Comedy in the ’80s was loud, crass, and manic—but not Steven Wright’s. His creaking delivery, uncomfortable gaps of silence, and neurotic peculiarities make 1985’s I Have a Pony a captivating oddity. Part stand-up, part psychedelic philosopher, the Bostonian uses the one-liner to crack open reality and expose the endless absurdities hidden inside. Some are short (“A lot of people are afraid of heights; not me—I’m afraid of widths”), and others are even shorter (“I lost a buttonhole”). He's a true original.
