Sarah Silverman candidly discussed how the rise of Donald Trump influenced her decision to retire the arrogant and ignorant character that propelled her to fame in her early career. Appearing on the podcast "Fail Better With David Duchovny" from Lemonada Media, the comedian revealed how the former president's election marked a significant turning point in her comedic evolution.
"It wasn't a conscious choice, like 'Hey, that stuff doesn't work anymore, so I'm going to change my approach,'" she explained to David Duchovny. "I think it was a more natural progression. My first comedy special, 'Jesus Is Magic,' was essentially me playing a character, and that character - which carried through to my Comedy Central show, 'The Sarah Silverman Program' - was arrogant and ignorant."
Silverman continued, "Then Trump won, and it wasn't just that the character no longer resonated with me before his election, but especially after he took office and the world changed in that way. The character just wasn't amusing anymore because Trump embodied everything that character stood for."
Comparing comedy to a painting, Silverman likened the experience of watching the same comedy material repeatedly to viewing the same artwork day after day. Over time, she said, the comedy would start to look different as life events and changing perspectives altered one's perception. She acknowledged that, in some ways, her older content might not hold up to the same scrutiny now.
"Comedy really dies when you second-guess your audience," she added. "You have to stay true to what's funny to you, and hopefully, that will change over time because it means you've grown, or you've changed, or the world has changed and you've evolved with it. Or maybe the world has changed, and you haven't quite caught up yet."
