David Sedaris – THe Ultimate David Sedaris Box Set – Live At Carnegie Hall

David Sedaris Live At Carnegie Hall
The Ultimate David Sedaris Box Set
David Sedaris
Hachette Audio 2006

Included in The Ultimate David Sedaris Box Set audio book CD collection from Hachette Audio is the in concert or public reading CD David Sedaris Live At Carnegie Hall. The old joke is, of course, How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice. But how does a comic essayist get to the same hallowed hall? Laughter, laughter, laughter.

The David Sedaris CD Live at Carnegie Hall features 6 comic stories and a Q & A with the author. There is not a single bad track here though the Q & A is only okay comparatively speaking though superb in terms of other Q and A with the authors I have heard. The highlight of this sort of comedy CD is certainly 6 to 8 Black Men, a Christmas piece that is as good as Sedaris’ classic SantaLand Diaries which is heard on NPR and This American Life every year at yule time. 6 to 8 Black Men is a comic essay about the Santa Claus (or more accurately Saint Nicholas) myth in Holland. Sedaris turns his razor sharp observational skills and caustic mind to deconstructing the story of a guy, Saint Nicholas, who may either bring presents, kick you, or kidnap you assisted by 6 to 8 Black men.

Just As good on this David Sedaris CD Live At Carnegie Hall is Repeat After Me, another seemingly comedic biographical essay. This time, the author visits his sister Lisa and has some fun with her parrott. This is also, subtly, an essay about the author’s responsibility towards his family when their lives become public domain.

What is definitely the weirdest comic essay on this comedy CD of sorts is With A Pal Like This You Do Not Need An Enemy about a portable, self-attached Johnny on the spot device. This is preceeded by The Feminine Mistake, about Sedaris ending up shopping in the women’s section to find something that fits.

A few listeners might squirm at hearing Why Them? The first draft version of an essay Daid Sedaris wrote for a CD featuring NPR hosts Ira Glass and Terry Gross. It takes the whole Jewish conspiracy thing to a whole new, hilarious level if you have a sense of humor.

David Sedaris Live At Carnegie Hall is but one of 20 Sedaris CDs in The Ultimate David Sedaris Box Set which also includes the audiobook versions of  Naked, Dress Your Family in Corduroy, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Holidays On Ice, and Barrel Fever and Other Stories.

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