Best-selling author and humorist David Sedaris will return to the Virginia Theatre on April 22, 2019.

Imagine you're a young girl living in the Midwest. You know you want to be a writer some day and you idolize a writer who wrote "Holidays on Ice," and you've never felt more connected to an author and want to meet him someday. Well, that opportunity presented itself one cold December day a few years ago.

David Sedaris was coming to the Virginia Theatre in downtown Champaign. I bought tickets for myself and a friend. I picked up a book for my brother and wanted the book signed as a Christmas gift. The event organizers let us know he would sign a book for every fan that waited in an ungodly line after the show.

His show was funny, but at different points, I felt very uneasy, as he made fun of his sister who died by suicide. I had a pit in my stomach as he told story after story about his sister and his troubled relationship with his dad.

After the event, I stood in line for two hours to get the book signed. At book signings, you fill out a slip for the author so they can write whatever you want inscribed in the book. We got to the table and made small talk. I quickly realized he wasn't going to sign the book based on what I had written.

He wrote: "Your sister is a whore -- David Sedaris." He wrote it in huge red block letters, outlined in black. I was speechless. Before I could tell my friend not to have him sign hers, he was already doing the same to her. We both were stunned, and not in a good way. After doing some research online, I realized I wasn't alone. He had done this to others. In one woman's book, he wrote, "Your mom should have had an abortion." He claims what he writes is way funnier than what people ask him to write.

Fast forward a few years. My husband really wanted to see Jo Koy at State Farm Center. He was here on Oct. 4. We got there early enough to buy snacks and some merchandise. Koy's family worked the event, and his son was helping at the merchandise table. If you spent a certain amount, you could meet him after the show. My husband was thrilled, but I had flashbacks of the Sedaris debacle, so I wasn't nearly as excited.

Two comedians opened for Koy, Joey Guila and King Bach. Both were great openers. When it was time for Koy to make his way to the stage, the crowd gave him a very warm welcome. He jumped right in and confessed while laughing that he had just dropped a Netflix special and had no material. That couldn't have been further from the truth. He kept everyone laughing the entire show, and we didn't really want it to end. He performed for over an hour and was so sincere, honest and funny.

When the show was over, we made our way to the meet-and-greet area. His sister came down with her dog and thanked everyone for coming. She apologized that Koy wasn't down to meet everyone yet. He emerged about 25 minutes later and hugged or shook hands with every single person there to meet him. He even apologized for being late. No one minded.

As we approached, he greeted us and commented on how much he loved my husband's beard and I joked that I loved it too. He asked if he could get in between us for the selfies. He was laughing and cutting up the whole time. He hugged us and said, "I love you guys!" Even though he had a line of people, he wasn't rushing and genuinely was so happy to meet everyone.

Koy was impressed with Champaign and appreciated the diversity in the town. Koy, who is Filipino, had made the joke that if there were Brown people around, it meant good food was somewhere nearby. Contrast that with Sedaris lamenting about how there wasn't a Four Seasons here. From the beginning of the Sedaris event, it was about him and that we should somehow just be grateful he would even come to our town. Whereas Koy seemed grateful folks came out to see him and made the event about the audience.

As corny as it sounds, on the way home, I was tearing up because I could not believe how funny and wonderful the event had been. I was glad my husband got to have a much more positive experience than I did when I met Sedaris.

They say don't meet your heroes because you'll be disappointed, but I was so glad Koy didn't disappoint at all.