Brad Williams is pretty fed up with how society is running, and he’ll tell you why when he hits up The Wilbur Theatre this weekend.
Sure, Williams is excited to make his way back to Tremont Street on Saturday (March 16), but not just because it’s fun to say “the Wilbah” with an exaggerated Boston accent tt he’s glad to be coming back to a comedy city that pulls no punches and expects nothing less in return from those on stage, which is something he has longed for during his travels across the country.
“Boston has historically been a great comedy town, and there’s always that blue collar work ethic, and I know I don’t have to worry about political correctness in Boston, that’s for damn sure,” Williams tells Vanyaland. “No one is clutching their pearls in Boston over a certain word you use or something you say. It’s a welcomed departure from the rest of the country where not only people offended by everything, but they’re trying to be offended. It’s almost as if people are developing a sense of pain envy, or drama envy.”
Since the last time he hit up the Theatre District, Williams has gotten married, which has added a whole new layer to his material. He’s bringing a lot of new stories about married life — and porn — with him, but he’s also going straight for the jugular on the things he just can’t stand anymore with a good chunk of stories revolving around personal responsibility, particularly when it comes to how people carry themselves in everyday life.
“I’m getting tired of people just striving to be victims, and not taking personal responsibility. There’s no real shame anymore,” says Williams. “You used to not do certain things because it would get people looking at you with that look of, like, ‘look at this asshole,’ but now it’s almost like people crave that attention because it’s at least some sort of attention, and they just feel the need to be famous.”
There’s no doubt Williams has faced challenges over the course of his career due to his dwarfism, but he sees it as an advantage, in a way, to keep people in check when it comes to the sort of “woe is me” mentality.
“Being a dwarf sort of helps me out, because when you actually have a disability, it gives you a bit more clout to call people out,” admits Williams. “For dwarves, blind people, amputees, and other people with disabilities, all we want is to be treated like normal people, and I’ve always heard the phrase ‘the grass is always greener,’ but I never would’ve thought that people would look at a guy in a wheelchair and think ‘man, he’s got it so good.’”
In addition to his feelings on the way society handles disabilities and their “pain envy,” Williams is also fed up with what he considers the customization of everything, and the inability for a lot of people to grasp the idea that their life customizations may not be beneficial to everyone around them.
“Everything is so customized now. You can have everything the way you want. TV channels, news, food, sometimes when you get an Uber ride, you can pick the lights that the car has,” says Williams. “It’s become so customizable that people people freak out whenever they aren’t able to customize what’s happening, and other people will call them out for negatively affecting other people, but they don’t notice it because they’re too busy playing Fortnite.”
There’s no doubt he’s got a lot to be pissed off about, but it’s not all doom and gloom and aggravation for Brad Williams. In addition to his About Last Night podcast with Adam Ray, the Los Angeles-based comedy vet is rearing to go with some projects in the works, including a recurring role on ABC’s revival of Tell The Truth with Anthony Anderson, and a spot on The Funny Dance Show on the E! Network, where he’ll be facing off against a fellow comic in a competitive dance contest.
He’s also consistently on the pursuit for his next comedy special, but he would like to drive the point home: You don’t have to wait for the special to see the material in all its glory. “Things are going pretty good right now [with projects], and we’re in constant negotiations for the next stand-up special, but you don’t have to wait for the special come out. Just come see it live at the ‘Wilbah.’”
BRAD WILLIAMS :: Saturday, March 16 at The Wilbur Theatre, 246 Tremont St. in Boston, MA :: 7 p.m., $27 :: Advance tickets :: Wilbur event page