah Silverman: “I Would Listen to John Denver and Just Cry!”

“I USE MUSIC to escape from my life,” says flamethrowing comedian Sarah Silverman, 32. The raven-haired crush of a million indie-rock boys sits cheerfully on a bright Hollywood soundstage as a makeup woman carefully applies lip gloss before the Blender photo shoot. “There are love songs where I insert my own characters and my own love scenarios – you know, my boyfriend [Jimmy Kimmel] and me.”

Silverman will have a different boyfriend this autumn – at least on film – when she appears in The School of Rock, a Richard Linklater–directed comedy about a substitute teacher (Jack Black) who forms a band with his elementary-school pupils. Silverman plays Patti DiMarco, the bossy girlfriend of Black’s roommate. Though she had some musical moments in her hit 2002 one-woman show Jesus Is Magic, she doesn’t sing in the movie: “My part is, I play an asshole.”

Silverman started doing standup comedy in her teens, working the Boston and New York scenes. She notched a year on Saturday Night Live and then moved to Los Angeles, where she scored supporting roles in The Bachelor and There’s Something About Mary and had recurring parts on Seinfeld and Greg the Bunny.

Still, it’s onstage where Silverman most frequently slays ’em, thanks to her trademark helium-voiced delivery – chockablock with racial and sexual boundary-smashers. For example: “A couple of nights ago, I was licking jelly off my boyfriend’s penis, and I thought, ‘Oh, my God – I’m turning into my mother.’ ”

The woman who makes her living with words is an avowed fan of song lyrics, and she talks with awed sincerity about her favorite artists. The normally acerbic comic is even a sucker for a tender ballad, and has been for decades. “When I was really little, I would play [John Denver’s] ‘Sunshine on My Shoulders,’ Silverman says, smiling. “I was just 11 years old, and I would listen to it with the sun coming through my window and just cry. That is the first time I can remember being moved.”

The Solipstics, Jesus of the Apes
Frigidisc, 2000
“Jesus is recurring in my life. [I did] Jesus Is Magic, and I feel very connected to apes – because of my hairiness, and because I have a very monkey-like face. So many of my friends have called me ‘Monkey’ as a nickname. So Jesus of the Apes very much feels as though it was written for me.”


Ben Folds, Rockin' the Suburbs
Epic, 2001
“The lyrics are so beautiful. They’re all intricate stories. He does a song called ‘Zak and Sara,’ which has nothing to do with me, and nothing I can relate to. In the song, he even says it’s Sara without an h, and I am with an h. But I still imagine it’s about me. [Comedian] Zach Galifianakis and I pretend it’s about us.”


Joni Mitchell, Blue
Reprise, 1971
“I first heard Blue on wax when a friend played it for me. I had just moved to California when I heard the song ‘California.’ Being from New York, you’re not supposed to like Los Angeles. This was the first time I was able to look at L.A. and actually see heart in it.”


Nanci Griffith, Flyer
Elektra, 1994
“Usually I don’t like the little-girl voice. I don’t like it in anyone — especially myself. Griffith has this little-girl voice, but it’s so pure and real and true. This is a great car CD. I pretend I’m her in the car. With bills and phone and gas and collection agencies. But that’s a different story.”


Elvis Costello, The Very Best of Elvis Costello
Rhino, 2001
“I could take up the whole Top 10 with Elvis Costello. His lyrics are so complex. When I’m in a good mood or trying to get myself psyched for standup, I like to listen to him. ‘Pump It Up’ – it gets me puuuumped up. It exercises my brain; it gets my mind going.”


Billy Bragg, Workers Playtime
Go!/Elektra, 1988
“I played this CD in the theater before Jesus Is Magic. Billy Bragg is a great songwriter and he can write hooky things, but he isn’t hip. I don’t want people going into my show thinking this is something that’s hip. I want them to hear it and make it whatever it is for them.”


The Pretenders, The Singles
Sire, 1987
“This is some of the best shower music. I bring in my CD player, put it on the toilet and blast it as loud as it goes, and I give a little shower concert. I sing into the corner, where it really bounces off the wall. I pretend it’s like a mic, but it’s just where the wall is. I have a really tiny shower with good acoustics..”


Juliana Hatfield, Become What You Are
Mammoth, 1993
“I was driving in L.A., listening to public radio, and they played ‘My Sister.’ I was like, ‘Who is that? I love this girl!’ This is good road-trip music, and every day is a road trip in L.A. I don’t understand why she isn’t a huge star, but you always kind of secretly prefer that, because you feel you own it a little more.”


Magnetic Fields, 69 Love Songs
Merge, 1999
“I was on the red-eye from New York to L.A., on my way to do the Hugh Hefner roast for Comedy Central. Everyone was sleeping. The guy across the aisle had headphones on. We made eye contact and I said, ‘What are you listening to?’ He said, ‘This is the greatest triple CD.’ He gave me his headphones. I loved it right away.”


Fairground Attraction, The First of a Million Kisses
RCA, 1988
“I used to be a real female chauvinist. I was unfeeling in terms of relationships. It didn’t occur to me that I could hurt a man’s feelings. Every time I’d go out with a guy I’d play him ‘The Wind Knows My Name’. It’s saying, ‘Don’t get too attached.’ But I’m not that way anymore. I’m respectful of my lovers.”