Steven Wright

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Steven Wright
Wright at Tufts University, 1994
Birth name Steven Alexander Wright
Born December 6, 1955 (1955-12-06) (age 53)
Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
Medium stand-up, film, television
Nationality American
Years active 1979 - present
Genres Surreal humor, post-modernism, Wit/Word play, Observational comedy, Musical comedy, Deadpan
Influences Woody Allen, George Carlin[1]
Influenced Mitch Hedberg, Demetri Martin, Jimmy Carr
Notable works and roles I Have a Pony
K-Billy DJ in Reservoir Dogs
Speed in The Swan Princess
Guy on the Couch in Half Baked
I Still Have a Pony
Website StevenWright.com
Academy Awards
Best Short Film, Live Action
1988 The Appointments of Dennis Jennings

Steven Alexander Wright (born December 6, 1955) is an Academy Award-winning American comedian, actor and writer. He is known for his distinctly lethargic voice and slow, deadpan delivery of ironic, witty, philosophical and sometimes confusing or nonsensical jokes and one-liners with intentionally overly-contrived situations.

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[edit] Early life

Wright was born in Burlington, Massachusetts, the son of Dolly Wright. His father was an electronics company executive.[2] Wright attended Emerson College and began performing stand-up comedy in 1982.[3]

[edit] Career

Wright's 1985 comedy album entitled I Have a Pony, released on Warner Bros. Records, received critical acclaim and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album. In 1989, he won an Academy Award for his short film, The Appointments of Dennis Jennings. In 1992, Wright had a recurring role on the television sitcom Mad About You. He also supplied the voice of the radio DJ in the film Reservoir Dogs.

Numerous lists of jokes attributed to Wright circulate on the Internet, sometimes of dubious origin. Wright has stated

"Someone showed me a site, and half of it that said I wrote it, I didn't write. Recently, I saw one, and I didn't write any of it. What's disturbing is that with a few of these jokes, I wish I had thought of them. A giant amount of them, I'm embarrassed that people think I thought of them, because some are really bad."[4]

After his 1990 comedy special Wicker Chairs and Gravity, Wright continued to do live stand-up performances, but was largely absent from television, only doing occasional guest spots on late night talk shows. In 2006, Wright noticed that much of his audience in recent years was getting older and wanted to reach out to a generation that only knew him from films like Half Baked. He produced his first stand-up special in 16 years, Steven Wright: When the Leaves Blow Away, originally aired on Comedy Central on October 21st, 2006 and again a day after its DVD release date, Wednesday, April 24.

In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was voted amongst the top 50 comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders. He was named #23 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 greatest standups of all time.

On September 25, 2007, Wright released a follow-up to I Have a Pony, titled I Still Have a Pony (a CD release of the material from When the Leaves Blow Away). It was also nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album.

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Discography

  • I Have a Pony, Warner Bros. Records CD (1985)
  • A Steven Wright Special, HBO DVD (1985)
  • The Appointments of Dennis Jennings, DVD (1989)
  • One Soldier, DVD (1999)
  • When the Leaves Blow Away, DVD (2006)
  • I Still Have a Pony, Comedy Central Records CD (2007)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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