David Sedaris Chicago Concert reviews
Sedaris Great! The rest...
David Sedaris is a wonderful writer and one of the few who is as entertaining on stage as his prose is to read. When he goes "off book" to make an extemporaneous comment it is often as hilarious as the story he just interrupted. At the end of his reading, he took questions from the audience. Though it was impossible to hear the questions in the large Pasadena Civic Auditorium, he always repeated them for the benefit of the rest of the crowd and his answers were funny, informative and often thought provoking. The guy is a treasure.
HOWEVER, he had two "opening acts" that were not as entertaining by a long shot. First, two twin brothers came on to tell a story about their deceased brother's friendship with Sedaris that was clumsy and ill-prepared. They were not comfortable on stage and made me uncomfortable along with them. Then Sedaris invited a young author to read a few pages of her first novel which was a bleak snapshot of the protagonist of this admittedly bleak book, which Sedaris praised lavishly. But, once the prelims were out of the way and David settled in to read, all was great. That was the show, but there was another problem: PARKING AT THE VENUE was difficult and time consuming, both going in and out. Not worth the $12 they charged.