Seinfeld writer brings ‘Wonder’ show to Memphis

From the back of a Country Squire station wagon to the “Tonight” show couch to the stage of the Halloran Centre at the Orpheum.

That, in an absurdly reductive nutshell, is the journey to date of Pat Hazell, a longtime standup comic and “Seinfeld” writer who this weekend brings his one-man show, “The Wonder Bread Years,” to Memphis.

Now in its 25th year, the show enables Hazell, 55, to function as what he calls “a Sherpa guide” who leads audiences on a comedic trek into a weird yet comforting American past of sugary breakfast cereals with choking-hazard prizes, little green Army men, “Mystery Date” board games and three count ’em three television stations (plus PBS, and — in some lucky cities — UHF).

In those days before 24-hour TV, a kid’s life was not measured by T.S. Eliot’s coffee spoons but by the circadian rhythm of the television’s sign-off and sign-on rituals.

“Everybody’s night ended with the flag on the pole and the national anthem on TV, and when you woke up, if you got up early enough, the day began with the Indian TV test pattern,” Hazell said.

A product of the Midwest who now lives in Austin, Texas, Hazell developed a magic-plus-comedy act as a kid and dreamed of being introduced by fellow Nebraskan Johnny Carson on the “Tonight” show.

Pursuing comedy as a career, as both a writer and a standup, he achieved his Carson goal and later joined Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David as one of the original scribes on the innovative sitcom, “Seinfeld,” which debuted in 1989. He also was the opening-act comedian for Seinfeld’s standup tours.

“I did all the generic jokes about airline travel and single living and all of that, but what I found was I hit a nerve when I started talking about specific things from the past — sack lunches and walking to school and Mr. Potato Head and things that served as a common denominator,” Hazell said.

The popularity of these jokes led to the development of “The Wonder Bread Years,” which Hazell calls his “flagship brand.”

A “hybrid of standup comedy and theater and storytelling” that Hazell says is as much a “generational” portrait as a personal memoir, the act “hits the sweet spot in terms of nostalgia” for baby boomers; but in the past 25 years, its emphases have evolved along with the concerns of its creator, so that the show is “relatable” for all members of a family, from kids to elders, according to Hazell.

Also, although Hazell’s growing-up experience is that of reasonably comfortable white Midwesterner, he said he’s found that stories about such “shared” happenings as Saturday cartoon viewing, summer-vacation road trips and sitting at the kids’ table at holiday gatherings have a universal appeal. Nevertheless, the show keeps adapting, and Hazell keeps researching material.

“When I ask questions of the audience, they’re not rhetorical,” he said. “I really want to know what they took to show-and-tell that made a big impact. I really want to know if they moved their PT boat to cheat when they played ‘Battleship.’”

‘The Wonder Bread Years’ with Pat Hazell 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday, the Halloran Centre at the Orpheum, 225 S. Main. Tickets: $45. Call 901-525-3000 or visit orpheum-memphis.com.