Steven Wright

This comedy legend never knew he would be such an influence

A A A Comments By Dusti Rhodes Thursday, Oct 18 2007

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We called comedy legend Steven Wright to ask him what else he had going on besides his upcoming national tour to support his new album I Still Have a Pony. “I gotta put air in one of my bike tires,” Wright said, then realized he had inadvertently answered the question. “I don’t know if you should put that in — maybe you should. It’s up to you, you’re the one writing.” Wright was a pioneer in comedy in the ’80s, known for his deadpan style, monotone voice and off-the-wall one-liners. He says it wasn’t intentional; he speaks and acts the same on and offstage and says it’s always surprising to hear people talk about his “style.” “I never even thought about it as a style, I just tried to think of a joke [people] would laugh at,” Wright says. He says he never realized he was different until he read a review in a local Boston paper. “It said ‘abstract jokes,’ and I thought, ‘Oh, abstract jokes, well geez, maybe they are abstract jokes,’ and ‘He talks in a monotone voice the whole time.’ [I thought] ‘A monotone? Do I talk in a monotone?’” Wright says. “All through school, growing up in my family, in my neighborhood, Little League — all that — no one ever said: ‘Hey, you know you talk with a monotone?’” Wright will continue to try and make people laugh today after opening act singer/songwriter Ruth Gerson starts things off at 8 p.m. Stafford Centre, 10505 Cash Road, Stafford. For tickets and information, call 281-208-6900 or visit www.staffordcentre.com. $39.50.
Sat., Oct. 20, 8 p.m., 2007

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