I’m a big fan of Strangers with Candy, so it’s difficult for me to look at Amy Sedaris and not picture her as a semi-non-functioning, 40-something, ex-prostitute, ex-convict, and ex-junkie with awkward vocal inflections and Kermit the Frog facial expressions who desperately wants to be high school cool.

amy-sedarisBut, in reality, Amy Sedaris is nothing like that! She’s highly functioning! Highly functioning enough, even, to write a book that was published and then follow it up with another book that was published and promote that book with a handful of fantastic YouTube videos.

Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People! is Sedaris’ recession-era follow-up to I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence, and features a handful of “off-the-wall crafting and entertaining suggestions” that are equal parts farcical and fun. She demonstrates a few of them on her newly created OfficialAmySedaris YouTube channel.

Sedaris shows viewers how to make potato ships, grill hot dogs on a garden rake, and construct donut bird feeders with non sequiturs and a straight face. The videos don’t have the budget of Foreign Body or the sexy aesthetic of Celebutantes, but my guess is they’ll help sell more books.