Stage Movement : Amy Sedaris

First of all, I would like to say that this came out to 2 pages on my word processing program . . . .

Danielle Hawkins

Clown Research Project

Amy Sedaris

The author, comedian, business-owner and baker, Amy Sedaris, is probably best known for her slew of crazy characters and antics that she has come up with over the years and is one of the few modern examples of a female physical comedian. In his book of essays Me Talk Pretty One Day, Amy’s brother, David Sedaris, describes her penchant for dressing up in strange costumes, assuming a completely different character, and pulling pranks on a routine basis, “Her fondness for transformation began at an early age . . . for Christmases and birthdays she requested wigs and makeup, hospital gowns and uniforms.” (134,135)

It was David who encouraged Amy to go to Chicago where she joined the comedy troupe Second City. There she met Stephen Colbert and Paul Dinello, with whom she went on to create Strangers With Candy, a television show on Comedy Central starring Amy as Jerri Blank, a 46 year old drop-out/drug addict who is trying to get her life together by starting over as a high-school freshman. The show is a great example of how Amy uses costumes and physical comedy to create character. From her success on Strangers With Candy, Amy has continued to appear in film and television doing quirky skits and dressing up as strange characters.

Although an attractive woman, part of Amy’s physical comedy is dressing “down”, “I like playing ugly people that think they’re attractive,” (tv interview, George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight). In response to her father’s concern for his daughter’s appearance and weight, Amy chose to wear a fat suit to Christmas and have herself made up to look like she had been beaten in a fight for a magazine photo shoot, “When it was her turn at the styling table, Amy said ‘I want to look like someone has beaten the shit out of me”. ( David Sedaris, 140)

“I tend to live my life like a deaf person. I communicate with my actions: the way I dress, the way my home is decorated, and the gifts I give all speak for me.” (Amy Sedaris, 5) In recent years, Amy has turned her comedic gifts toward her fondness for baking, crafts and entertaining. She brings her bizarre characters and ideas to the pages of her books I Like You, and Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People in which she not-so-seriously provides
recipes, craft-tips and advice. She is certainly not your average “Susie home-maker”. Amy frequently appears on talk shows such as the David Letterman show and Chelsea Lately, where she promotes her books by showing the host some of her recent crafts, like a lamp shade with tassels made of hair swatches or a marshmallow stuck full of sparkly toothpicks, (Wendy Williams Show).

Bibliography

Amy Sedaris: International Movie Data Base. 2011. 1 April. 2011.

Sedaris, David. Me Talk Pretty One Day. New York, Hachette, 2000.

Sedaris, Amy. Interview. George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight. CBC. Toronto. 6

Dec. 2010.

Sedaris, Amy. Interview. The Wendy Williams Show. BET. New York. 3 Nov. 2010

Sedaris, Amy. I Like You. New York: Hachette, 2006.