I was first introduced to Amy Sedaris as the “boozer, user and loser” Jerri Blank in the Comedy Central cult classic television show Strangers with Candy. I remember, the very first time I watched it, thinking it would be the type of show my parents would consider “brain rot,” so I had to sneak to watch it. The only television we had with a cable connection was in our living room, so I didn’t get to watch it as often as I would have liked. By the time I reached high school, my parents were far less concerned about what I was watching on television, so I watched reruns of Strangers with Candy often. The general premise of the show was that a 46-year-old woman is back in high school because she spent her teenage years as a drug addict, using sex work to support her habit. After being released from prison, she is left to put the pieces of her life back together. This sounds like a straightforward straight-to-VHS movie produced for the Lifetime network, but it was far more than that. Jerri was dynamic, crass, hideous and painfully uncool.
Understanding the time is very important when assessing just how important this show was. The late 1990s brought about the onslaught of the teenage drama. While my peers were ogling Katie Holmes and James Van der Beek, I was busy with Jerri Blank with her overbite, her turtleneck sweaters tucked into her acid washed jeans, and the most obnoxious voice you could imagine. As I look back on it now, I think I related to her. I wanted those turtlenecks and acid wash jeans. I was one of the biggest losers in my school. And before you think, “aww….,” it’s okay – I’ve finally accepted it. I was definitely a loser. To say I related to Jerri is an understatement. I was Jerri. I may not have had an overbite, but I did sleep in a retainer at night. The difference was that Jerri was proud of who she was and I had absolutely no idea who I was. I suppose that’s the one good thing about going to high school when you’re 46. If I could go back now, I think I’d be a much different person. Maybe I should’ve been a boozer and a user; I already had the loser part down.
The television series ended after only three seasons, but Amy Sedaris seemed to be everywhere. From Spongebob Squarepants to Sex and the City, she has had an illustrious and diverse career. She reprised her role as Jerri in a 2005 prequel film. In the years following, Sedaris appeared in countless television shows and movies showcasing her incredible talent as a character actress through both voiceover work and acting.
Amy was raised in Raleigh, North Carolina. Like many other southern women, Amy has a penchant for entertaining, and who better to write about the subject than a woman who has a lamp with human hair tassels hanging from its shade in her living room? In 2006, I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence was released to rave reviews. How could it not, with such beautiful recipes as a meat loaf wreath and “Dinner Deluxe ‘I Got a Raise’ Tenderloin?” The book is full of great advice, too. Like what to do if your pet dies and you have no backyard. Amy suggests “flushing them down the toilet” or having them cremated and placed into a very special “grieving sack.” I would’ve never thought of that!
She followed I Like You with my favorite of her books Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People in 2010. Nowhere will you find a more eclectic sense of creativity than in this book. All of the crafts are so easy and they’ll really have all your guests begging you to make them their very own clothespin crucifix. I know a lot of my own guests have asked me where they can get their own pair of tin can stilts like mine. I am still trying to track down human hair to make my own hair tassel lampshade. It’s harder to find than you would think.
In more recent years, you may have seen Amy Sedaris in her own television series At Home with Amy Sedaris. The show captures the essence of her two books in one television show that is both informative and fun. Who among us hasn’t been scrambling around at the last minute trying to find the perfect hors d’oeuvre for their pet rabbit’s birthday party? Well, just watch an episode of At Home with Amy Sedaris. That’s what I do; the moon-shaped cheese ball is always a crowd-pleaser. If entertaining and crafts aren’t exactly your thing, you can find Amy Sedaris as Peli Motto in the Disney show The Mandolorian.
When I found out Amy Sedaris was coming to Bowling Green, I let out what I like to describe as “the gasp heard ‘round the world,” as it is still brought to my attention often by my colleagues at the Warren County Public Library. She is a comedienne for a specific niche of people who just “get it.” I have so many questions for her, the chief one being where can I get one of those beautiful burnt orange turtlenecks she wore in Strangers with Candy?
An Evening with Amy Sedaris
SKyPAC & Livestream
March 25, 2021
A limited quantity of in-person tickets are available for this event. There is a two-ticket limit per person. Facial coverings are required. The event will also be livestreamed. For more information, call 270-781-4882 or visit our website at warrenpl.org.
-by Brent Cardin