Self-Directed Satire in Sedaris

            What makes Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim humorous is David Sedaris’ ability to distance himself from the person he once was. Many autobiographers evoke sympathy by detailing the various trials that they suffered in their earlier lives; conversely, they ask us to rejoice in those formative events that made them who they are today. I think Sedaris wants to avoid these self-aggrandizing tropes, and so approaches the events of his early life with a great deal of irony. In fact, it seems that he himself is the target of almost all of these stories. Even when describing a transformative and possibly traumatic moment in his development (“Hejira”), he allows himself some distance from the intensity of the scene and assumes the position of an ignorant bystander: “just another crying mother and her stoned gay son, sitting in a station wagon and listening to a call-in show about birds…” While the younger Sedaris of “Consider the Stars” drools over the popular crowd at middle school—even into his high school years!—the older writer recalling the story puts the narrative into its appropriate perspective and laughs at the sheer irrelevance of teenage drama.

            Last week, we brought up self-deprecation for the first time in the course. While we might debate whether laughter directed at others has the power to change the world for the better (e.g. Voltaire’s Candide), I think that self-deprecating humor is a healthy and normal part of human development. If I can’t laugh at the person I was five years ago, it means that all his insecurities and failures are still with me, and that I haven’t moved on and learned to use my mistakes to develop. The younger Sedaris, particularly in his interactions with his parents and other adults, appears naïve and innocent, and their failures are brushed off as odd eccentricities; in turn, the writer recognizes all the challenges of adulthood that were unapparent to the child. In this, he shows how he well he has come to recognize adult behavior and how he, as an adult, has improved upon the people his parents were.

Choosing to laugh with Twain and Sedaris

There are two main points to this analysis: one, that Sedaris is a traditional American humorist because of his subtle humor and two, perhaps another avenue of humor to explore is when we are making fun of our own experiences, maybe that sort of self-deprecating humor does not require as much of an audience to give that gratification of laughter—his stories are independently funny with or without my participation.  Therefore, both Twain and Sedaris are connected in perhaps making laughter a choice.  They put the joke out there in how they told the story and if we want to laugh, we can, but it is not crucial to the success of the joke.     

First, Mark Twain writes in his essay “How to Tell a Story” that “the humorous story is the American story…the humorous story depends for its effect upon the manner of the telling” (17 Twain).  Twain’s argument is that American writers are challenged to incorporate absurdities without blatantly pointing out that they are absurdities.  Americans are challenged to string together seemingly purposeless stories while maintaining an air of nonchalance and casualness-- almost creating laughter as a choice, as if this story may or may not be funny, you decide. 

              Sedaris is clearly an American writer because he tells his stories in this exact manner—he rarely emphasizes anything too much, rather we as readers are supposed to enjoy his subtleties and chuckle coolly.  He writes about drowning a mouse casually as though that was normal, meanwhile I was actually laughing out loud at the thought of this pathetic mouse trying to swim.  In the last line of the book, Sedaris writes “so pleasing to the eye” which I think is what ties the entire book together and makes the book not purposeless, but purposeful.  That last line almost seemed like Sedaris was winking at us as readers because this book about an average guy’s life which seems pleasing enough, but it is actually absurd and are full of intricacies that are not visible until Sedaris makes them visible which Sedaris does on purpose. 

Secondly, this is the first time an author’s entire work is strictly turning the work on himself and his own insecurities, awkward childhood memories, and other times that were painful and now are funny.  In a way, this sort of humor seems to require vulnerability, without as much trust from the audience.  If you are making fun of yourself, you already are admitting the oddities you have, so other people can’t make fun of you—you already know and are admitting the joke!  In this way, perhaps this type of self-deprecating humor requires less audience participation because he is laughing at himself; whether we choose to participate and join him in his laughter is up to us. 

Humor as a Buffer

Catlin Castan

Dr. Ellis

Humor Studies

20 October 2014

Humor as a Buffer

            In Dress Your Family…, Sedaris constructs a narrative centered around humor as a way of introducing us to his family and telling us about his childhood experiences. In the section entitled “Ship Shape”, Sedaris writes about a prospective vacation home his parents contemplate buying. On the last page of this section, we find out that the Sedaris’s do not end up purchasing the beach house, however, we also find out that the Sedaris’s may have some deeper family tensions beneath the (initial textual) surface.

            Specifically, Sedaris reveals: “It would have been nice, a place at the beach, but we already had a home. A home with a bar. Besides, had things worked out, you wouldn’t have been happy for us. We’re not that kind of people”(29). In this moment, we notice a drastic switch in authorial tone—Sedaris departs from his witty and quite hysterical tone—a tone that we have grown accustomed to and have thoroughly enjoy as readers—and replaces it with a pensive--and rather depressing-- tone.  It is also interesting that in this excerpt Sedaris addresses his readers, he speaks directly to us, deconstructing the fictive barriers that stand between his words and our reality. By addressing us directly and in a different tone, we are caught off guard—this disorientation helps us come to realize that things are not always as they seem. In this moment, we begin to question the Sedaris family’s true dynamic--we begin to question the function of humor being used throughout the entire text.  

            As we attempt to answer these questions, perhaps, then, we are able to identify a family reality hidden beneath the visible surface—underneath the surface of humor. Here, we notice, that despite Sedaris’ comedic style, that he may only be using humor as a tactic to distract or to disorient his readers. By extension, then, humor in general can also accomplish this same effect; humor can often act as a guise—a liminal space-- to temporarily conceal deeper problems. It is also important to note that while humor may be used a guise (or as a buffer), it does not intend to undermine or downplay the issues at hand, but rather it is doing quite the opposite. Specifically, Sedaris uses humor as a way of buffering the complexity and difficulty of his childhood struggles, in doing so, he makes his experiences more accessible and digestible for his readers. Similarly, I think that using humor also aids Sedaris himself; humor, in many ways, serves as a protective shield that helps him to combat any feelings of vulnerability that he may encounter while discussing his personal issues on such an intimate level.

Self-Deprecation as Absolution

David Sedaris’ tone in Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim is undoubtedly one of self-deprecating humor.  Sedaris is blunt in his honesty and therefore, not the kind of person to try to disguise the fact that he is not very comfortable with his own identity.  There are more than a few anecdotes found in his book that attest to his feelings of isolation from both his peers, family, partner, and even himself. 

Sedaris’ sexuality as a gay male initially puts a rift between him and his classmates, as evidenced by the description of his first (and possibly last?) sleepover, where he desperately struggles to best maneuver an impromptu game of strip poker with the three other boys in attendance.  His father also kicks Sedaris out of his house because of his disapproval of his sexuality.  It is not only his homosexuality that alienates Sedaris though, as he finds himself somewhat awkward with emotion and intimate relationships.  He says that love stories “are always a danger, as unlike battling aliens or going undercover to track a serial killer, falling in love is something most adults have actually experienced at some point in their lives” and therefore, result in introspection and review of an individual’s own experiences [Sedaris, 137]. 

Sedaris’ first instinct is not to comfort a person about their distress, but instead write it down for others to laugh at.  This is arguably a testament to a very Hobbesian view of humor as an expression of the innate evil of humankind but, it is complicated by the fact that Sedaris does not like that he is this way.  As if in a way to compensate for his unfairness to others, Sedaris also subjects himself and his experiences to the sardonic observations and physical transcription of his books.   He uses his self-deprecation as a means of leveling the playing field and equalizing the power dynamic—somewhat of a wrench in the basis of the superiority theory.  I think his attacks on his own pitfalls provide him with some sort of relief as well; there is a catharsis in recognizing and admitting his own faults.