“When God Gives You AIDS … Make Lemon-AIDS”: Ironic Persona and Perspective by Incongruity in Sarah Silverman's Jesus is Magic

Abstract

Sarah Silverman, one of the most polarizing and popular comedians performing today, gained notoriety with the release of the 2005 standup comedy movie Jesus is Magic. Through her discussion of sensitive social issues such as 9/11, the Holocaust, and AIDS, Silverman has developed a distinct onstage ironic persona of ignorance and innocence that juxtaposes with her controversial, humorous content. This stark contrast of delivery and content highlights a unique iteration of Kenneth Burke's concept of perspective by incongruity, originally conceptualized as only “verbal atom cracking.” Silverman's use of performance to “crack” ideas extends Burke's original notion in a new way. Throughout her ironic performance, Silverman comically and subversively discusses white privilege, post-feminism, and the trivialization of serious events as a means of highlighting questionable behaviors and attitudes. We argue that Silverman creates social and rhetorical significance through the implementation of perspective by incongruity via an ironic persona that enables her audience to adopt a comic perspective on important cultural issues.

Keywords:

• Comic Minimization
• Ironic Persona
• Perspective by Incongruity
• Sarah Silverman
• Subversive Humor

Acknowledgments

The authors are especially indebted to Glen McClish for his insight and close reading, and the anonymous reviewers for their good humor and helpful recommendations. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2012 annual meeting of the National Communication Association.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lacy Lowrey

Lacy Lowrey (MA, San Diego State University) is an instructor at Metropolitan State University of Denver. This work began as part of Ms. Lowrey's master's thesis at San Diego State University directed by Dr. Valerie R. Renegar (PhD, University of Kansas), currently an Associate Professor of Communication Studies at Southwestern University, and Dr. Charles E. Goehring (PhD, University of Iowa), a Lecturer in Communication at San Diego State University.