Sarah Silverman’s ‘Postmortem’ Comedy Special Set for Netflix

What’s so funny about death? Sarah Silverman will do her best to explain in Postmortem, a new Netflix standup special that premieres on Netflix on May 20. The comedian’s launchpad for jokes focus on the grief she’s felt for her parents, dad Donald and stepmom Janice Silverman, who died 10 days apart from one another in 2023. (Silverman’s biological mother, Beth Ann O’Hara, died in 2015.)

The folks running Netflix recognize that taking the fun out of funerals is a tough sell, so they’re describing Silverman’s special, which was filmed at New York’s Beacon Theatre, with the following promise: “[Silverman] hilariously navigates the absurdities of death with her signature wit, from unexpectedly finding the ‘deal of a lifetime’ while planning their funerals to cherishing the bittersweet experience of hearing her mother’s last words.”

Silverman directed and executive-produced the special herself. It’s her second for the streamer, following 2017’s A Speck of Dust; her most recent special, Someone You Love, came out via HBO two years ago.

Donald Silverman was a frequent subject in his daughter’s work over the years. She paid tribute to him upon his death — as well as Janice, who had died first — with a touching Instagram post. “My best pal, Schleppy – my dad, died last night,” she wrote. “All the sisters, and grandkids surrounded him with love and singing and very dark fucked up jokes this final week. But ultimately, he wanted to be with his love, Janice, who we lost last Monday. … He always said he was the richest man in the world because of his family, and he was.”