Mon. Dec. 15

Normally, you’d be seeing Boston area comic Steven Wright at the Orpheum or Foxwoods – a big theater. But Monday Dec. 15 the surreal man of minimal words  - appears at Showcase Live at Patriot Place in Foxboro. He’s being honored as the first inductee in “The Boston Comedy Hall of Fame,” something so, new, well, we didn’t even know about it until Patriot Place let us now. And Steve Sweeney, who’s on the bill, says the Hall of Fame thing took him by surprise, too. But he likes the idea, primarily because its mission is to raise health care funds for comedians who can’t afford atastrophic illnesses. (Comics, like musicians, don’t have the best, or any, plans.) The idea for this came from Boston city councilor John Tobin, who also produces comedy. Tobin figured Boston, which bred the country’s best comics during the ‘80s boom, needed a place to honor them, and working comics needed to know there might be a safety net if the worst happens.
    “The ‘Hall of Fame’ is secondary,” says Sweeney. “The first thing is to start a fund for comedians. What’s happened in the past 15-20 years, there have causes comedians have done, and a lot of guys contribute their time,” He notes that Kevin Knox, while in treatment for cancer, was doing benefits for other causes.
    The show  8 brings back some of the guys who did so much during that first big wave of comedy: Wright, Sweeney, Lenny Clarke, Don Gavin, Kenny Rogerson, Tony V, Barry Crimmins, and others. “We were always friends first,” says Sweeney. “We all entertain each other; we’re lifelong friends. The first guy John wanted to honor was Steven and hand he picked out guys he wanted to do it with, the cream of the crop, Patriot Place is a beautiful room, and one thing they have going is parking.”
     Each of the comics has his own style, of course – Sweeney with his archetypal Boston characters, Clarke with his working-class bluster, Crimmins with his left-wing barbs. As to Wright, says Sweeney, “In terms of pure comedy, the word is overused, but he is unique. He makes these little visual pictures. There’s a reason why without any gimmicks he’s as successful as he is.” (Sweeney notes all of his peers made their bones before all of these “horrible gimmick comedy shows on TV.”) I’d put Steven up there with Rodney Dangerfield. His jokes fit the character, he has a presence on stage where, when he leaves. you miss you. When I watch Wright, I’m introduced to this world he brings you into - suspended reality, it’s a weird feeling watching him. I love going into his word. On stage, it’s something different than anyone else.  He’s got the spirit of a regular guy. … he’s just not like us. He told me once that he and Bob Dylan had met and Dylan was a fan. I can imagine them two talking. A word every five minutes. The odd couple but both are Felix. I could see Dylan digging his stuff.”
   “Gavin and I would hang, we’re verbal and we have that guy-buddy thing and Steven’s like that in a way, but with him it’s not long discourse. Having said all that, I’ll shit all over him Monday. He’s the fastest drinker ever. Very quiet, then suddenly he’ll grab a drink and put it back. He doesn’t shake hands, I feel like his act is a play, but elements of himself are up there.” Tickets $45-$35.

23 Patriot Place, Foxboro, 866-448-7849 www.showcaselive.com