This week, Ira Sternberg spoke with Steven Wright.
Academy Award®-winner and Grammy® Award nominee Steven Wright will be performing at The Orleans Showroom January 3-4 at 8 p.m.
After launching his comedy career at the age of 23 as a regular performer at Ding Ho’s Comedy Club and Chinese Restaurant in Cambridge, Mass., Wright got his big break and was booked on “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.” Following his performance, Wright was invited to return to “The Tonight Show” the following week for a rare back-to-back appearance.
He later appeared on “Saturday Night Live” and “Late Night with David Letterman” and starred in two HBO specials -- “A Steven Wright Special” and “Wicker Chairs and Gravity.”
In 1985, Wright received a Grammy® nomination for his debut album, “I Have a Pony.” Twenty-two years later, he won a second Grammy® nomination for its sequel, “I Still Have a Pony.” Following his second nomination, he was the first inductee into the Boston Comedy Hall of Fame.
In 1989, Wright received an Academy Award® for Best Short Film for his satiric film, “The Appointments of Dennis Jennings,” which he co-starred in and wrote. He also appeared in several other small and big screen films, including “So I Married an Axe Murder,” “Desperately Seeking Susan,” “Half-Baked,” “The Swan Princess.”
In 2011, Wright voiced the character Danny on an episode of the animated series, “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” and guest starred on the hit series “Louie.”