If you don’t want to laugh-cry something out of your nose or erupt with obscene chortles in front of strangers on an airplane, in a coffee shop, on a train, or in a waiting room, then refrain from reading David Sedaris in any public setting. At least, if you see him live at the Capitol Theatre, the public will be laughing with you.

Author of several best sellers—including Me Talk Pretty One Day, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim and Holidays on Ice—and regular essayist for Esquire and The New Yorker, Sedaris makes acute observations about people through the filter of his own hilarious experiences. He is a contributor to This American Life on National Public Radio, and has co-authored several plays with his also-hysterical oddball sister, Amy Sedaris. He has received several prestigious accolades including The New York Times “Humorist of the Year” award and the Thurber Prize for American Humor.

His essays are side-splitting, occasionally poignant vignettes steeped in a charming cynicism that gives you a small window to his quirky, middle-class, suburban youth. Whether talking about his adventures in learning French, his brief attempts at being an artist or his bizarre housecleaning experiences, Sedaris can’t help but make astute statements and/or extremely funny assumptions about all the people involved, and he points to the absurdity in any situation.

Reading his books aloud to your pals is something I highly recommend. But better yet, hear him read his own work live.

David Sedaris @ Capitol Theatre, 50 W. 200 South, 801-355-ARTS, Saturday, Oct. 24, ArtTix.org