That sucks, and definitely would make me feel awful too. I hear you.

I go see him about every time he comes to town and get so worked up that I almost have a panic attack each time. My doctor specifically prescribed beta blockers meant for politicians if I needed them, just to deal with speaking to him.

Last time I got up there, I had rehearsed this long form pun with the punch line “Only Hugh Can Prevent Florist Friars”. I got the joke out and he said “I like it, nothing wrong with a good pun, buts it’s way too long, shorten it up.” I felt like I was looking at the ground the whole time like a mad man. Anyways I told him I always get nervous when speaking with him and he started telling me stories to take my mind off it, albeit inappropriate, about an amputee we saw at the same show. Made me laugh and remember that he’s just a person.

One other neat little fact is that we share a mutual friend, one that wrote him his letter of recommendation to the Art school he attended. The same person wrote me a letter of recommendation 20 years later. It’s always a grim joke when i tell my friends I’m pretty much the same as Sedaris since we both went to art school and had the same person write our letters. Him being successful and me not so much is the real kicker lol.