Sedaris in “At Home With Amy Sedaris”, photo via TruTV
Amy Sedaris is one of the funniest people on our pretty spinning blue orb, but her love of “The Home Arts” is no joke. Her lifestyle series, At Home With Amy Sedaris, isn’t just a satire of the Do-It-Yourself television genre, it is a universe unto itself.
Growing up in North Carolina in the 1960s and 1970s, Sedaris watched local hospitality shows on afternoon television and decided that is what she wanted to do when she grew up. Sedaris:
“I was into home stuff and I liked playing house, and I liked that extremely boring show and I was mesmerized by it.”
Sedaris has published two witty books: I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence, and Simple Times: Crafts For Poor People. They are funny enough to make you cry, but they also have honest, useful advice about homemaking.
Those shows on DYI, HGTV and the Food Network can make you feel bad about your own failed home projects, and as a fan of their shows, Sedaris understands they set the bar impossibly high, which is why her TruTV series is so fresh and fun. It is as is as if Martha Stewart and Pee-wee Herman had a television love child.
At Home With Amy Sedaris crafts comedy that can’t easily be categorized; it is often as dark and demented as her much missed Strangers With Candy, and let’s face it, Martha Stewart has never shown us how to make a construction paper vagina, which is exactly what Sedaris does this week.
I love the show so much that I have archived my DVR-ed episodes for future reference. I like to think Amy would be proud. Can you just imagine what a better world this would be if we all used Sedaris’ helpful hints?
