A man approaches the podium at the center of the stage. He has a slight build, crooked teeth, thinning hair and is dressed like your garden-variety office worker – khaki slacks, dress shirt, generic tie.
But this isn’t just any man. This is bestselling author David Sedaris and he is approaching the microphone in front of a sell-out crowd at GW’s Lisner Auditorium.
Lisner hosted Sedaris on Oct. 6 for a lecture and book signing. The line wrapped around Lisner’s exterior as excited fans, young and old and from up and down the East Coast, filed in to hear Sedaris read new or unpublished works and hold a question and answer session.
The show began with freshman Derek Sarshad introducing the author. Sarshad told the audience that Sedaris asked him to create an introduction five minutes earlier while in line to get his book signed. Sarshad happily obliged and excitedly called his mother in front of the audience, much to Sedaris’ amusement. “These young people and their portable phones,” a smiling Sedaris remarked.
Sedaris’ easy and inviting demeanor entertained the crowd as he read a variety of unpublished material. The first story was written for his friend Ira Glass’s NPR show “This American Life,” to which Sedaris is a frequent contributor. The story was about Americans’ confusion about living in another country. Sedaris also gave the crowd a preview of his upcoming book, “Indefinite Leave to Remain,” with a story about his years in New York and his landlady, Helen.
The final story, “Crybaby,” will appear in The New Yorker in the coming weeks, but editors may change the headline because “they come up with great titles,” Sedaris told the audience. “I prefer their titles to my own.” “Crybaby” is a rambling story about a range of topics, from business class flights to death, he said.
Sedaris finished the evening with recommendations for books, heavily promoting “The Easter Parade” by Richard Yates, which was on sale at the show, along with most of Sedaris’ repertoire.
“It’s a good, depressing book,” Sedaris said. “But then you can say, ‘oh, it’s just a book’ and then go out and have fun.”
Those gathered for the show said that Sedaris delivered. Ashley Lancaster, a graduate student at American, waited in line for three hours for one of the six tickets available on the day of the show. This was her second time seeing Sedaris and he “far exceeded my expectations,” he said. Likewise, Sarshad said she was impressed by Sedaris’ quick wit and relaxed style.
