LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KATV) — Brad Williams is headed back to Arkansas, and he’s already got a post-show plan in mind: Waffle House.
Williams, one of today’s most in-demand comedians, is bringing his stand-up to the Robinson Center this weekend. He’s been to Arkansas before and said he always has a good time in the state, especially because it gives him a chance to visit a restaurant he can’t get back home in Los Angeles.
“I’m obsessed with Waffle Houses,” Williams said. “I love them, and they are not in Los Angeles, where I live, which is one of the great travesties going on in our country.”
For Williams, the night doesn’t end when the curtain comes down.
“I love going there. A: to perform, but then B: to go to Waffle House afterward, because that’s where I get my show,” he said. “The people that buy a ticket get see my show, and then I go to Waffle House, that’s where I get to observe a show.”
Williams also talked about how he got his start in comedy, a moment he said is “ingrained” in his memory. He said he was in the crowd when a comedian on stage was making dwarf jokes, noticed the reaction around him, and called him up.
“And I just ‘yay’, raised my creepy little hand in the air, and I got caught up on stage, and he started asking me questions, and I answered the questions,” Williams said. “I answered them honestly, and wasn’t trying to be funny, but my honest answers got laughs, and that’s when I knew, like, oh, this. This feels amazing.”
He said one of the biggest laughs came when he mentioned his job at the time.
“I worked at Disneyland,” Williams said. “And then I said, ‘Shut up. I’m not one of the seven,’ and they see still gets a laugh.”
Williams said his comedy is rooted in making fun of himself and keeping the intent in the right place.
“I kind of make fun of everybody because I make fun of myself, but then everybody else,” he said. “So if you laugh at the jokes about me, you’re allowed to laugh at the jokes about you.”
He also said he wants audiences to feel like the night was worth every bit of the effort it took to get there.
“No, if you spend money on my ticket and pay for parking and babysitter and pay for gas, my God, I’m gonna give you an entertaining night,” Williams said. “I will have you walking away from that theater going, ‘I laughed, I cried. I thought, mostly laughed and it was money well spent.’”
One thing audiences shouldn’t expect, he said, is political material.
“One thing you will not expect is, and you won’t get is, is jokes about politics,” Williams said. “I do not. I am not smart enough.”
Williams also reflected on a fundraising effort tied to anti-bullying causes. He shared the story of a bullied child in Australia, Caden Bales, and said he tried to send him to Disneyland, but the family declined. The effort still grew into something much bigger.
“We raised half a million dollars for anti bullying charities in both Australia and the United States and and for First Nations people over there, and we really did a good thing,” Williams said.
As for his Arkansas visit, Williams kept it simple: come to the show, and if you’re still up afterward, you might spot him grabbing a late-night bite.
“Catch me at the show, and then afterward, catch them at the Waffle House,” he said.
A link to tickets is available here.