MasterClass provides in-depth and engaging classes taught by experts in various fields. The classes are designed to bring your favorite experts to your home in an engaging online experience, which includes state of the art pre-recorded videos, workbooks, and stimulating assignments. Your Annual Membership gives you access to 100+ world-renowned instructors on Film and TV, Culinary Arts, Design, Photography, Fashion, Sports, Science and Technology and so much more. Instructors include world-famous chef Gordon Ramsay, bestselling author Margaret Atwood and many more. The classes have about 20 lectures, each about 10 minutes so you can watch and re-watch at anytime. Video lessons can easily be watched on the MasterClass mobile app, on your desktop, Google Chromecast, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, and Roku devices.
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This is a review of the David Sedaris Teaches Storytelling and Humor class from MasterClass!
The MasterClass Instructor – David Sedaris
David Sedaris opens this class by talking about what it takes to be an author and how everyone’s life is worth writing about. He begins to talk about how everything is funny eventually, so he encourages viewers to keep a diary because you never know when you will need to reflect back or turn your experiences into something to laugh about. Even when things go bad in your life, David encourages viewers to not think of it as a bad experience, but as ‘hey this is something I can write about’!
For those who are not familiar with David Sedaris, he is a New York Times best selling author who is known for his humorous personal essays and radio essays. He has been awarded three Grammys and has sold over 12 million copies of his books.
David debuted on National Public Radio in 1992 when he read “Santaland Diaries” on Morning Edition. Barrel Fever, his first book, followed in 1994. Since then, he has published nine more books and a play cowritten by his sister Amy; edited an anthology of short stories; and created four audio collections. David has contributed more than 40 essays to The New Yorker and completed five series on BBC Radio Extra 4. He has been a frequent guest on television late-night talk shows, such as The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, Late Show With David Letterman, and The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson. Currently he’s a commentator on CBS Sunday Morning.
David Sadaris has created a class full of great insights and examples for collecting your own experiences and turning them into stories for others. The class is split up into three sections that focus on how to find material in your life that can be turned into a story, how to revise and edit your stories, and lastly how to develop your skills as a writer. Throughout these lessons David uses a lecture style for each lesson filled with great instruction, his personal experiences, and examples from his published works and personal writings.
Storytelling and Humor – Who is it for?
This class is for anyone who is looking for writing insights about how to use real life experiences and turn them into humorous storytelling. This class really targets anyone who is just starting out or is looking for advice on how to write their own novel. David also provides a lot of examples from his own personal experiences, so if you are interested in how David got started or what inspires his writings, this class is an excellent inside look at his process.
MasterClass David Sedaris – Main Themes
- Be engaged in the world
- Draw from funny people
- There is a spot here waiting for you!
MasterClass Workbook – David Sedaris
The workbook for this class is a great reference tool and guide to developing your writing skills. It is very well organized and the lesson reviews are broken down so they are easy to reference back to! Each chapter has a review of the online lessons, lists of important points, and an assignment. The lesson review’s also have numerous examples from David’s own writings to help support his points. The chapters also have great resources to suggested readings and podcasts.
MasterClass Storytelling and Humor Key Takeaways
David Sedaris has created an inspirational class that really outlines the dedication and discipline it takes to become a successful writer. He shares his experiences, insights, and advice, but when it comes down to it the most important thing you can do is to just write everyday. This class takes on a wide variety of topics including, how to really tune in to what is happening around you and how to use these observations to develop humorous and personal stories.
As a writer, you’re sort of exploiting everybody you come into contact with.
What I found really beneficial in this class was David’s use of numerous published and personal examples of how he has turned his own personal experiences into a story. He reads his personal notes and journal entrees of events that occurred. These events can be as normal as his annoyance at small talk at a hotel or an awkward experience he had on a plane. He then used these examples to show how he was able to use some of his experiences that may not be beneficial as a stand alone story as transitions into the bigger storyline.
Final Thoughts David Sedaris’ MasterClass
This class caught my interest from the very beginning! David Sedaris shares his view on life and how to draw from the good and bad to create funny and exciting stories. If you are looking for a class that teaches you how to improve your writing skills and turn your own experiences into great material, this is the class for you!
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