"SantaLand Diaries" is an essay by David Sedaris

David Sedaris

David Sedaris is a Grammy Award-nominated American humorist, writer, comedian, bestselling author, and radio contributor....

. It is a true and humorous account of Sedaris' stint working as a Christmas elf

Christmas elf

A Christmas elf is a diminutive creature that lives with Santa Claus in the North Pole and acts as his helper. Christmas elves are often depicted as green or red clad with pointy ears, long noses, and pointy hats. Santa's elves are often to make the toys in Santa's workshop and take care of...

 in "SantaLand" at Macy's

Macy's

Macy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...

 department store

Department store

A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...

.

Sedaris first read the essay on National Public Radio's Morning Edition

Morning Edition

Morning Edition is an American radio news program produced and distributed by National Public Radio . It airs weekday mornings and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 05:00 to 09:00 ET, with feeds and updates as required until noon...

on December 23, 1992. The piece was well-received, and provided Sedaris with his first major break. Sedaris later published the essay in the collections Barrel Fever

Barrel Fever

Barrel Fever and Other Stories is a 1994 collection of short stories and essays by David Sedaris. The book is divided into two sections. The first section consists of short fiction and the second half contains autobiographical essays. The most famous of the essays is "SantaLand Diaries", the essay...

(1994) and Holidays on Ice (1997). In 1996, Joe Mantello

Joe Mantello

Joseph Mantello is an American actor and director best known for his work on Broadway productions of Wicked, Take Me Out and Assassins, as well as earlier in his career being one of the original Broadway cast of Angels in America...

 adapted Sedaris' essay for the stage as a one-man, one-act

One act play

A one-act play is a play that has only one act, as distinct from plays that occur over several acts. One-act plays may consist of one or more scenes. In recent years the 10-minute play known as "flash drama" has emerged as a popular sub-genre of the one-act play, especially in writing competitions...

 play, which debuted (as The Santaland Diaries) at the Atlantic Theater Company

Atlantic Theater Company

Atlantic Theater Company is an Off-Broadway non-profit theater, whose mission is to produce great plays "simply and truthfully utilizing an artistic ensemble." The company was founded in 1985 by David Mamet, William H. Macy, and 30 of their acting students from New York University, inspired by the...

 in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 on November 7, 1996. Timothy Olyphant

Timothy Olyphant

Timothy David Olyphant is an American actor whose notable roles in television drama series include Deadwood as Seth Bullock, Justified as Raylan Givens, The Office as Danny Cordray, and Damages as Wes Krulik...

originated the role. Mantello's adaptation has since become a seasonal staple of regional, college and high-school theatre.

External links

• "The SantaLand Diaries" at NPR