Legendary Comedian Steven Wright Brings Deadpan Style to Celebrity Showroom at John Ascuaga’s Nugget

Sparks/Reno, Nev. – He is deadpan – and has been for more than 25 years. With a style that’s both captivatingly intriguing and, well, strange, comedian Steven Wright is one of the few must-see stand-up comedians on the planet. And here’s your chance. See Wright one night only, November 7, in the Celebrity Showroom at John Ascuaga’s Nugget.
An Academy Award Winner, Wright is a prototype comedian that many others continually try to follow. One of four children, Wright was raised in Burlington, MA. Upon graduating from Emerson College and holding a bevy of odd jobs, Wright attended an "open mike" audition and became a regular performer at Ding Ho's Comedy Club and Chinese Restaurant in Cambridge, MA.
It was during this time, in August of 1982, that Wright got his big break and was booked for his first "Tonight Show" appearance. The king of late night enjoyed the performance so much he invited Wright to appear again within a week, a rarity on "The Tonight Show." His back-to-back appearances helped put his fledgling career into high gear. The comic soon found himself performing his off-beat routines on "Saturday Night Live," "Late Night with David Letterman," and numerous trips back to "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson."
Wright expanded his comedy career to include comedy albums, film and television appearances. His 1986 debut album, I Have A Pony, earned him a Grammy nomination. He also starred in his first HBO Special "A Steven Wright Special." In 1989, he was honored with an Academy Award for Best Short Film for his film entitled "The Appointments of Dennis Jennings" in which he starred and co-wrote. Other stars of the film included "Roseanne's" Laurie Metcalf and British comedian, Rowan Atkinson. In 1990, Wright starred in his second stand-up special for HBO called "Wicker Chairs and Gravity." The special included stand-up from The Winter Garden Theatre in Toronto and a short film shot on location in New York and New Jersey.
Wright has been seen in numerous films including "Desperately Seeking Susan," Mike Meyers' "So I Married An Axe Murderer", Oliver Stone's "Natural Born Killers," and Nora Ephron's "Mixed Nuts". He was the voice of the DJ, K-Billy in "Reservoir Dogs" and starred with John Cleese and Jack Palance in New Line's animated film, "The Swan Princess" as the voice of Speed, the turtle. Wright also appeared as a sitcom actor in MGM's "Speechless" with Harry Shearer, and as a Mountie in the MGM release "Canadian Bacon," opposite the late John Candy.
In 1999, Steven played a guest starring role in Albert Brooks' film "The Muse" starring Brooks, Sharon Stone, Andie MacDowell, and Jeff Bridges. In '98 he played a supporting role in the Universal release "Half-Baked" and was a featured voice in "Babe 2: Pig in the City."
Steven wrote, directed and starred in the 1999 short film, "One Soldier," the story of a man obsessed with the unanswerable questions in life. The film was screened at numerous film festivals and can be seen on the Independent Film Channel.
Steven recently shot a small role for the sequel to "The Mask" entitled "The Son of the Mask" and appeared in the Jim Jarmusch film "Coffee and Cigarettes."
Wright has been a regular guest on "The Late Show with David Letterman," "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," and "Late Night with Conan O'Brien.”Steven Wright plays one night, November 7, in the Celebrity Showroom at John Ascuaga's Nugget. Show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are just $40 and are available by calling (800) 648-1177 or (775) 356-3300 or by visiting www.janugget.com. Dinner and show packages are available. “Do the Nugget Tonight!”