With David Sedaris

Last night I went to an author talk with David Sedaris. Sedaris is a humorist and New York Times bestseller, including Barrel Fever, Me Talk Pretty One Day, and Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk, his latest.

I have never read Sedaris and have no familiarity with him. However, I was told that he is funny, and I know his books are popular, so I thought this would be a literary event worth attending. However, I was disappointed.

Sedaris read from Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk. He also read other stories, which I assume are unpublished, and read from his diary. When he does a book signing, he asks everyone to tell him a joke. Some of the entries from his diary are jokes people have told him on his tours. He ended by taking audience questions.

Sedaris was mostly boring and uninspiring. His humor is trite and conventional. I understand why people consider him humorous and entertaining, but every punch line sounds like something I have heard before. He uses formulaic setups to get a laugh rather than tell jokes that are themselves funny because of the content of what is said.

The best part of his talk was about how his father has given him such little support that it has pushed him to become successful. That was the only part of his talk that provided any substantial insight into life.

I went into the evening yesterday knowing little of David Sedaris. After leaving, I felt even less interested in him.