DAVID SEDARIS

While David Sedaris now consistently sells out venues across the country, including Carnegie Hall, his early days as a house-cleaner in New York City never foretold of such widespread recognition. Sedaris made his comic debut recounting his strange-but-true experiences of his job as a Macy’s elf clad in green tights, reading his “SantaLand Diaries” on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition. Sedaris’ sardonic humor and incisive social critique have since made him one of NPR’s most popular and humorous commentators. But Sedaris isn’t “just a working Joe who happens to put out these perfectly constructed pieces of prose,” as This American Life’s Ira Glass puts it. The great skill with which Sedaris slices through euphemisms and political correctness proves that he is a master of satire.

David Sedaris is the author of the bestsellers Barrel Fever and Holidays on Ice, as well as collections of personal essays, Naked and Me Talk Pretty One Day, which immediately became a national bestseller. Sedaris and his sister, Amy Sedaris, have collaborated under the name “The Talent Family” and have written several plays which have been produced at La Mama, Lincoln Center , and The Drama Department in New York City . These plays include Stump the Host, Stitches, One Woman Shoe, which received an Obie Award, Incident at Cobbler’s Knob, and The Book of Liz, which was published in book form by Dramatist’s Play Service. His essays appear regularly in Esquire and The New Yorker.

Sedaris’ original radio pieces can often be heard on This American Life, distributed nationally by Public Radio International and produced by WBEZ in Chicago . In 2001, David Sedaris became the third recipient of the Thurber Prize for American Humor. He was named by Time magazine as “Humorist of the Year” in 2001. His most recent book is Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim (June 2004).

Return to Stories

Back to Performance Schedule