On Monday, when Sarah Silverman guest-hosted her first episode of The Daily Show, she introduced herself right off the bat with a clip package of conservative commentators absolutely slamming her. But by Wednesday's taping, it had become clear that Silverman's power is in what she's not saying. The affect that critics like Ben Shapiro have dubbed her “little girl voice” was nowhere to be found, though there was no lack of dirty words—like when she flubbed a joke about Kim Jong-un's daughter's name in a segment that didn't make the final version of the episode. It is not "fuck me,” as she'd blurted out, but Kim Ju-ae. And then there was the part where she called a right-wing reporter a "beta cuck.” 

Where Silverman really shone was in an interview with NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. She leaned thoughtfully across the desk and gave Abdul-Jabbar the floor. It may have been tempting to dial up the energy as an interviewer to counteract the 75-year-old author and activist’s chill—but Silverman sat, chin often cupped in her hands, and simply listened. Maybe she’s just that big a fan: Silverman told her guest that he was a dream get for her, and that when he was booked, “I plotzed.”

Silverman hasn't openly declared a desire to permanently take The Daily Show seat so recently vacated by Trevor Noah, at least not the way last week's guest host Chelsea Handler has. But she has Abdul-Jabbar's endorsement. “I hope you get it,” he said early in the conversation. Later, he likened Silverman to the beloved late comedian Robin Williams, saying they both “can make people laugh when they're hurting.”

In her three episodes so far, Silverman has used her Daily Show platform as exactly that: a platform. On night one, her guest was The Daily Show co-creator Lizz Winstead, who also founded the Abortion Access Front, also known as Abortion AF. The next night, she brought in Rep. Maxwell Frost, the first bona fide Gen Z member of Congress. Like other hosts before her, she used the moments before the episode-closing Moment of Zen to shout out a worthy charity for audiences to donate to. 

Silverman got big laughs out of innocently wondering how Elon Musk can “have 15 kids and still be an incel,” and brainstorming uses for Adidas Yeezys—unsellable after Kanye West's ongoing antisemitic antics—with correspondent Dulcé Sloan. But she wasn’t a nonstop joke machine, instead letting her interviewees and the show's regular correspondents shine. Think of her as the host of a dinner party: Would you prefer one who pulled together a meal and an interesting array of guests to enjoy it together, or one who stood on the table and did a song-and-dance routine? Silverman did dance, for what it’s worth—she performed a little tap routine to Taylor Swift's “Blank Space” during a commercial break Wednesday—but overall, she seemed like an emcee rather than the main attraction. 

Off-camera, Silverman displayed the same humble attitude that defined her hosting style. “Every time I write a joke, I think it's the last joke I'll write,” she admitted when an audience member asked her about her writing process. Add to that the very first thing she said to the clapping and bellowing audience when she made her first appearance onstage: “I worry that you're setting yourselves up for disappointment. I fuck up a lot.” 

Vanity Fair recently debuted The Daily Show's slate of upcoming guest hosts, including Kal Penn, Al Franken, and more. But if Abdul-Jabbar has any say, this won't be the last we're seeing of Silverman behind the desk.