Show-business compliments tend to flow into channels carved by age and prominence, as older, more decorated performers continually receive tribute from younger, less famous ones.
But Steven Wright, the 58-year-old Massachusetts stand-up known for his absurd one-liners and sleepy stage presence, has never had a problem swimming upstream.
His love of an artist 12 years his junior not only makes sense on a professional level, it was practically inevitable given their shared heritage.
“I’m overwhelmed by his mind,” Wright said of comic Louis C.K., who has cited Wright as an influence on his work. “He’s a genius. There’s no one else in show business who writes it, directs it, acts it and edits it all himself.”
Wright is referring to C.K.’s Emmy-winning TV series “Louie,” on which Wright was most recently a consulting producer. His objectivity may have been dealt a fatal blow by the steady paychecks, but it’s difficult to question the level of detail he has seen in the production process.
“We talk through the stories, he bounces ideas off me and then I go to the shoots,” said Wright, whose latest tour begins at Boulder’s Chautauqua Auditorium and goes to Colorado Springs
.
“And of course he’s hilarious in real life, and we have fun,” Wright said. “We’re both from Massachusetts, and we both started in comedy clubs in Boston, so we have that connection.”
C.K. is at the top of his game at the moment, but his mainstream profile represents a conflation of Wright’s own career, which skyrocketed in the 1980s only to attain a comfortable mid-altitude orbit in the decades since.
Wright got his break on Johnny Carson’s “The Tonight Show” in 1982, which quickly led to more late-night appearances, an album and HBO special, and the start of a decades-long critical renown that marvels at Wright’s economy and uniquely deadpan tone.
Samples: “My theory of evolution is that Darwin was adopted,” and “It’s a small world, but I wouldn’t want to paint it.”
Without Wright’s low-pitched voice, they’re gum-wrapper quips. In his measured voice, they unfold like twisted fortune-cookie wisdom freed by a slow-motion sledgehammer.
That’s led to some wildly random high points for Wright. He won an Academy Award for his 1989 short film “The Appointments of Dennis Jennings.” He has held recurring roles on sitcoms and animated fare, and lent his distinctive voice to Quentin Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs” as a ’70s radio DJ.
He also, perhaps unsurprisingly, delivered one of the more memorable turns in Dave Chappelle’s cult-stoner film “Half Baked” in 1994.
But the offspring of his comedic legacy, including C.K., Tig Notaro, Demetri Martin, Mitch Hedberg, Todd Barry, Ron Funches, Jim Hamilton and others, are all accidental, Wright insisted.
“It’s amazing to me because usually you’re in your own little world, you’re doing your art in your own head, and you’re not trying to influence people at all,” Wright said. “You’re just trying to make the audience laugh.
“So years later when you hear some comedian say, ‘Oh, I watched you in my living room when I was 15 years old and you influenced me,’ it’s pretty weird.”
Wright was a student of the famously ornery stand-up George Carlin, as well as Woody Allen, another East Coaster.
Wright’s career has seen a series of minds gravitating toward his — as opposed to Wright desperately reaching out for their understanding. And despite his hard work, his persona implies a perpetually laidback mind that dribbles wisdom from time to time, but is mostly happy to sit back and watch the world mutate amusingly.
“It’s all over the map,” Wright said of his acting roles over the past couple decades. “Once I did a voice for the animated film ‘The Swan Princess’ and in the same year I was in Oliver Stone’s ‘Natural Born Killers.’ And some people say, ‘Well, why do you do such little roles in all those movies?’ And I always say, ‘Because they don’t give me big ones!’ “
John Wenzel: 303-954-1642, jwenzel@denverpost.com or twitter.com/johnwenzel
“AN EVENING WITH STEVEN WRIGHT.” Stand-up comedy. 8 p.m. Sept. 13 at Chautauqua Auditorium, 900 Baseline Road in Boulder. $32.50-$50.00. tickets.chautauqua.com; also 7 p.m. Sept. 14 at the Pikes Peak Center, 190 S. Cascade Ave. in Colorado Springs. $27-$33, ticketswest.com.
