Humourists are an increasingly rare breed, and perhaps that’s David Sedaris’s fault. Because who else can truly measure up? It’s probably best not to bother. Essayist, satirist, memoirist, playwright, raconteur-par-excellence, his written collections have sold in their millions, aching bellies and creating a worldwide legion of fanatical admirers.
At turns hilarious, occasionally filthy and often poignant, Sedaris is a most singular, once-in-a-generation – perhaps a couple, possibly three generations – talent, finding humour in the strangest of places. His campaign against littering in the countryside has been particularly delightful, and indeed quite a British curveball, embracing wholly and fully his ex-pat status (to the extent that bin men in his West Sussex locale have given him the nickname ‘Pig Pen’).
He will take the stage at the Bridgewater Hall to read a collection of new and previously unpublished stories and, as is now customary, there will be a chance to meet him and have a chat afterwards too.