FAME!

Sara Forestier in "Le nom des gens"

My friend Marina ran into Sarah Forestier at the Laundromat down the street from my building. She’s the star of “Le nom des gens” (The Names of Love). If you haven’t seen this movie, see it. I know there’s probably lots of celebrities in Paris, but this is the closest that I have come to an encounter. Except that time I met David Sedaris at the book signing.

Which reminds me, I never told that story. I was keeping it hush hush because I got an autographed copy of his new book “Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk” for my brother for x-mas and I wanted it to be a complete surprise. It was! And now it’s March so I suppose it’s safe to talk about it.
My friend Becca told me that David Sedaris was doing a book signing/reading at an English bookstore in Paris. I ran over there right after work and managed to squeeze in just before they started turning people away. It was a small bookstore so he was signing books downstairs, but the reading was upstairs. Those of us who didn’t make it in time to be crammed onto the upper floor got to watch the reading on a tv screen. This seemed like a cop out. But I got a close up encounter with him before he even started because he squeezed past me on his way up the stairs. People were generally disoriented, so he looked around and casually asked,“Wait, who’s here? What is this all about?” hoping that somebody would lean down and explain without realizing who he was. It didn’t work, but I still giggled.

His reading caused a whole lot more giggling along with some full on belly laughs. Afterwards, he invited people to come get their books autographed and tell him their favorite joke. This is a routine for him, he listens to everyone’s jokes and then shares the gems at future shows. Because I watched the show from downstairs, I was one of the first in line for the signing. It would have been lovely to have some hysterical pants-pissing punch line to spring on him, but when I got to the front of the line I had the words “knock knock…” swimming around in my head and I knew that couldn’t go anywhere good, so I just handed him my book and said “hello.”

Sedaris with a monkey

He smiled and asked me what my name was. I told him, but clarified that the book was for my brother. He asked where I was from. I told him Minneapolis, Minnesota. He said “Oh, Minnesota! Are you a Pisces?”

Uhh...no. Why?

He said he knew a guy from Minnesota once and he was a Pisces.

…

It was refreshing to realize that even people who are famously hilarious can struggle with small talk.

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