In a national phone conference, comedian Sarah Silverman schleped over to a phone to discuss the season two premiere of "The Sarah Silverman Program" on Comedy Central and her voting campaign called "The Great Schlep," which favors Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. For more information, check out sarahsilverman.comedycentral.com and thegreatschlep.com.
AVE: How did you get the idea to get involved with "The Great Schlep" video and thegreatschlep.com, and are you satisfied with the results so far?
SS: There were people who were pro-Obama who had the idea for "The Great Schlep." They came to me, and I was so excited because I really wanted to be able to do something. … It was explained to me that a lot of the people that vote in Florida are these elderly Jews, and they're not planning on voting for Obama because his name is scary, and there's just tons of misinformation out there, but a lot of their grandkids really like Obama. So it's this really cool, great grassroots like I could actually be a part of in some way.
AVE: What kind of topics are going to be brought up on this new season of your show?
SS: Hmmm, let's see. The first episode I spend the day smoking pot and solving crimes. Next episode - I'm looking at the DVDs right now - I sue Mongolia for rape because, ya know, Genghis Kahn came in and raped all the Russian Jews during the 1200s. And then I think the third episode is when I dump all my friends and decide to make new friends. Oh, there's the episode where I wet my bed, and I have to stop wetting the bed so I can baby-sit my friend's turtle. And this little girl teaches me that I can stop wetting the bed by staying up all night and eat ice cream and jelly beans. Oh, and then there's an episode where I'm homeless because I lost my keys. That's a great episode. And then, I guess I should stop. There's only a couple more.
AVE: What expectations do you have for this season, and what are you hoping that your audience will get out of it?
SS: I feel like that's for the audience to decide, but I mean, we touch upon some like taboo things as always. But, really we're just focusing on being funny. Along the way, if the audience infers things that makes them provoke thought, then that's great, but mostly it's just a lot of shit jokes. I just read a review of the first episode. You can look at it and say, 'Oh this is just about diarrhea and wet dreams,' but to me, the first episode is about corporate America creating problems and then marketing solutions. It depends on how you want to see it. You can decide to see it on a very base level, or you can decide to see a little more.
AVE: Between working on the Obama campaign by creating "The Great Schlep" and putting together the new season of the Sarah Silverman show, how do you handle all these commitments and responsibilities?
SS: It's totally overwhelming, but I kinda just go with the flow. We just work such long hours. I have a great group of people around me, and we all want the same thing. When we're shooting and we're working, my friends don't understand that I can't hang out. I work all day, and then I race home. It's just a race to get to sleep for the next day. Like I'll wash my face, I take my various medications, maybe one puff of pot to help me sleep, watch a little "Law and Order," and by the time order happens, I'm sleeping.
