Actress, comedian and television personality Sarah Silverman shared the stage with author and commentator Sandra Tsing Loh to talk about Silverman’s new book, “The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption and Pee,†as part of the WritersBloc Presents series, held June 25 at the Writers Guild of American in Beverly Hills.
WritersBloc, an independent organization which brings quality literary and cultural programs to Los Angeles through salon-style conversations with notable writers, actors, critics and other personalities, hosted the two authors to discuss highlights of Silverman’s book and her writing process.
While Silverman is known for her brash and uncensored stand-up act, audience members got a glimpse of Silverman as a vulnerable artist who honed her craft through a challenging person
al journey of not just laughs but of pain and tragedy, which she shares in her memoir. One of the most moving tales is of her toddler brother Jeffrey’s crib death before she was born, when he was in her grandparents’ care. Silverman wrote about how as a child she attempted to make a joke about the incident in the chapter, “The First Time I Bombed.â€
“My grandmother picked us up for our Sunday breakfast at a local diner, and she said, ‘Everybody buckle up.’ And thinking I was going to kill, I said, ‘Yeah, we don’t want to wind up like Jeffrey,’ and there was just silence. My sisters turned and looked at me like I was crazy, and my grandmother just burst into tears,” she says.
Silverman explained how this profoundly misplaced effort at humor later shaped her material as she skirts the line of edgy with her jokes about taboo topics, from racism to religion.
As the book title suggests, Silverman reveals that she was a bedwetter until her teen years, and she talks openly about her battle with depression and her history of psychological treatment, including being overprescribed antidepressants of up to 14 pills a day. In her interview with Tsing Loh, as in the book, Silverman handles self-revelation with her characteristic topical and outrageous humor while at the same time being poignant and thoughtful.
As she accomplishes in her shows, Silverman delivered uproarious and sometimes uncomfortable laughs to the WritersBloc audience but also touched on serious and evocative themes. Silverman also shared some of her philosophies that guide not only her work but her personal life, such as “Make it a Treat.†This motto became part of her vernacular when a college friend used the saying to explain why she turned down Silverman’s offer of a marijuana joint, because getting high had lost its specialness in their lives. Silverman now applies the saying to all aspects of her life, as she endeavors to make even simple pleasures only an occasional indulgence so that they mean more to her.
Silverman wrote the book on her laptop in hotel lobbies which she liked because they were comfortable places to hang out and she could get coffee service. Writing in public also forced her to focus and “look busy†to others. Lastly, Silverman imparted her wisdom about writing, urging aspiring writers to “Just get the sh*tty version out,†rather than try to perfect a first draft.
Silverman’s book is currently out in stores. Learn more about the WritersBloc series at WritersBlocPresents.com.
