American Humor
Monday, M. took me to see David Sedaris. I guess the Counsellor and others of us had spoken often enough of how funny we found Sedaris' material that she thought it would be a special treat, given I'm such a fan. He is funny, and I enjoy his memoir pieces and so forth in the NY'er, but a book launch and reading was probably more effort than I'd have gone to on my own. Strangely enough, he was originally booked into a theatre venue, but things took an even stranger turn when they moved it to the Opera House. Nevertheless, it was packed to the rafters, nearly. I didn't hear many American accents, so he must have a following of his own. No doubt Sydney's gay population would have had something to do with it. The readings were very good. He got a lot of laughs. In fact, and in keeping with one piece that's never been published, he's better out loud than on paper. The interview with Judith Lucy, an excellent Australian comedian, was perhaps less successful, but mainly because it took some time to warm up, so that Sedaris spent a little time repeating himself, essentially. He's good, though, despite the odd nervous tic of introducing each piece with "I wanted to read something from [x]," as though apologizing for reading something different. He wanted to, and he did. I particularly enjoyed a Thurber-esque animal fable. Dead on. A nice treat, in the end, and I may have recruited a new member to Democrats Abroad.