A Great Day

Yesterday I drove to Columbia, SC to meet up with my friend Beverly.  From there she drove us to Charlotte, NC.  (Her Infiniti is much nicer than my truck.)  We had an early dinner at Mimosa Grill and then walked a few blocks north on Tryon to the Belk Theater to see David Sedaris, who just started his latest speaking tour in the US.  This was the second time I've seen him on one of his tours and the first time for Beverly.  If you are a David Sedaris fan, drop what you're doing, check out the tour schedule and if he's appearing anywhere within a 3-hour drive of you, book tickets.  Now.  Most of his appearances sell-out well ahead of time.  That was the case in Charlotte.  I bought our tickets last fall.  The best part of seeing David "live" is the infectious laughter of the audience (there were 2100 of us yesterday.)  Once it starts it doesn't stop for an hour and a half.  And like any great performer, he feeds off of it.

There was one curious moment during the evening.  David read a new piece that involved a number of "dirty" words and several descriptions of unusual sex acts.  (Trust me, you won't hear it on NPR.)  As he finished, a number of people left their seats and headed for the exits.  Beverly and I looked at each other and thought, "Were they offended by it?"  My second thought was, "If they were that easily offended, what were they doing here in the first place?"  Over the next 5 minutes everyone who had left returned to his or her seat.  All I can figure is that they had laughed so hard that they suddenly needed to make a run for the restrooms before they leaked.  He's that funny.

Comments

[Carrie]

Thank you thank you thank you for posting this! I doubt he's coming to Canada but I'm going to check his schedule.

So happy that you were able to see him again live. His new material does sound very different but maybe he's in a dark period?? lol

Thanks for sharing this :-)

[Carrie]

MIKE - JUNE 28 in Toronto!! I'm having kittens over this! Thank you again for posting the link to his schedule :-) This will make an awesome birthday gift for my little bro!!

[Mike]

Carrie, there was nothing dark about the piece in question. If fact, it drew the biggest laughs of the night.

[LittleMike]

I'm not much of a reader but I love David Sedaris. As to that, I think I might join the "Friends of Left-Bank-Books" so that I can get an invitation to the "Friends Only" reception following his appearence here in St. Louis in June. I think it is worth the $35 fee + whatever they charge for tickets.
--LittleMike

[Margaret]

I have never even heard of him-where have I been? It sounds like you had a wonderful outing, Mike!

[Kathryn]

David Sadaris rocks! I had the good fortune to see him speak a few years back and he had the audience in the palm of his hand. Brilliant writer, terrific entertainer.

Unfortunately, and oddly, he's not coming around to Chicago on his speaking engagement. Boo. And when he comes around for a book signing, much as I love him, I'm way beyond waiting in line for three hours for a signature. Alas, next time...