Ongoing sounds of laughter flooded the Strathmore on Saturday night, April 13th, as David Sedaris spent the evening sharing wholesome and bizarre stories with the crowd. Though the Strathmore is built as a concert hall with almost 2,000 seats, Sedaris made the venue feel intimate as he sat onstage and shared truthful and endearing stories for two hours. He had notes jotted down on several pieces of paper, making audiences feel like they were workshopping his material with him as he read essay after essay.
David Sedaris is an award-winning comedian and author, who has written several essays and short stories that became New York Times Bestsellers. He wrote a collection of personal essays in 2000 called Me Talk Pretty One Day which won him a Thurber Prize for American Humor.
When the show started, a young boy around 11 or 12 years old named Leonardo walked onstage with a piece of paper in his hand. He took a big breath and shakily read an introduction inviting David Sedaris onstage. He then quickly added that there was someone important in the audience who was Sedaris’ biggest fan and wanted to give her a special shoutout: his mother. It was a sweet and wholesome moment as Sedaris thanked Leonardo for the introduction and mentioned how he loved asking younger audience members like Leonardo to introduce him.
Sedaris then sat down on a barstool and read a personal collection of essays containing stories of his childhood, like spending time with his friend Dan, and stories of adulthood, like going on a safari with his husband Hugh. It also wouldn’t be David Sedaris without Sedaris-esque rantings about society, like how people treat their dogs better than their actual children.
He also shared more heartfelt and personal tales. Sedaris told a story about one of his first girlfriends, Pattie, who broke up with him for his childhood friend, Dan, and the heartbreak he felt losing the two of them to each other. He then connected this to his experience of receiving the news that Dan had passed away about 40 years later.
No matter which story he told, Sedaris always had the audience hooked with his elegant and captivating use of metaphors, similes, and imagery that worked to successfully paint a picture and brought us right into the moment of each story he told.
The show was wrapped up with audience questions. The crowd asked him a few questions about topics like his previous essay collections, his opinions on current issues, and his most embarrassing moments. You could tell the Q&A portion was one of Sedaris’ favorite moments of the show, as he constantly smiled to himself before providing raw and memorable answers. It was also easy to tell how much he loved interacting with his fans, as he constantly told stories about conversations he had with fans and even spent time in the lobby after the show signing books and meeting with people.
Though I found just a few of his jokes and bits to be somewhat outdated and poorly aged, overall the show contained impressive and thoughtful stories that left the audience feeling pleased and entertained.
FINAL GRADE: B+
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