Comedy is its own world. From the outside there is a frenetic 24/7 stan culture of ingesting stand-up comedy, where countless hours are spent watching a few minutes of hundreds of comics. Not to mention the sometimes extremely lucrative industry of stand-up-adjacent industry gigs like podcasts, creating content and becoming an online edge lord.
But inside stand-up comedy, it’s a totally different vibe. There are certain ways of doing things, unspoken traditions and a rich culture that is built on the love of comedy, laughter and performing. And every comic has their origin story, but for headliner Brad Williams, who will be performing at the Santa Cruz Civic on May 18, his path to the stage was a singular adventure.
“It’s pretty nuts, man,” says Williams from the backstage of a show in Austin, Texas. “When people say, how did you get into, or how do I break into, stand-up comedy? I go. Well, I don’t know. I can’t tell you to use my path, because that’s never happening ever again.”
The story is legendary in, and outside, the comedy world. Williams was just a regular Joe audience member at a show where Carlos Mencia was headlining. When Mencia told a joke about dwarves, the crowd around Williams, who was born with achondroplasia (a type of dwarfism), went silent. Mencia noticed and invited Williams onstage. “I was working at Disneyland, and I joked that ‘I was not one of the seven.’ And I got laughs,” Williams recalls. He was a natural, and Mencia, ridiculously quickly, invited the human dynamo onto the world stage.
Williams is clear that he is not a political comic. “My father told me that ‘Truly intelligent people know what they don’t know.’ And when it comes to politics. I don’t know what’s happening. I have opinions, sure, but I don’t know. I’m not a college graduate. So you shouldn’t be taking my political advice. I’m just trying to tell my story. I’ll try to cover my point of view and if you like it, great. And you don’t like a joke, just wait 30 seconds and I got another one coming.”
Personally, Williams appreciates all kinds of comedy, no matter the context, and makes sure his opening acts reflect his appreciation of diversity. “Jamie Ball is one of my opening acts. He’s out of Florida and we worked together in Knoxville [Tennessee]. We spent the weekend with each other. Really funny, really smart comedy and just a great guy to hang out with. So we’re like, ‘Oh, OK, let’s just keep doing this.’ But he and I are so different in terms of our styles of comedy. Some comedians have an opener that’s exactly like them, with the same brand. It’s like you hear two hours of the same style of jokes. No. I want you to have a whole show. I want you to go through the whole thing. So whether it be TJ—or another great comic named Quincy Weekley, who’s gonna be hosting that night—you’re going to see three different comics, three different points of view, and three really good comedians, but they’re all talking about different things.”
Williams carefully crafts jokes; like a master carpenter, he takes his time. “You slowly build. Whenever I have a new bit that I want to try out, I’ll try it up front, knowing I have an hour and half of material that works. Then maybe slide something into the middle. You just keep working it, you just keep massaging it. You can’t just wake up and be like, ‘I’d like to have an hour now.’ You have to slowly build it brick by brick. You know, three to five minutes at a time. Every now and then you’ll strike gold on a bit. It’ll be like, wow, that’s like 10 minutes and it’ll just roll right off your head. But for the most part, it’s slow going,” Williams says.
That’s the wonderful equalizer about stand-up comedy. There is no one shortcut and there’s no piece of advice that’ll make you a good comedian. You just have to do it. It’s trial and error.
“You throw it out there to a live audience. Friends and other comics will lie to you, but an audience laughing? That’s the only real test,” Williams laughs.
Brad Williams performs at 7pm on May 18 at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, 307 Church St, Santa Cruz. Doors open at 6pm. Tickets: $20-$68. santacruztickets.com
