Steven Wright Press

Comedian Steven Wright performs Saturday at the Sands Bethlehem Event Center in Bethlehem.

(Courtesy Photo)

Influential comedian. The guy on the couch.

Steven Wright views himself as neither. To the Massachusetts native, he is just a guy with a really good memory.

"That is my goal, a lot of remembering," Wright deadpans in his typical dry demeanor during a recent interview. "People see me as a comedian, but I'm really a professional rememberer."

Wright is scheduled to perform Saturday at the Sands Bethlehem Event Center in Bethlehem.

"I just come out and do 80 minutes of material that I will just try to start and get to the end," Wright says.

Life with 'Louie'

Though Wright is known for his monotone delivery on stage, his voice perks up when it comes to discussing his consulting producer role on FX's "Louie."

The series stars Louis C.K., who plays a fictionalized version of himself: a comedian and divorcee living in New York City, raising two daughters while dealing with the pitfalls of the business, dating and fatherhood. Louis C.K. is the show's creator, writer and director.

"I'm honored he asked me to be on his show. I think he's a genius," Wright says of Louis C.K. "And I don't just throw that word around."

Wright says Louis C.K. approached him "out of the blue" in May 2013 to contribute to the show. "He said, 'I want you to think about something' and I said, 'Can it be anything?"

The offer to help meant discussing storyline ideas, hanging out on the set during filming and offering a review of what Wright thought worked and what didn't.

"I knew it was a fantastic opportunity and everything and a couple of days later, I thought, 'Jesus Christ, any writer, any comedy guy in the business and he's asking me' and I was just blown away," Wright recalls. "It's like a big spaceship (landing) that says 'Louie' on the side and he's in the silhouette and he comes down and he's says, 'Let's go do this' and I go, 'Oh, alright.'"

"I've always been into it, right from the beginning," he says. "I still love to write and perform, but being around such an electric mind has caused me to be even more into what I do.

"That's the main thing. He's inspired me just being around him."

Dreaming of laughter

Wright's lightbulb moment, he says, was when he was 16 watching "The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson."

He remembers being intrigued and entranced by the comedians who performed on the show.

"I became obsessed with the ('The Tonight Show')," Wright remembers. "That was my dream. Like, someone wants to be a baseball player or an astronaut, my dream was to go on there."

Fate would make Wright's dream a reality: In 1982, an executive producer of "The Tonight Show" caught Wright's act at a Massachusetts comedy club and booked him for an appearance. Wright calls it the second of two life-changing moments credited to Carson.

"Surreal isn't even the exact word," Wright says of his first time in front of a studio audience.

Wright released his critically-acclaimed comedy album, "I Have a Pony" in 1985. The success of "I Have a Pony" led to Wright landing an HBO special, "A Steven Wright Special."

In 2006, Wright recorded "When the Leaves Blow Away," which originally aired on Comedy Central. A year later, he released his second comedy album, "I Still Have a Pony," a collection of material from "When the Leaves Blow Away." "I Still Have a Pony" received a Grammy Award nomination for best comedy album.

Wright stuff

Though it is closing in on a decade since releasing an album, Wright says he does not have any immediate plans of putting together a follow-up.

"Every joke is five seconds, including the laugh. For every one good enough to stay in the act, you have to write four or five of them and weed them out. There' so much thought involved," Wright explains.

Wright is enjoying being in front of audiences when he's not keeping his guitar and painting skills up to snuff.

"It's fun to create, it's fun to think," Wright says. "I couldn't stop it now even if there was a lull where I thought I couldn't do this anymore. My mind wouldn't stop."

In addition to his comedy, there is the fan sect who know Wright as the "Guy on the Couch" in Dave Chappelle's 1998 stoner comedy "Half-Baked." (Wright also provided the voice of the radio deejay in Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs.") Though "Half-Baked" was not a box office smash, the film heated up on home video.

Wright says he was unaware of the cult status the film had gained in the year since its release (and the two years since filming his scenes). That was until one afternoon at a gas station when Wright was filling up his car. The driver in the car ahead of Wright recognized him and caught him off-guard by reciting lines back to him.

"The movie came out and I saw it and thought it was hilarious. But it was only around in theaters for a little while," Wright says. "Apparently, without me knowing it, it became this giant cult thing."

Dustin Schoof may be reached at dschoof@express-times.com. Follow him on Twitter@dustin_schoof. Find Lehigh Valley Entertainment on Facebook.

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IF YOU GO

Comedian Steven Wright performs 8 p.m. Saturday at the Sands Bethlehem Event Center, 77 Sands Blvd., Bethlehem.

Tickets start at $33.