As comedic author David Sedaris made his way through an oral recital of short stories during his Easter stop at The Chicago Theatre, it became increasingly clear that awkward translations between languages would be a recurrent theme. It is, after all, a well of material that probably won’t run dry as long as humankind exists.
His presentation of inaccurate conversions ranged from his own troubles in France (and the decision of how to phrase a question concerning the glaze of a shapely jug) to his time in Japan and the seeming disregard of some companies to seek advice on translations. One of the more humorous stories included a Japanese barber who may have had something vile on his hands while trimming Sedaris’ hair. During the process of having his mane sheared, the author sought to use an exercise in learning Japanese to get a closer look at the barber’s hands.
Among Sedaris’ other quality moments were descriptions of an un-coerced pseudo-friendship with a convicted child molester, imagining his partner, Hugh, with a baby dangling off his “breast,” and having the aforementioned barber punch him in the head.
A planned plug of the Zombie Survival Guide and an audience Q&A were just as entertaining as those other moments. While reading a few brief passages from Max Brooks’ book, Sedaris pontificated, with Easter as the perfect backdrop, that Jesus technically was a zombie. A patron later asked him about his experiment with the Stadium Pal – a device that enables users to “discreetly” relieve themselves without having to move – and he responded that there were drawbacks to having a “32-ounce bag of piping-hot urine attached to your calf.”
The major plus to watching Sedaris speak, however, is that having knowledge of his books or experience with National Public Radio is totally unnecessary to have an enjoyable evening. The best-selling humorist will continue his speaking tour through the month of April and into the first days of May.
– Scott Morrow
Photo credit: Michael Oreal