One of the great things about stand-up comedy is that, unlike television and movie stars, a great stand-up is rarely judged on their appearance. No doubt, it doesn’t hurt to be attractive to the masses even as a comic, but you can’t point out too many instances of “he or she is incredibly attractive and that’s why they’re famous” in the world of stand-up comedy. To put it succinctly, there’s not too many Megan Foxes or Keanus of comedy. And before you cynical sillies invoke Dane Cook’s name to disprove this theory, remember this: Cook busted his ass for more than 15 years before he became a star.
Hearing about people watching the Emmys last week — I’m sure I was busy watching Lord of the Rings for the 43rd time — and seeing Sarah Silverman on the red carpet (she was up for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for The Sarah Silverman Program) just got me thinking about how it seems, now more than ever, our best stand-ups are starting to mingle in mainstream circles. Tom Papa and Paul F. Tompkins were just in The Informant! with Matt Damon; Patton Oswalt is the star of the critically acclaimed drama Big Fan, Joel McHale stars in NBC’s Community and Louis CK just walked the red carpet for that new Jennifer Garner flick The Invention of Lying (written and directed by comedian Ricky Gervais), which he’s in.
My point is this: I love that Sarah Silverman gets interviewed on the red carpet now. But I also love that she so clearly doesn’t fit in with the rest of the Hollywood “elite.” And that’s a good thing. The day after the Emmys she Tweeted this: ”Why didn’t anyone stop me? This is why I hate fancypantsiness. I’m not good at it OKAY?” Watch the video below, and tell us what you think. Can Sarah pull off “fancypantsiness?”
