One reason that actress and comedian Amy Sedaris is so unique is her versatility. From her hilariously provocative series, Strangers with Candy, to her book I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence, which has taken Sedaris from Letterman's couch to Martha Stewart's kitchen, she proves you can wear many hats and wear them all with great panache.
Amy Matheny: Are you a southerner or a New Yorker?
Amy Sedaris: Well, when I'm in North Carolina I say I'm a New Yorker, and when I'm in New York, I say I'm from North Carolina.
AM: So you're like that Woody Allen quote from Manhattan, ' [ You ] don't want to be a part of any group that would have [ you ] .'
AS: There you go.
AM: What was it like working with Dolly Parton on her new video 'Better Get To Livin'' and how did that happen?
AS: The director, Flip, was looking for me. He went to a couple of neighborhood merchants to try to get in touch with me, and he did! And I got back in touch with him and he offered me this part. I'm a big fan of hers. Then, once I met with him and with wardrobe and the guy that was going to make all my costumes, I was like, 'This is great!' And I got to work with a monkey too, so between a monkey and Dolly Parton, I was like, 'This is a fantasy!' But it was a lot of fun. I'd never worked on a video before, so the whole experience was really nice, and she was incredibly sweet. I really liked her.
AM: Did you trade craft tips? I mean Dolly herself, she's her own work of art, you know?
AS: Yeah. No we didn't trade anything like that. I did talk to her a little bit in her camper where it was just the two of us, but we didn't really. She was on the set the whole time, so we just found that little bit of time to talk a little bit.
AM: I thought you might teach her how to store her eyelashes and give her a personal copy of your book.
AS: I did give her a copy of my book. But I did not teach her anything.
AM: Well, I think you could have, and not many people can teach Dolly Parton much. You're in this new drama, Snow Angels, coming out this month, starring Kate Beckinsale. It's getting such amazing reviews. Who are you playing? It's obviously a different side to you that people are getting to see.
AS: Right. I play Barb, Kate Beckinsale's best friend. We both work in a Chinese restaurant, and she has an affair with my husband, but I kind of forgive her because her child goes missing, and we find out that her child dies. Which I think I would do in real life too, you know. When your best friend needs you, you're going to be there for her no matter what. It was a really great experience, and it was fun being on a set that was so serious. Of course, I like to go for the laugh, and it was very hard not to do that, but still my part was light enough. It wasn't like I had to cry or fight an attacker or anything like that.
AM: So you're going to be in Chicago for this benefit April 10. You're going to do craft demonstrations, creating an eye burrito. What is an eye burrito?
AS: It's a pantyhose craft where you fill it with beans, and you decorate it with some felt eyes, and it's something you put over … you cradle it over your face to soothe the puffiness under your eyes. So I'm going to teach how to make that, and take some questions from the audience. I like to do that.
AM: What would you want to be asked that no one ever asks you?
AS: I just had a seven-year-old ask me, 'When does summer start?' and I thought that was a pretty good question. And I didn't know the answer. I wasn't sure. I just sent him a calendar. No one has ever asked me that.
AM: I want to know, does Piglet [ one of the characters Sedaris does ] have any feelings on the upcoming presidential campaign?
AS: She doesn't give a furry fuck. That's what. [ Piglet voice ] A furry fuck! Doesn't give a furry fuck about it! [ Sedaris reverts to her normal voice ] Piglet doesn't care. And that's all I'm gonna say for Piglet because she's foul and I don't want to offend anybody.
AM: How's your rabbit?
AS: She's doing great! Easter's coming up, and the House Rabbit Society has this new slogan that says 'we prefer the chocolate kind' or something like that, where they're trying to get people not to adopt rabbits for their kids for Easter, just because they're bad pets for kids because they're prey animals and kids are so quick and fast and it freaks the rabbit out. So they're trying to get the message out, just buy the chocolate kind and don't bother getting a real rabbit for Easter, because then they just dump them after Easter, and they have to find homes for these rabbits. So I'm just trying to get the word out, there. Because it's my job. Full-time job.
AM: Full-time job taking care of the rabbits of the world.
AS: Yes.
AM: You're going to be signing your New York Times bestseller, I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence. It includes so many practical tips that you just do not find in other hospitality books.
