Author, social commentator and satirist Fran Lebowitz took Campbell Hall’s stage on Friday night with a cocky shrug of her oversized blazer. Although “An Evening with Fran Lebowitz” was the seasoned New Yorker’s first public appearance in Santa Barbara, she showed no signs of discomfort. The event stayed true to its name; that is, it felt more like sitting back in a booth, sipping a dry martini and watching that-one-friend-who-is-clearly-too-cool-for-you banter with whoever and on whatever subject she likes.

Author of two successful books, Metropolitan Life and Social Studies, and the subject for a recent documentary by Martin Scorsese, the larger-than-life persona seemed to overwhelm the stage in a pair of ill-fitting jeans, ornate cowboy boots and a David Byrne-circa-1981 oversized menswear jacket. The moderator for the discussion was Santa Barbara Independent regular contributor and UCSB’s Word Magazine advisor DJ Palladino. Palladino’s soft-spoken and meandering approach to questioning could have stunted the fluidity of the discussion in other circumstances; however, Palladino either wittingly or unwittingly engendered a malleable foundation upon which Lebowitz was able to build the most absurdly witty and beautifully biting diatribe.

Known for her no-filter wisdom on a variety of topics, ranging from the economy to cigarettes to strollers, Lebowitz was charged with the task of tackling the subject of America’s currently very heated political climate for the first segment of the evening.

Although she does attest to following the presidential election closely, Lebowitz’s prediction for the outcome of the November election relies purely on her own insight. Polls, she said, are an unreliable source due to the simple fact that the data is coming from “the kind of people who will talk to pollsters.”

Although she does attest to following the presidential election closely, Lebowitz’s prediction for the outcome of the November election relies purely on her own insight. Polls, she said, are an unreliable source due to the simple fact that the data is coming from “the kind of people who will talk to pollsters.”

In fact, Lebowitz’s faith in the public opinion is unsurprisingly weak. As an Obama supporter, she admits that her hopes weren’t exactly crushed in what some believe was a less-than-awe-inspiring term and thoroughly perplexing first presidential debate.

Lower expectations lead to fewer disappointments, she explained. “I’m just not that susceptible to fantasy.” She even offered some advice in light of Obama’s lackluster performance: “I’d say ‘Move over, I got it.’”

On a more micro level, Lebowitz was also unabashedly disdainful of New York City’s current mayor, Michael Bloomberg, and his ban on trans fats and initiative to reduce salt levels in restaurants, as well as the prohibition in the sale of sodas larger than 16 ounces. “It doesn’t cost anything to ban. It’s cheap to ban things,” quipped Lebowitz on the mayor’s inefficacy before launching into her lament of the needless monitoring of people’s personal and private lives. “Maybe if everything else was perfect, then we could ban soda,” she finished. For now, she suggests that Bloomberg focus his energies on issues that are bigger than even the biggest of sodas, like New York City’s public education or road safety.

Lebowitz was similarly blunt when asked for her opinion on a variety of famous faces, confessing that in general, she finds stand-up comedians to be totally dour in real life. She even went as far as to admit that Andy Warhol’s work isn’t all its cracked up to be, despite his having hired her to write for Interview when she was merely a high school dropout.

“Everything that is wrong, I blame it on Andy … influential does not mean great,” she said, with her signature, palms-up motion that showed she had nothing to hide.

The last 60 minutes were reserved for audience-based questions. As she sauntered up from the couch she had shared with Palladino and planted herself firmly behind the podium — not forgetting to give a bossy aside to the nearly petrified stage-hand operating the microphone — it was evident that this was the part she’d been waiting for.

On abortion, the author tangentially led herself to the claim that the process of childbearing is extremely disadvantageous to women due to the simple fact that, well, when you have a kid you end up having to pay a lot of attention to it.

On the phenomenon of public displays of affection, or PDA, Lebowitz paused for a second, sucking in a bit of air and, somewhere in that haughty head of hers, found this one-liner: “I’d say it’s more about how good looking the people are … so I am, generally, opposed to it.”

There must have been no unattractive, Bloomberg-loving, Warhol-imitating arts appreciators in the audience, or perhaps they just did not mind.

I wonder, is self-effacement an American pastime? Is it a quality of our generation? Is it a postmodern tendency?

Most likely, we’re just happy to be in on the joke: all the “dry and derisive” wisdom that Lebowitz dished out was returned twofold by the audience in spoonfuls of honeyed appreciation, as we practically begged the woman to please, for god’s sake, insult us some more!