I went to see David Sedaris at the gorgeous old (and recently restored) Colonial Theater in Pittsfield. The last time I saw Sedaris read was about ten years ago, in Palo Alto. Back when we started this blog, I insisted on his being included in our "Mantheon" of notable guys – Dan doesn't get Sedaris so much, but he went along with it. Mr. S. was charming in the '90s, he remains charming now. But he's gained so much polish over the years. He's almost like a stand-up now, with the audience in the palm of his hand. Ten years ago, he was more fragile, the kind of performer you find yourself rooting for but worried for too and then happily relieved when he does a good job. Now, he's as reminiscent of John Stewart as of . . . oh, I dunno, pick your own small, shy delicate person or creature. What also occurred to me this time is that what I like most about Sedaris is his willingness, eagerness even, to show himself at his ugliest. Petty and bigoted, he illustrates and critiques pettiness and bigotry from within. One piece he read had to do with capturing and slowly (if unintentionally) killing small animals when he was a boy, and his consequent relationship to/with animals now. What was genius about it was how simultaneously guilty yet also unapologetic he is about it as an adult. "This is who I am, this is what I did, it's still a part of me, I'm dealing with it," he seems to be saying to us now, and to himself few years earlier, as a sea turtle swam by him one day (he'd offed a half dozen of them as pets) while he was diving in Hawaii. (I've written three or four concluding, book-reviewer-esque sentences here to try to sum up what David Sedaris does, but they all sounded like book review cliches, so I'll just let it lie. Or is it "lay"? It was a swell show.)
(P.S. I also came across some pretty great video of Amy Sedaris on Letterman while googling for bro David.)
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Okay, this didn't quite make me cry, but that's only because I'm a bitter, jaded old man. This news guy is annoying, but not nearly so annoying as someone else who set this to really really cheesy music. I'm guessing a lot of you have seen it before, but I hadn't so, here:
