Staff Report
Steven Wright, the award-winning comedian whose wit and deadpan delivery inspired a generation of comics, will bring his unique stand-up act to the Chumash Casino Resort’s Samala Showroom at 8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 2. Tickets for the show are $25, $35 & $45.
Wright’s lethargic style and extensive collection of one-liners filled with ironies, philosophical musings and non-sequiturs made him starkly different from the crop of comedians on the stand-up circuit in the 1980s. He debuted “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” in 1982, and his unique performance propelled him to stardom.
He developed a cult following with his laid-back approach to humor and achieved success with a host of projects. His album “I Have a Pony” earned critical acclaim and a Grammy Award nomination for Best Comedy Album in 1985. In 2007, his “I Still Have a Pony” earned another Grammy nomination. Wright won an Academy Award in 1989 for Best Short Live-Action Film for his “The Appointments of Dennis Jennings,” which he co-wrote and starred in.
Last year, he ranked No. 15 on Rolling Stone Magazine’s “50 Best Stand-Up Comedians of All Time” list. The magazine noted, “His best jokes often offer the contemplative qualities of a good zen koan (‘What do batteries run on?’), and Wright remains one of his generation’s great minimalist joke writers.”
In 2014, The New York Times said of Wright, “If you made a family tree of modern stand-up, he would top one of the few major and expanding branches,” adding that you can hear Wright’s “dry deadpan in comics as diverse as Todd Barry, Tig Notaro, Flight of the Conchords and Zach Galifianakis.”
Don’t miss an opportunity to see this one-of-a-kind performer when he takes the stage in one of the most popular entertainment venues in Santa Barbara County.
Located on Highway 246 in Santa Ynez, California, the Chumash Casino Resort is an age 21-and-older venue. Tickets for all events are available at the Chumash Casino Resort’s Club Indulge or online at www.chumashcasino.com.
