Hey! It’s that guy I want to hug!
Wherever he goes, Harland Williams’ fans show him love
At the top of the escalator, a guy in his early twenties spots Harland Williams, and his mouth drops open. He is dumbfounded but gains enough composure to say to Williams, “Oh my God.” And then, “Can I hug you, man?”
Williams obliges, embracing the starstruck kid in an enthusiastic bear hug. A few feet later, at the entrance to the Toronto Eaton Centre institution that is Mr. Green Jeans, where we’ve come for their absurdly large chocolate milkshakes, a similar scenario plays out as the teenage hostess can’t believe Williams is standing in front of her. “ Oh my God! How are you?” she asks.
“How are you?” he asks back.
Perhaps you didn’t know the Toronto-born comedian was this well-known, but Williams says this kind of thing happens everywhere he goes. Whether in Los Angeles, where he’s lived for the past 16 years, or doing stand-up around the world, people often want a hug. He’s the approachable famous guy.
“It’s nice,” he says. “I guess I’ve been doing stuff people like, and it’s a good feeling that I’m able to get that reaction. It’s better than ‘ Excuse me, can I punch you in the face?’ ”
Williams has returned to his hometown to launch a five-city solo tour, in which he will play 1,000-seat theatres, and it’s his first solo stand-up gig in Toronto since he left for L.A.
“It’s really ridiculous I haven’t been back here to do the clubs, because this where I started,” he says.
It’s likely the adoring fans at the Eaton Centre got to know Williams through his films. He gained notoriety in movies that made good use of his goofy charm, such as the urine-drinking state trooper in Dumb & Dumber and a demented hitchhiker in There’s Something About Mary.
Of course, they may have also become hooked on Williams’ brand of humour, watching him on Letterman, Leno and Conan, all of whom adore him. But Williams has his hands in so many things, and it’s probably best to let him explain the rest.
Here is Williams on his musical collaboration with his cousin Kevin Hearn from The Barenaked Ladies: “ Yesterday we went to the rehearsal space and spent the day singing together. It started innocently when we were kids. One day he asked me to sing, and I sang this really goofy song and we’ve been singing together ever since. We also do serious songs. We have really good chemistry together.”
Williams on his upcoming film Surf School: “It’s going to be fun. I play a washed-out surf pro. Picture Spicoli at age 38.”
Williams on his DreamWorks animation deal: “The working title is Route 66, and it’s a journey with a bunch of eclectic characters across America. I think if we get it done in the way I envision it, it’s going to leave a lasting impression on the world. Not in an E=MC2 way, but in a way that people will have a little something they put in their heart.”
This project is the closest to his heart, as he studied animation at Sheridan College and the story is his idea. He is also writing and directing it.
But regardless of his Renaissanceschedule, Williams never strays far from stand-up.
“Even if something else takes off, I know I can always do standup on the weekends or roll down to one of the local clubs in Hollywood and work on new stuff,” he says. “ When I started, I always said I’d love to get at a place where I can be one of those comics who can walk into any club in North America, or maybe the world, and the club owners ask me if I want to go on.”
And to think he owes much of this to his five years as a forest ranger in Northern Ontario.
“I was just sitting on a rock, starring out at the reflections on the lake and a loon attacked me or something,” he jokes. “ When you’re out in nature that long, somewhere remote and solitary, it’s a great place to reflect, and I don’t know if I didn’t do that if I would have gone down the path I went.”
Williams’ Tasty Treats Comedy Tour starts tonight in Belleville, Ont., then heads to Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax. For more information go to www.hahaha.
National Post
sgrice@ nationalpost. com