Sarah Silverman trusts that the introduction to this interview will be adequate, but I am not convinced. We agreed that it would be wise to avoid hyperbole, like “The triple-threat entertainer can now add the title ‘producer’ to her growing list of hyphenations.” I just don’t feel comfortable making comparisons like “Sarah Silverman is this generation’s Rusty Warren” or “If Lenny Bruce had sex with George Carlin, their comic spawn would be Sarah Silverman.” A biographical recap also seems unnecessary, although it may be worth reminding readers of her stints on The Larry Sanders Show, Crank Yankers and Mr. Show with Bob & David, as well as her controversial appearances on Late Night with Conan O’Brien. Sarah thinks all will be OK as long as I mention how pretty and youthful she is.

If you’re skimming, I’ve provided bullet points for your convenience:

• Sarah does not want to talk about her brief stint at Saturday Night Live, because it’s “boring.” She was fired from SNL via fax.
• A natural athlete, Sarah is surprised by her underwhelming beach volleyball skills.
• Sarah’s recipe for cannabis brownies is to die for.

In her forthcoming film, Jesus Is Magic, which arrives in theaters in November, Sarah cracks wise about the Holocaust, AIDS, musicals, bongloads, bed-wetting, being hirsute, rape, Catholics, Jews, blacks, Christ, peeing, facial money shots, 9/11, the Japanese, Ethiopians, labor unions, misguided activism, lesbians, retards, positive spin, sexual harassment, Harvey Weinstein, her dead grandmother, old people, altruism, masturbation, Martin Luther King, Jr., dutch ovens, molestation, strippers, anal waxing, porn, world hunger, Barbie, Nazis, midgets, Puerto Ricans, Gary Busey, acne, homosexuals, Patty Hearst, low self-esteem, Mexicans, and ’70s prog-rockers Yes.

Sarah is pretty and youthful.

I interviewed Sarah via email because she is shy.

—Tim Bennett

I. “YOU ALWAYS WANT TO GIVE YOURSELF THE FREEDOM TO BE A LITTLE FUCKED-UP.”

THE BELIEVER: Every article about or interview with you (including this one) mentions that you are a woman and Jewish. What is the most annoying and/or offensive thing about being qualified as both/either?

SARAH SILVERMAN: A lot of people come up to me and say that I’m their favorite woman comic, or they confide in me that they usually don’t think women are funny, but they think I am. You know, soul-killing compliments like that. I remind myself they mean well, thank them—I’m able to be gracious through disassociation—and write them off. I’ve talked so much about being Jewish in my stand up, which is weird because I’m not religious at all. I think it’s because I identify as a Jew ethnically. But that chunk of...