A_Different_Drummer The challenge with this kind of review is whether to review the comic or to review the material or just throw in the towel and do both.A one of a kind comic. So real it hurts. The first thing you notice is that she is a natural beauty, even when she is not trying. This somewhat distracts from the material, but she knows, and she works it. So it is part of the act.The next thing you notice is that her material so deep, so experimental, so I-don't-care-if-u-laugh that you are compelled to listen that much more carefully, to try to capture the experience not just the joke.Like most comics operating in the rarefied air she prefers, she could do easier (and funnier) material, but she would probably sooner have a root canal. Or whatever the "painful female equivalent" of a root canal is.A few years back, a brave film-maker did a documentary on the one "forbidden" joke that comics only ever told to each other, but never to the public. Not kidding. A real joke involving a lot of ad-libbing which every comic had a variation of, but the public had never heard of.The film-maker then went to a dozen or so top comics and had them do their version of the joke on camera. Some of the best comics in the world participated. But Silverman was generally considered to have been the funniest in the film, not merely because she told the joke but because she managed to do a segue where the joke (supposedly) triggered a suppressed memory. "My agent raped me," she said deadpan to the camera, halfway through the joke. "I just remembered that my agent raped me." Now, that does not SOUND funny but, in context, it was drop dead funny.And so it is with this special. If you get into the context and pay attention more to the artist than the material (which is not always the way comedy works) it is quite a treat.Carlin was like that at the end of his life. He could do "funny" but did not want to. He had things he wanted to say and if you paid for a concert, you were ^%^**^ well going to hear them.Same here.

rzajac Here's where Sarah shines! Really: If you want to really know about this gifted, intelligent, articulate woman, watch this show. Silverman's always aiming for that biggest of breaks; a key role in a truly great production... and she's had a few breaks and come sorta close.But, in the end, when she takes the stage for stand-up, she gets to be her own woman--and what a woman that is! And she slices and dices that medium like a Vegematic on steroids. Thank Someone there manages to be an opportunity to watch her shine, and "We Are Miracles" is a great, great showcase.

Joseph Godfrey I had the misfortune of watching Sarah's HBO Special 'We Are Miracles' with a religious conservative. Someone that completely understands the material but yells, "That Bitch" when the rape jokes come. On the plus side Sarah was able to breach the stone heart of that Jesus lover and get her to laugh with me. Amazing how that happens.Sarah is a great comedian. Definitely my favorite comedian, but I found that she was telling previous jokes I'd already heard on talk shows or read from her Twitter profile ... And as well from older pieces of her memoir 'The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee'.Yes, the show was funny overall ... don't get me wrong, but I'm not one to spare the feelings of anybody - even if I do love the smell of their poo.A special on HBO should have been built on all new material and I felt cheated of that. Maybe in the same way I feel cheated after watching every Kathy Griffin show on Bravo. When someone keeps talking about the same things over & over again. It loses my attention, because it's stale & predictable. I demand more of Sarah, because she genuinely enjoys making us laugh. Much more than she desires to fill every seat in a theater.There was also the problem of watching Bill Cosby on Comedy Central first. I found Sarah following an act that had set the tone for me. Cosby isn't trying to be "edgy" "controversial" or whatever terminology comedians use today ... Bill was just trying to make me laugh ... and he's a pro at that. He engages the audience and can just talk to his fans completely unrehearsed.I find Sarah does very little of that (unless a heckler attacks her) she pretty much ignores her audience and sticks to the routine. That's one step away from reading your jokes off of cards to me. During a LIVE I'd go stupid if she acknowledged me during a LIVE performance. There at The Largo she had an audience of maybe 40 people she just talked at. I see so many people begging for just the smallest nugget from her that they "heckle" just to get that attention.I guess my final word here would be that Sarah continues to play to the same selection of fans and give people what they expect from her. It's going to hurt her in the end and I don't want that to happen to our Sarah.

thogstacker I didn't discover Silverman until her Comedy Central show and then, of course, realized she'd been around for a while. I'll say upfront I'm a fan so when I saw this was coming out I was really looking forward to it. Well, I loved it. Silverman's insightful, crude, awkwardly shocking, highly structured approach to comedy always gives me a bucket of LOLs. Like Louis CK she approaches some subjects with the intent to disturb. 911, rape jokes, gang bangs, etc. are not meant to make you go "it's funny because it's true!" Rather they're kind of ushering a meta level where the spin is "It's funny because it's AWWWWKward." Anyway, her choice to film in a small venue adds an intimacy and texture that makes the special stand out from most other HBO specials and if you like funny, insightful comics, Tivo it.