During the holidays, we all experienced some specific situations that would only happen in such a hectic time. As the holidays pass, we look back and laugh at how ridiculous these times can be. David Sedaris shows it from his perspective when he applied to become an elf and Macy's during the holidays and showed us what society is like inside an elf costume. Elf, while not a real story, is a film about a human who fancies himself an elf who meets his father and experiences extreme culture shock while traveling to New York for the first time. In this essay, I will compare the similarities between these two stories and the types of comedy found in each. The first scene in Elf that felt like Santa Land Diaries was the scene where Buddy the Elf first arrives in New York. especially the part where he continually took pamphlets until people got angry. Sedaris, early in his story, explains an instance where he took pamphlets because he felt bad. He says, "I tend not only to accept the pamphlet, but to accept it graciously, saying, 'Thank you very much,' and thinking, You poor, pathetic son of a bitch" (Sedaris 4). In Elf, instead of the guys handing out leaflets looking pathetic, it's Buddy who looks ridiculous. He's a grown man dressed as an elf in yellow tights and he's taking flyers from two guys who are standing five feet apart until they both get angry and chase him away . Characters outside of these stories play different roles, as we notice in this scene. Elf's outside characters are more involved because Buddy brings them into the story with his actions. On the other hand, Sedaris just explains the other characters and they act more like... middle of paper... Buddy the Elf brings them into his fantasy world like a real elf. In the book, we got to see how people acted in real-life situations during the holidays and how Sedaris used those situations to create his jokes. I felt more compassion or pity for Sedaris than for Buddy depending on the reality factor. I wouldn't want to work as an elf based on Sedaris' experiences described in his writings and it's very difficult to try and relate to Buddy because the entire movie would never realistically happen. Both are humorous but as I described, both took different approaches to the same type of situation.Works CitedElf. Real. Jon Favreau. New Line Home Entertainment, 2004. Morreall, John. Comic relief: a global philosophy of humor. Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. Print. Sedaris, David. A vacation on ice. 2nd ed. New York: Little, Brown and Co., 2008. Print.