Brad Williams: From Daddy Issues to Fatherhood
October 13, 2021
Brad Williams
2021 Moontower, in its 10th year, came back strong with a roster of 4 full days of comedy, film, live podcast, and foosballing. We're featuring our favorite conversations from this year's festival this month. Enjoy!
It’s a Friday afternoon in the thick of the Moontower Comedy Festival, and on this evening Brad Williams will headline the Stateside Theatre. Despite this fact, paired with our knowledge that he was up late the night before doing his best Eddie Vedder at The Goddamned Comedy Jam, he has taken time out of his schedule to sit down with us and talk comedy, life, and everything in between.
If you’re looking for the often-expected tale of struggle, hardship, and emotional baggage that led someone to comedy, this ain’t your guy. Brad Williams describes his childhood as great and speaks of his parents with warmth and reverence, but this should come as no surprise. Williams alludes to such an upbringing in his 2016 release Daddy Issues, and a father that prepared him early on for adversity. He may be our first guest to ever describe their past, not future, as “optimistic.”
Growing up in Southern California, Williams was an active kid voted Most Likely to Become Famous in school. He loved comedy and watched a ton of stand up, but he never viewed it as something he could do stating, “I was always funny, but I never thought I could make a living being funny.” Williams adds, “It’s one of those jobs where you’re like, well no one actually does that.” But sometimes luck strikes when you least expect it and when Williams was picked out of a rather uncomfortable Carlos Mencia crowd to come on stage following a slew of “midget jokes,” Williams answered his questions honestly, but with such humor that the crowd laughed even harder. That feeling of those laughs hit Brad Williams and let him know stand up was for him. He told Mencia that night he was going to become a comedian, and with that a once-thought unattainable goal became a passionate pursuit. But it wasn’t just luck that would make this new dream possible, and he knew it. Williams hit the open mic stages hard and a year and a half later when Mencia returned he remembered him and asked if had continued the pursuit. Pursuit was an understatement. Williams was so dedicated that he once stopped in the middle of giving a statement to police at a traffic accident to run inside and do his open mic slot.
The dedication paid off because that night Mencia gave Brad Williams his big shot, five minutes opening the show, letting the audience decide if that hard work had truly paid off. You can guess the answer. But Williams never seems to forget for a second how grateful he is to have been given those chances. He still seems in awe of his chosen career and how fortunate he and his comedy colleagues are to do what they do. Talking about the Moontower Comedy Festival he says, “You come to this festival and you see so many talented men and women that we all kind of get to look around and be like, ‘Can you believe we’re actually doing this shit?’ Like we’re actually doing this and making money and supporting families with jokes.”
Now that his comedy tenure is old enough to vote, that’s right…he’s into his eighteenth year of comedy as of the post of this article, Williams remembers those mentors, like Carlos Mencia, who gave him his big break, and makes sure he pays it forward. That feeling of pay-it-forward and mentorship has also helped prepare Williams for the biggest mentor role of his life. In January of 2020, Williams and his wife welcomed a baby girl into the world. In the midst of paternity leave, the pandemic hit and in true optimist nature, Williams tried to look at the situation as a rare opportunity to spend unprecedented time with his newborn daughter. One big thing that fatherhood has revealed Williams states, “…you become more in tune with your emotions because when you have kids you truly care about something more than yourself.” Williams seems to fully embrace all the emotions being a new father brings to the table.
Before I wind this article down and let you get to the audio, I must tell you about something of a real-life fact check the universe delivered to us during this interview. Later in the recording you will a voice say, “I know him.” Many times, fans will stop to say hi during an interview, it’s especially common in the beautifully relaxed environment of Moontower. This was not the case. The voice you’re hearing was actually that of Jeff Hass. He and his father Jerry Haas coached Brad Williams (pictured below) along with Jeff’s brother, Evan, on the North Orange County YMCA Basketball Superstars in 1993. What are the odds? Hass also confirmed Williams’ statement that he had an amazing childhood and added he was a really good point guard. If you’re wondering we did make sure the two got in touch with one another following our interview.
I’m not sure the exact Brad Williams we would have met in Moontower’s past, but the one we met this year is a kind, thought-provoking, heartfelt, and hilarious guy you’d want to be friends with (warning: he will judge your pizza choices). A guy with a future that seems boundless.
Follow Brad
- Website — www.bradwilliamscomedy.com
- Twitter — @funnybrad
- Instagram — @bradwilliamscomic
- Facebook — Facebook.com/BradWilliamsComic
Brad can be seen and heard:
- Podcasts — About Last Night (100s of past episodes with Adam Ray)
- Comedy Albums/Specials — Coming Up Short (2011); Fun Size (2015); “Daddy Issues” (2016)
- Check his website for tour dates
A special thank you to Jeff and Jerry Hass for providing the story of Brad’s time on the YMCA basketball team Superstars and the photo from 1993.
Valerie Lopez
Lara Smith