Storming through mass media recently, Sarah Silverman has been a solid stand-up comedian for years. Famous for her role in The Aristocrats, now Ms. Silverman stars in the Sarah Silverman Program on Comedy Central. She’s made a name for herself as one of the most incisive and hilarious personalities in modern comedy, and also one of the most controversial. Ms. Silverman doesn’t just employ stereotypes about race, sex, and reality in her standup, she inverts them, carves them up, and ultimately is so adept in her verbal swordsmanship that she will either leave her entire audience laughing or completely offended; in all likelihood, probably both.

Ms. Silverman performed some of her latest stand-up material yesterday at Memorial Auditorium. As a prelude to her appearance on campus, she agreed to be interviewed via e-mail. She reflects on her 2005 concert film Jesus is Magic, her working relationship with Jimmy Kimmel, and her own philosophies on writing.

Intermission: Who do you consider your major influences?

Sarah Silverman: My parents, Steve Martin, Garry Shandling, Fred Rogers, Jimmy Kimmel, Ruth Gordon.

I: Do you and Jimmy have a rivalry going over whose jokes are funnier, or do you two trade jokes?

SS: We bounce stuff off each other. He’s so, so prolific — he does a different hour-long show every night. It’s nuts!

I: What gave you the idea for “Jesus is Magic?”

SS: I was doing it as a stage show and thought it would be cool as a traditional concert movie — and could potentially be even more cinematic than just a camera shooting a stage.

I: You often talk about difficult topics like race, depression, and sex. What attracts you to these topics?

SS: Their boobs.

I: How has the transition been to a somewhat sketch format in “The Sarah Silverman Program”?

SS: It’s actually a narrative [style]. We’re writing episodes now — it’s totally different from stand-up. It’s an opportunity to be more subtle (and absurd...) The days are grueling but super fun — there are always big belly laughs each working day.

I: What’s the difference between writing stand-up and writing your own show?

SS: On the show it’s much more collaborative. We all sit around and figure out the stories and it’s a lot more fun. Though with stand-up, you can find out immediately if something works...

I: Do you have any writing routines?

SS: I never really did. I mean, if I have a deadline, I always tend to pull through, but otherwise I mostly write jokes as they come to me. But now, with the show, we have a routine — we write everyday from 10:30 until about 7:30.

I: You said you would not marry until gays are allowed to, which is a very bold political statement in our times. What do you think of comedians’ role in advocacy? For example, is there a responsibility for comedians, as social critics, to advocate change?

SS: I think holding comedians responsible for anything is a bad idea. The onus is really on the people at large. Americans are treated like infants in terms of what is allowed on public airwaves. I think I just said three totally different things. I’ll be honest, I’m distracted by television right now...

I: You’ve been very open about your history of depression and your use of Zoloft, so what do you make of scientologists’ condemnation of psychiatry?

SS: I don’t think twice about it. Like any religion, they believe what they believe and that’s fine by me, but I’m not into that shit. I think all religion is kind of retarded. I don’t need the threat of going to hell to be a nice person or to treat people kindly or to have empathy.

I: Any shot “Greg the Bunny” will come back from the dead?

SS: I think they’re doing it on IFC, where it was originally. Much better there. The original IFC show was BRILLIANT.

I: Any advice for teenagers and college kids who are thinking about

becoming comedians?

SS: Sure. There’s no one way to do it. The only important thing is get on stage as much as possible, anywhere you can and write constantly. Keep paper and pen on you all the time, you never know when or where you’ll think of something.

I: Does Jimmy [Kimmel, former co-host of “Win Ben Stein’s Money”] prefer you or Ben Stein in the sack?

SS: It’s a tie.