Author, Storyteller, Humorist: David Sedaris
Former Radio Personality Visits Chicago
Garth Spiller
Issue date: 10/28/02 Section: GSB Life
- Page 1 of 1
David Sedaris blew through Chicago this past weekend strutting his most brutal and hilarious satire on our most famous stage, the Chicago Theater. As an accomplished author and storyteller, Sedaris is touring the country on his soapbox telling the kind of stories that are often too real to believe. David comes from a wide and varied background, which feeds his prolific humor. His writings are featured regularly in Esquire Magazine and on Chicago Public Radio's This American Life program.
This master of humor was discovered in 1998 on National Public Radio, reading from his "SantaLand Diaries" where he recounts his experience employed as a Macy's department store elf during the Christmas rush in New York City. These readings on Morning Edition received the largest listener response from any show in the history of NPR.
During the time of his historic readings, David was in the midst of career expanding activities like toilet scrubbing and dish washing in NYC. His luck took another unfortunate direction when he declined an offer to write for the then-small television show entitled Seinfeld. His career finally started to escalate after being developed and promoted by the program This American Life and its host Ira Glass. His stories now litter the TAL landscape and Sedaris is selling out venues like the Chicago Theater and Carnegie Hall. He has also written four books, including the latest Me Talk Pretty One Day. Now, 50 yrs old, openly gay and an extremely heavy smoker (thanks to childhood OCD) he lives in Paris with his companion and writing muse, Hugh.
Sedaris and his stories have garnered an unlikely and feverish cult of followers. Young and old, straight and gay, male and female filled the Chicago Theater to the rafters to provide an electric atmosphere. This may have seemed quite strange to the un-initiated, as Sedaris was there to read stories, not rock with the Rolling Stones.
His slicing and cruel, but hilarious, humor breaks down the audience into tears and raises them into roars of laughter. The stories he tells, some long and some just a few sentences, draw out the crowd's insecurities in the form of raucous laughter and identification. Everything you have always wanted to say about a deranged family member or a demented relationship, he is not afraid to pursue and ridicule. His show shatters the thick barrier between stand up comedy and smart literature.
Towards the end of his performance, he was asked by an audience member, what he misses the most from his years spent in Chicago while a student at the Art Institute of Chicago. He pondered this thought for a second and then offered his response. He stated, "In Chicago, you have real winters. Anywhere you go after living in Chicago the winters are a joke, even New York and especially Paris. In Chicago, you have life or death winters. A trip to the store or the commute to work is like a life and death struggle. In Chicago there were always times where if the bus did not come in 5 minutes or less, I knew I was going to die." Well, Guess what is coming up folks?….We might as well bundle up with a good Sedaris book for a good laugh during the long winter…
Recommended Winter Readings:
Naked by David Sedaris
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
Jenny and the Jaws of Life by Jincy Willett
This master of humor was discovered in 1998 on National Public Radio, reading from his "SantaLand Diaries" where he recounts his experience employed as a Macy's department store elf during the Christmas rush in New York City. These readings on Morning Edition received the largest listener response from any show in the history of NPR.
During the time of his historic readings, David was in the midst of career expanding activities like toilet scrubbing and dish washing in NYC. His luck took another unfortunate direction when he declined an offer to write for the then-small television show entitled Seinfeld. His career finally started to escalate after being developed and promoted by the program This American Life and its host Ira Glass. His stories now litter the TAL landscape and Sedaris is selling out venues like the Chicago Theater and Carnegie Hall. He has also written four books, including the latest Me Talk Pretty One Day. Now, 50 yrs old, openly gay and an extremely heavy smoker (thanks to childhood OCD) he lives in Paris with his companion and writing muse, Hugh.
Sedaris and his stories have garnered an unlikely and feverish cult of followers. Young and old, straight and gay, male and female filled the Chicago Theater to the rafters to provide an electric atmosphere. This may have seemed quite strange to the un-initiated, as Sedaris was there to read stories, not rock with the Rolling Stones.
His slicing and cruel, but hilarious, humor breaks down the audience into tears and raises them into roars of laughter. The stories he tells, some long and some just a few sentences, draw out the crowd's insecurities in the form of raucous laughter and identification. Everything you have always wanted to say about a deranged family member or a demented relationship, he is not afraid to pursue and ridicule. His show shatters the thick barrier between stand up comedy and smart literature.
Towards the end of his performance, he was asked by an audience member, what he misses the most from his years spent in Chicago while a student at the Art Institute of Chicago. He pondered this thought for a second and then offered his response. He stated, "In Chicago, you have real winters. Anywhere you go after living in Chicago the winters are a joke, even New York and especially Paris. In Chicago, you have life or death winters. A trip to the store or the commute to work is like a life and death struggle. In Chicago there were always times where if the bus did not come in 5 minutes or less, I knew I was going to die." Well, Guess what is coming up folks?….We might as well bundle up with a good Sedaris book for a good laugh during the long winter…
Recommended Winter Readings:
Naked by David Sedaris
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
Jenny and the Jaws of Life by Jincy Willett