Meeting Lemony Snicket

Tears ran down my face, I was laughing so hard at last night’s taping of the public radio show “Live Wire!” (Live Wire! is taped here in Portland, Oregon, but can be heard in markets around the country.) The reason for the tears: the uproariously funny Lemony Snicket, aka Daniel Handler. I had been looking forward to seeing the man behind the mysterious Lemony Snicket, but I had no idea just how funny the man actually is. So entertaining was he, they let him run long over his allotted time, so sadly when the show airs I’m sure a lot of it will have been edited out. After entertaining the audience during his interview with humorous story after hilarious story, he closed by playing the accordion and singing such a rousing song that most of the audience was gasping for breath, they were laughing so hard. After the show I saw him standing near me and, acting like a babbling idiot fan, I asked for a picture. He was gracious and still extremely amusing while he struck a goofy pose with me. Thank you Lemony! (The show is scheduled to be broadcast Christmas Eve, and will be available on their website as a podcast.)

At each Live Wire! taping, they have a Flash Fiction competition, with six entries chosen for reading at the end of the taping of the second show. (Two shows are taped at each live show.) Last night we had to write six words describing our New Year’s resolution and mine was read! It was silly and random, just what they look for. For a terrifying moment when they read my name and were about to read my six words I worried what would happen if the audience didn’t laugh. How horrifying would that be?! Six words just hanging in the air. But thankfully the audience responded and gave it a good laugh. Whew! This Fledgling Writer wrote six whole words that made an audience laugh! Hear my magnificent six words on New Year’s Eve. I’m sure they will change your life.

Daniel Handler’s new book,  Why We Broke Up , is available December 27^th.