Comedian Harland Williams: My act is my career
The TV Guy
Canadian-American comedian Harland Williams says he doesn’t discuss his career in his stand-up act.
“If you’re watching my act, you’re watching my career,” said Williams, who performs Friday and Saturday at the Orlando Improv. “If you’re laughing, my career is going good. If you’re not laughing, my career is in trouble.”
Williams, 56, is an actor, writer and producer. He created the animated “Puppy Dog Pals” series on Disney Channel and Disney Junior, and he does a lot of voice work in animation. But stand-up, he says, is the center of everything, and he’s honored to have opened the Orlando Improv in its current locale nine years ago.
In his act these days, he’s talking about the upcoming election, white privilege, texting and driving, and dinosaurs. “My act’s kind of all over the map. I like to keep people off guard,” he said. “I talk about vegetarians in one breath, then swimming underwater with a duck-billed platypus.”
Politicians provide more material. “I don’t get into policy. I get into who they are,” he said. “I find politicians very cartoony.”
A sample: “Bernie Sanders has his arms out. He’s bouncing his wrists up and down. His arms look like two flamingos feeding. If he keeps talking long enough, he’s going to turn pink.”
Williams’ approach: “If I do politics, I’ll hit every party. I try not to lecture to people and tell them what they think.”
His latest bit about President Donald Trump focuses on the wall at the Mexican border. “It’s costing everyone reading this $4 billion,” he said. “My proposal, for a fraction of the cost, is, every 150 feet, we stand a mime there. Mimes are always looking for work. People coming through the desert, they’ll think Trump put up an invisible force shield and they’ll run for their lives.”
Williams, who gained his U.S. citizenship a decade ago, grew up in Canada and says his formative years there influenced his act. Being Canadian, he says, means having a quirky, different sense of humor.
He speaks with special pride about “Puppy Dog Pals,” which is in its third season. “I created it, I do a voice on it, I write on it, it’s just been amazing,” he said. “It’s like in 130 countries.”
Williams appreciates that animation lets an artist tap into the imagination and create worlds. “I love it you’re producing a product