David Sedaris brings laugh and heart to MemAud Monday night.
As well liked and humorous as David Sedaris is in the printed form, as audience members inside the Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium found Monday night, he is even funnier and raunchier in person.
“He was great,” said Evan Smith, a senior studying journalism. “It was really trippy at first to see him in person, and it is interesting to see how diverse his audience was tonight. His humor is laced with such a great dark and obscene likeness.”
Sedaris’ plane was delayed four hours suspending the start of the talk for about 15 minutes. WOUB’s Chris Riddle introduced the New York Times best-selling author, who would go on to tell two stories, recount some memorable passages from his diary and then answer a handful of questions from the crowd. Those who didn’t get his attention during this period of time were still able to ask their questions during the signing sessions he held in the lobby after the show.
“He’s hilarious,” said Emily Axe, an Athens resident in the audience. “I have known about him for years, and I have never been to an event like this before. It’s very exciting.”
Sedaris’ first story, centered on his trip to Sweden, in which he discussed everything from Swedish buffets to different names for penises and vaginas. He considered this the best kind of story to tell his college-aged crowd, as it was a work-in-progress — even though he is on his 11th draft.
With his second story, however, Sedaris told a story he newly submitted to The New Yorker, which centered on a recent family visit while the suicide of their sister, Tiffany, looms over their heads. Needless to say, not every moment was a gut buster, but Sedaris, even when being serious, laced emotion and sincerity throughout his storytelling.
Among the other highlights included his advice for writing, when a story is ready and a continued conversation about different names for genetalia during the Q&A.
He also gave a wholehearted recommendation for a fellow essayist’s book This is the Story of a Happy Marriage from Ann Patchett, a book he says he would buy before he ever bought his own work. Patchett’s book was also sold in the lobby, next to Sedaris’ work, including his latest, Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls.
As far as the media writings about him, the acclaimed writer had only one thing to say.
“I don’t ever read anything written about me,” Sedaris said. “So you can write whatever you want about me. I won’t read it.”
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