When you get the chance to interview a comedian of the calibre of Harland Williams, you jump at it, like I did a few weeks ago. Williams, the star of such flicks as Rocket Man, Half-Baked and Sorority Boys was back in Toronto in filming two new projects: writing and starring in the comedy DVD Child Wild and co-starring and directing the buddy flick Wing Man. On the subject of the former, Williams was shooting two stand-up shows back-to-back on April 20th for Child Wild at the Diesel Playhouse and spent the Friday before doing all sorts of media interviews, including Lucid Forge. For your convenience (and because of the breifness) here’s a transcript of our talk.
Lucid Forge: Harland, thanks for talking with me. How are you doing?
Harland Williams: I am very good, good to be alive again.
LF: So, tell me about this Child Wild DVD you’re making?
HW: “We’re taping the stand-up comedy portion of it in two shows. It’s mean doin’ my thing, bustin’ out on stage, doing my stand-up, rippin’ with the crowd, falling, singing, jumping, flippin’ flap jacks, you name it. It’s a wild comedy ride.”
 |
LF: What’s the other portion of it going to be? HW:Half of it will be stand-up and the other half will be a bunch of skits we shot. Kind of like short, little movies; Kids in the Hall, Monty Python like skits. LF: Is there any kind of theme to the sketches? HW: It’s got a little bit of a theme. The skit portion is called ‘Enter at Your Own Risk,’ and its me hosting playing a Rod Serling type of guy who’ll walk down a hallway and go through different doors and that’s the segue into the next skit. So it’s like entering into this weird Twilight Zone of comedy. LF: Are you a big fan of the Twilight Zone? HW: I love it. I still have all the VHSes and at night I rip the tape out and wrap it around and lay in bead like the Twilight Zone mummy. Is that wrong? LF: [Laughs.] I don’t think so. Is this a show of all new material? HW: It’s mostly new material; there might be a few old favourites. I love throwing the material out and getting in there with the people and see what happens. It’s a little more dangerous, it’s a little more unpredictable, but that’s the way Daddy rolls. |
LF: What do you do when you’re working on mew material? Where do you go?
HW: A lot of time when I work on material I just start it on stage and I won’t have anything in my head and I’ll just look down and say something like, ‘Have you ever been hit by a car buddy?’ and just go from there.
LF: Is there a difference between when you perform stand-up for film and when you do stand-up for its own sake?
HW: I kind of just try to keep it as real as I can. The only difference is that you’re may be a little self-conscious because you’re being filmed, but once you get going on stage all that goes away because you get on an energy high. So there’s not that much difference until after the fact when you can get to go back and look at how good or how bad you did.
LF: Are you aware on stage when things aren’t going well?
HW: I am but I’m kind of a guy that’s almost learned to embrace when its not going so well. I look at it like a challenge, like you’re swimming and you’re starting to sink, you’ve got to claw your way to the top and breathe the air. I like that fighting for my life feeling.”
| LF: How do create that feeling when you’re on a movie set? HW: I always improve in my movies, I always try to throw some lines in their and make the material my own and I think I’ve been pretty successful so far. LF: Is there any irony for you in being one of the stars of Half-Baked and doing your highly publicized show on 4/20? HW: You know some one brought that to my attention, and I’m actually not the guy that does the pot-smoking scene, so I wasn’t even aware of it. But if any of my fans from Half-Baked are tuning into this, it’s probably karma. LF: You’re also making you’re directorial debut with Wing Man, what are looking at going into that project? HW: I’m just super excited and I’m going to try and make the best movie I can and I’m really looking forward to the challenge taking on a new level of my career and it’s going to be artistic and creative and fun. |
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form