The Wright stuff > Deadpan comedian gets lively laughs

Success has changed life for Steven Wright. The deadpan comic, who will appear at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 1 at the Maine Center for the Arts, likes to keep traveling, and he once joked “I can move in a cab.” But it’s not that easy anymore.

“It’s gotten out of hand,” said Wright, who is in the midst of changing addresses in Los Angeles. “I’ve got some chairs now.”

America’s funniest monotone, now 36, has developed a following with his unique, twisted takes on everyday life. For example, “I went to a place to eat. It said, `BREAKFAST ANYTIME,’ so I ordered French toast during the Renaissance.”

Wright develops his material while doing normal things like going to movies, museums and concerts, visiting with friends and traveling.

“It’s just from experiencing life, from doing things and being with people,” he said in a telephone interview. “I’m just commenting on how insane life is. I can’t sit in a room and make stuff up.”

His nearly comatose expression and deliberate delivery came from Wright’s early days as a stand-up comic.

“It kind of happened by accident,” Wright said. “I’m basically an introvert, and I was scared of going on stage. I would come out with a blank face and talk slowly, which worked well with my material.”

Wright is now living out his teen-age dream. He remembers, at age 14, watching “The Tonight Show” and admiring comics like Johnny Carson, George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Robert Klein and David Brenner. He decided that was what he wanted to do.

He graduated from Emerson College, then took on a series of odd jobs. He finally decided to try stand-up at age 23, when he went on “Open Mike Night” at Boston’s Comedy Connection.

“I finally had to confront it,” he said. “I didn’t want to be selling insurance in Wyoming at age 40, wondering what would it have been like to do stand-up.”

Wright spent the next three years honing his craft at clubs in the Boston area. He got a break in 1982, when “Tonight Show” producer Peter LaSally caught Wright’s act at Ding Ho’s Comedy Club and Chinese Restaurant. He made his first appearance on “The Tonight Show” Aug. 6, 1982, and was invited to come back on a week later.

He was soon appearing at large comedy clubs across the country, and also on “Late Night with David Letterman” and “Saturday Night Live.” He was featured on HBO’s “On Location” and “Young Comedians’ Special.”

Perhaps the highlight of Wright’s career so far is “The Appointments of Dennis Jennings.” The film which he starred in and wrote won the Academy Award for Best Short Film in 1989. Originally made for HBO, the 30-minute film was also screened in a few cities for Oscar consideration before it aired on the premium cable network.

The whole experience was surreal, even by Wright’s standards.

“It’s like I had a dream, and then woke up, and all that’s left is the award,” he said. “It’s fun, surprising and shocking.”

Wright, who has also appeared in the movies “Desperately Seeking Susan” and “Stars & Bars,” wants to get more acting work. To that end, he moved to L.A. about a year ago, and is writing his own screenplay.

“Whatever I’m offered is ridiculous, and whatever I audition for, I never get,” he said.

Still Wright hasn’t cut back his touring schedule in favor of films. Stand-up is still his first love.

“A live show is just electric,” he said. “If it’s going well, everything is magnified. I like that intensity.”

Tickets for the Steven Wright concert are available by calling the Maine Center for the Arts box office at 581-1755.