Sarah released her second episode of her JASH series, “Voices of Learning.” Click the pic to see the one minute episode.

Click the pic to watch Sarah’s new music video, which premiered
May 19.

The kickoff event of YouTube Comedy Week started at 9 p.m. ET, with Sarah opening the show, and Seth Rogen joining her.

To re-watch Sarah’s opening, first sign in to YouTube or gmail (only age 18+ profiles admitted to the show),
then click here to jump to Sarah’s spot.

Well, it was slated to start at 8, but at 8:50 pm ET, the countdown clock on the livestream says the “Big Live Comedy Show” won’t be starting for another 10 minutes. The livestream has been on for an hour now– all showing “The Show Before the Show.”  Presumably, that, as well as what follows, will be archived for those of you who want to go back and watch it later.  But aside from this being a public service announcement for fans trying to watch the much ballyhooed event, we’re also alerting fans that Sarah was interviewed during “The Show Before the Show.”  CLICK HERE to watch her interview.

With a new PBS bio about him airing Monday, May 20, then released as a DVD, Mel Brooks has been front and center recently, and he brought up Sarah’s name on a short list of people he finds funny.  Here’s what he said, as reported by
USA Today on May 17 :

“Very few people make me laugh. Louis C.K. Sarah Silverman. My  8-year-old grandson, Henry,  loves her more than anything as Vanellope in Wreck-It Ralph.  Some movies — the first Hangover was unusual and funny. Judd Apatow, all his stuff. Steve Carell.”

UPDATE: In David Bianculli’s NPR radio interview with Mel Brooks (April 20), the comedian again expressed admiration for Sarah Silverman. Here’s what he said when citing Wreck-It Ralph as the most recent movie he and Carl Reiner watched together and laughed a lot at:

“I think Wreck-It Ralph– we saw the cartoon. We liked it, with John C. Reilly playing Ralph. And we just loved Penelope (sic) played by Sarah Silverman. She’s glorious. And generally she’s one of the few new– there’s Amy Schumer who’s come along too, who’s wonderful. I mean, but they’re– There are people that come along who are really good and funny– and Silverman was– we both love her.”

Sarah dancing in clips from a new music video. That’s what’s revealed in this most recent promo for YouTube Comedy Week.
Tune in to YouTube livestream starting Sunday at 6 p.m.
UPDATE: 8 p.m. ET
5/19/13 UPDATE: GO HERE to see the full “Tonight” video as it premiered on the Big Live Comedy Show.

TALKING TECH: YOUTUBE COMEDY WEEK KICKS OFF SUNDAY
by Jefferson Graham (USA Today 15 May 2013)

LOS ANGELES — YouTube is already the biggest force in online entertainment, attracting more than 1 billion viewers monthly.

Now it wants to put a shine on one of its most popular genres — laughs — with a week-long, star-studded comedy festival beginning Sunday at 8 p.m. ET.

Guests on the initial two-hour live stream include film stars Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn and Seth Rogen, Comedy Central’s Tim and Eric, TV’s Conan O’Brien and Rainn Wilson, comedians Ricky Gervais and Sarah Silverman and homegrown YouTube stars The Gregory Brothers, Rhett & Link and Ryan Higa.

Danielle Tiedt, YouTube’s vice president of marketing, said the festival is aimed at building awareness for just how popular comedy is on YouTube. “A third of our top 100 channels are comedy,” she says. (Music is by far the most popular genre.)

Tiedt wanted the general public to realize that along with the up-and-coming YouTube stars who attract hundreds of millions of views for their work, top names from show business are also producing professional content.

“When people think about YouTube, I think most people see it as user-generated content,” she says. “My goal is to highlight the partners (video creators) who create comedy every single day.”

The Sunday show will be a two-hour mash-up of live performances and taped pieces. There’s no official host, but Silverman and Vaughn will introduce segments. The Gregory Brothers (who produce music videos based on news of the day) and Rhett & Link — who create ad parodies — will team up for a taped performance.

After the live show, the Sunday performances will be archived at youtube.com/comedyweek. New shows will continue each night next week at 8 p.m. ET through Saturday.

Airing live video isn’t what YouTube is best known for, but Tiedt says it’s “increasingly becoming a bigger part of our platform.”

In October, YouTube streamed daredevil Felix Baumgartner jumping 128,000 feet to safety in New Mexico, with 8 million folks watching. “That was 8% of all Internet streaming,” she says. “It was a great success.”

YouTube began an initiative at the beginning of 2012 to spend $100 million funding the creation of 100 original channels to help bring more polished content to the service.

Several have become successful. TV producer Brian Robbins sold his Awesomeness TV channel to DreamWorks for $33 million, for instance. YouTube recently announced plans to expand into premium content, with more than 50 channels (including content from Sesame Street and the Ultimate Fighting Championship.)

Meanwhile, response from creators to participate in the comedy festival has been huge, notes Tiedt. Promos for the event began appearing online this week featuring former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (who is not scheduled to appear at the event, but is a fan of YouTube) mashing it up with YouTube stars, including comedian Grace Helbig.

Tiedt hopes to make the comedy week a yearly event. “That’s my dream,” she says.

Published by United Press International (UPI)
May 10, 2013 at 11:20 AM

Ultra-orthodox Jews harass Women of the Wall during prayer at wall

JERUSALEM, May 10 (UPI) — Three ultra-orthodox Jewish men were arrested Friday during a protest of the Women of the Wall prayer group that was praying at the Western Wall, police said.

Protesters threw garbage, spat and hurled insults at the women and three police officers were slightly injured during the protests, The Jerusalem Post reported.

It was the first time Women of the Wall legally prayed at the wall following a court ruling.

Rabbi Susan Silverman, sister of comedian Sarah Silverman, told the Post haredi men spat on her three daughters, threw coffee at the Women of the Wall activists and that a little girl next to her was struck in the head.

Oshrat Ben Shimshon, a representative of Women of the Wall, told Israel Radio, “Orthodox rabbis have determined that there is no halachik [religious law] barrier to women praying with prayer shawls and tefillin [a set of boxes holding verses from the Torah] and reading from the Torah.”

Natan Sharansky, chairman of The Jewish Agency for Israel, said a long-lasting solution was needed immediately. He said Friday’s clashes at the Western Wall reinforced Israel’s need to allow any Jew, group of Jews or Jewish community to pray at the Western Wall in accordance with their customs.

Over a human barrier of security forces, protesters shouted at the Women of the Wall activists as they held their first monthly service without restrictions following a court ruling that reinterpreted existing laws to allow them to perform their own customs — such as wearing prayer shawls and tefillin — without fear of being arrested.