I met Steven and George at Middlesex Community college in 1975. In 6 years time, after going to Emerson, Steven turned up on the Johnny Carson show. I hadn't seen him in that length of time. When I did I was as surprised by his stage persona, as I was his success. I remember Steve at lunch time at Middlesex. My friend Gary and I would be deep in study, and Steve would be running down one comedy routine after another, one being "Casa Blanca" where he imitated all of the parts of the last scene,with Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Raines, imitating even the fog, and the Airplane. I remember my friend Gary emerging from behind a text book peering at Steve as though he were studying one of his patients, and then submerging behind the book again...this was in the middle of Steve's Casa Blanca, Steve started imitating him..As Sigmund Freud. Gary looks a bit like him, and also has that intimidating expressionless face, which was a challenge to Steve to crack. And, he often succeeded.
He also ran through several other impersonations: Clint Eastwood was a favorite. But on stage Steve was not Steve as I knew him; he was George.
To understand George, imagine a benevolent harmless Frankenstein Monster: tall, barrel chested, with an affect and sense of humor so dry, it was menacing. I ran into George -who is an artist- in Beverly Mass, in the late nineties, I said: "Steve is doing you!" He said he knew that. He said he bumped into Steve at a NY Art exhibition, and accused Steve of doing him.
Steve said “I know”
George said: “You stole my soul”
Steve said “Yeah - I know”
George said: “Well, don't you think that's worth a few thou?”
Steve said: “No.”
I can imagine them both smiling at that point. But it's true, Steve is George onstage, and George is, well George. Imagine a dry laconic absolutely phlegmatic Frankenstein again. George would always wear those wooly sweaters beneath a blazer, huge work boots. We would often taunt him saying:
” George, stay!, George sit. You must do what the Master says.” George played along. He would stay and sit. About the only thing missing were the electrodes in his neck. He made himself a target, a foil for Steve.
My friend Gary and I decided to send Steven a tape imitating him, imitating George. We wrote our own jokes for it. Imagine the character in this video saying.
“I have window panes that say ouch!”
“I have real skeletons in my closet”
“I have a roommate who is counting to a billion, that's ok, except he has me stand in for him while he goes to sleep.”
"My friends, George, Susie and I would play Tarzan when we were kids, George brought ropes to swing on, Susie brought her pet monkey.....(long pause- with smirk - and mischievous glint in his eye..) "I brought the elephants"
The joke is that in Steve's weird world, he would bring the elephants.
More from the tape:
'George and Susie and me went on Easter egg hunt. I found a huge egg, I took it home. Last spring it hatched, now i have a pet Tyrannosaurus Rex." Yes, because in Steve's world, or Georges world anything is possible."
His jokes are like that, such as one his: " I have a friend who is a radio announcer, he loses his voice when he drives under bridges" Or the other famous one, we he goes home puts the key in the door of his house, and his house starts up. So he drives it around for awhile, and when the cops stop him and ask where he lives, he says 'right here'
- surreal humor.
The jokes we sent were spot on, and if he uses them we want royalties. After all we were interrupted in our studies. We helped create him.We did, and George. I'll bet our GPA's suffered a full half point drop because of Steven Wright. We were his audience. we were his focus group.
And so remains George as a perpetuat inspiration. I believe he'd be the roommate. You see - the Steve I knew is not like George. Imagine an early Jerry Lewis on amphetamines, that'd be the real Steve. And, behind the subtle smirk, he's in there somewhere. Except I don't know how he contains him. Maybe George does that, may George stole Steven's sole.
But I'll bet in private he's still the kid who would stop the car, rush to look under the front wheels, and then jump back in the car.
“Why do you keep doing that.?” We'd say
“Just checking the tires for little kids.”
Hidden behind the George facade is the guy who would disappear across a baseball field at an outdoor school party, and then walk back slowly. He'd then say “Did I look likeClint Eastwood just then?"
“Of course we'd say, couldn't you hear the Spaghetti Western music playing, I know I did.”
My wife ran into Steve at a medical facility while he was getting some routine blood work done. I guess he still remembers us. .I asked her if she sees him again to provide an address to send the royalty checks.
Ladies and gentlemen: Clint Eastwood ,or Ingrid Bergman, or should I say, George - from the video above.
