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Sedaris has been on the 'making old NPR listeners laugh via speaking gigs' track for a looooong time now. I saw him in Berkeley a while back; go spend a day in

Sedaris has been on the 'making old NPR listeners laugh via speaking gigs' track for a looooong time now. I saw him in Berkeley a while back; go spend a day in town and make jokes about it seems to be a bit of an easily-transportable schtick. The bit I remember from Berkeley was a visit to a kind of stationary store that was somehow appointment-only in like 2015-ish, and got a mix of admiration (HOW?!) and ribbing (REALLY, BERKELEY?!). That kind of mix of nostalgia and disdain is the essence of Sedaris, i think... A cloying love for the past with a solid recognition and disdain for the terrible parts of it. Mid-century modernism accompanied with a side of unrelenting homophobia. The familiar atmosphere of home, suffused with the cigarette smoke that will eventually, slowly, painfully kill your mother. Like most comedy, there's a question of punching up vs punching down. Punching up is funny: sticking it to the homophobes is great. But punching down is mean and contemptible... So it all comes down to whether you, in the audience, see Sedaris as a survivor/escapee of suburbia, or as some New York literati come to talk about how much your mall sucks.

zel_cole 6y ago
Great points -- I especially like your note about how that transportable schtick can play completely differently depending on the location (and how much value you see in the mall). My city has a lot of problems, but the mall isn't one of them. If he'd picked on the creepy luxury student housing going up all over and pushing people out of their neighborhoods, my perspective wouldn't be the same. And I think what you say about Sedaris and suburbia is part of what makes him a perfect "villain" for the pettier parts of the essay. I'd like to give a more thoughtful response to match yours, but it's late here. You've given me something to think about, so thanks!
defen 6y ago
> Like most comedy, there's a question of punching up vs punching down. "Punching up" vs "punching down" is this weird trope that materialized in the past couple years as a way to argue "making fun of MY preferred groups is not allowed." But there are many successful professional comedians who don't agree with it, and "punching down" on the rubes is in fact a time honored genre of comedy...

zel_cole 6y ago

Great points -- I especially like your note about how that transportable schtick can play completely differently depending on the location (and how much value you see in the mall). My city has a lot of problems, but the mall isn't one of them. If he'd picked on the creepy luxury student housing going up all over and pushing people out of their neighborhoods, my perspective wouldn't be the same. And I think what you say about Sedaris and suburbia is part of what makes him a perfect "villain" for the pettier parts of the essay. I'd like to give a more thoughtful response to match yours, but it's late here. You've given me something to think about, so thanks!

defen 6y ago

> Like most comedy, there's a question of punching up vs punching down. "Punching up" vs "punching down" is this weird trope that materialized in the past couple years as a way to argue "making fun of MY preferred groups is not allowed." But there are many successful professional comedians who don't agree with it, and "punching down" on the rubes is in fact a time honored genre of comedy...