AS: I just entertain a lot, and I have a lot of recipes, and I knew that I wanted to do a visual book, about something that I felt I knew enough about.
AM: Do you love spring? Is this a good time for party-throwing?
AS: I like all the seasons, you know? And I like living somewhere where you get four of them. My least favorite is summer. I just don't care for summer holidays, and I'm not a big fan of the heat. But I like them all; it's just my least favorite.
AM: You are gracing the pages of Vanity Fair in April with a lot of funny ladies, from Sandra to Tina and Wanda … women ending in 'a'. Did you ever dream that you would be a fashion and [ comedy ] icon?
AS: No. It was so nice that they gave me a call. I love all those girls. They're all really, really funny. I haven't even had a chance to open the issue. I've seen the picture, but I haven't read anything because I've been away. But it's sitting on my coffee table so I can't wait. It was a lot of fun to do that shoot.
AM: It's a fantastic, fantastic spread. So your connection with Chicago is as a company member at Second City and the Annoyance Theater, correct?
AS: Yeah. I like Chicago. It's the first place I moved out of North Carolina, so I was still pretty fascinated by all the different neighborhoods, how big it was, and I liked the working-class people, and I like how it's like a walking city. I just liked the energy of it, and all the tall buildings, and my brother was living there. And then I worked at Second City. I think I was there like five or six years and then I came here. I was amazed at how clean Chicago is.
AM: Do you have any favorite haunts?
AS: I worked at Café BaBaReba, I don't know if that's still around.
AM: Yeah, it is on [ 2024 N. ] Halsted.
AS: I liked the shops on Clark Street. They had really good vintage stores.
AM: Is that what you like to do when you go to a city?
AS: I do! I like to keep my eyes peeled, and all the stuff from my book was from my apartment, so I tend to collect things. I'm always keeping my eyes open.
AM: Do you feel like your brother [ author David Sedaris ] ingratiated you to the gay community, or do you think you've made your own forays in? I mean once you've done a Dolly Parton video, you've become sterling in the community, I believe.
AS: Well, I think Jerri Blank was a big help attracting the gay audience, and misfits and outcasts. She certainly lured them as well as the stuff I did with David.
AM: When you were creating Strangers With Candy, there was a big thing about using the word' faggot' and many other non-PC words. Since then, 'faggot' [ has become ] this watershed, right? [ You have ] awful people using it like Ann Coulter, then television stars using it and denying using it. What do you think it is about this word? You're able, with Jerri Blank, to cross lines that are so politically provocative yet funny.
AS: There were a couple conversations we had when we were writing. They wanted to lay down some ground rules at first. Like we couldn't say something in episode one, but we could say it in episode four. They were just trying to set up boundaries with us. Then, after a while they trusted us a little bit more. Jerri was just likeable somehow. It wasn't like an Andrew Dice Clay kind of a situation. After a while, we tended to get away with a lot more. In the beginning, I think they were just trying to test us.
AM: You broke down so many doors.
AS: Well, we didn't have that intention. We just kept trying to create what made us laugh. If it made us laugh, it went in the script. So we weren't trying to be like, 'Oh, let's try to be different' or try to do this thing no one else has done ... that's the good thing about working with Stephen [ Colbert ] and Paul [ Dinello ] . The three of us, we're totally focused on whatever it is we're working on, and we don't think of the outcome of it. It's the same with my book. I just thought [ of the ] process. It never occurred to me that it was going to be in the store and someone was going to buy it. So it was a big surprise to see that it was so popular. That was a complete gift to me.
AM: You're in the journey. You're not thinking about the outcome, and [ yet ] you've had some amazing outcomes.
AS: Yeah, I know. I'm very lucky.
AM: You said you go for what you think is funny, or makes you laugh. Who or what makes you laugh these days?
AS: It can be anything from gathering toadstools and mushrooms that make me laugh, or falling down. … Monkeys make me laugh. … Skin disorders make me laugh. I can't think of anything that wouldn't really make me laugh. You know, I tend to find the humor in everything, that's probably my problem. Sometimes it can be inappropriate, I guess.
The Lifeline benefit with Amy Sedaris is Thurs., April 10, at 6:30 p.m. at the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E Washington. Tickets are $100; call 773-761-4477 for visit lifelinetheatre.com . For more on Amy Sedaris, visit www.amysedarisrocks.com .
