The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
‘The Beautiful Beast’ happy to be on the road
‘The Beautiful Beast’ happy to be on the road if it means being out of the house
The last time comedian Tacarra “The Beautiful Beast” Williams was in Cleveland she partied the night away with her fans.
“I loved Cleveland,” said Williams, calling from Arlington, Virginia. “Everyone was just so sweet. I had a fantastic time. People were driving from an hour away just to see me.
“I had a group that drove in a van. They made a girls’ trip and got a hotel room. They insisted I hang out after the show. I had a blast.”
A Bronx native who now calls Los Angeles home, Williams returns to Northeast Ohio for shows through Jan. 23 at Hilarities 4th Street Theatre in Cleveland.
“In the beginning, I was concerned about touring during the pandemic, but now I’m comfortable with knowing the comedy clubs are taking the necessary precautions to make sure that myself as well as the audience members and staff are safe,” Williams said.
“More so than anything, my kids are not going to be there. That’s the real reason I’m like, ‘Sign me up. I need to get out of this house with these kids.’”
Topic-wise, while she may dabble a little bit in pandemic-related material (“We’re stuck in the house home-schooling kids we don’t even like”), the majority of her set is based on regular life.
There’s a reason why she’s been described as “fearless” and “unapologetically honest.” In fact, it was a failed audition for a serious
acting role roughly a decade ago that led to Williams taking stand-up comedy seriously.
“I had gotten out of a really bad breakup,” Williams said. “You know how women are always like, ‘I have to go find myself.’ So I decided to be an actress. At one audition, where I didn’t get the part, we were laughing. They said I should try stand-up.
“That night, the producers of the movie I didn’t get got me booked at a comedy
club in Manhattan. I was supposed to do three minutes. I ended up doing eight, and I never stopped.”
Having opened for the likes of Tony Rock, Deray Davis and Bill Bellamy, Williams was featured on NBC’s “Bring the Funny.” She’s also the only female in the history of the Shaq Comedy All Star Competition to make it to the finals.
While today Williams is pursuing comedy full-time (as much as she can during
a pandemic), back in the day she worked as a school teacher, plus-sized model and motivational speaker.
It’s the latter in the form of a life-skills coach that helped her not only sharpen her material but also prepared her to work in a maledominated industry.
“I used to work in the correctional facilities across Southern California as a life-skills coach teaching substance abuse, alcohol abuse, domestic violence parenting and anger management,” Williams said. “That was a very different type of job, because you’re a woman teaching in a men’s jail, but I loved it.
“I used to try all of my new bits out in jail. They were my test subjects. The funny part was when they wanted to help me amp up the jokes. They’d suggest, ‘Why don’t you say you used to rob them in the joke?’ I’m like, ‘That has nothing to do with the joke. Nobody robbing nobody.’”
Speaking of being robbed, due to the pandemic, Williams knows she won’t be able to party with Northeast Ohio fans after her Hilarities gigs.
“I’m just excited to be on stage,” Williams said. “I’m excited for all of those who are excited to see me. It’s just a great time to get out of the house, laugh a little bit. Times are different now.
“We just want to stop for a minute, take a deep breath and have a good time. That’s what I’m there for.”