Comic Steven Wright performed at Durham’s Carolina Theatre last week as part of his When the Leaves Blow Away tour. I’ve been a fan for a long time and saw him perform in Chapel Hill about 20 years ago. His style is still the same, and about half the content was familiar.
This show was about two hours of constant humor, with one short, witty observation after another. A few longer sequences and mini-songs were the only relief for the smile stuck on my face. A couple samples: “the Earth is bipolar” and “what has Jesus ever done for Santa Claus’s birthday?”
After the show I could barely remember any of the jokes, but I know many are still in my brain because they surface into my consciousness when jogged. For instance, yesterday someone was talking about ballet, and I remembered Wright’s observation that the ballet should just get taller ballerinas so they wouldn’t have to dance on their toes.
My only complaint with the performance was that his borderline-mumbling, deadpan delivery sometimes crossed the line and was unintelligible from where I was sitting. If only those other people would stop laughing!
I agree, I think I missed some good jokes because of his mumbling. Do you remember why his car was going fast when he got pulled over? His foot was pressing hard on the gas pedal, which lets a lot of gas into the carburator…
I think it went something like: I got pulled over for speeding, and the cop asked me why I was going so fast. I said, “Because I my foot was holding the gas pedal to the floor. That sends gas to the engine. The whole car just takes off.”