Comedy’s New Frontier

Comedy’s New Frontier

Comedy has always been an artistic medium which has pushed boundaries, but never more so than it does today. In December two of the worlds leading comics, American Brad Williams and Australian Jim Jefferies, are bringing their raunchy, no-holds-barred and brutally biting shows to Sydney thanks to Frontier Touring’s comedy arm.

Jim Jefferies began his comedy career at home in Australia before making the leap to the UK and eventually breaking out in the United States with his debut HBO comedy special, I Swear To God. Since then Jefferies has gone on to become one of the most highly regarded comics globally thanks to his hilariously biting political and social commentary, which subsequently earned him his own television show The Jim Jefferies Show.

It was on this show where Jefferies would meet, and become close friends, with fellow comedian Brad Williams.

For Williams comedy was a career he somewhat fell into accidentally whilst attending a Carlos Mencia stand-up show. During this show Mencia was making jokes about dwarves, which was awkward for the crowd as Williams was born with a type of dwarfism known as achondroplasia. Once Williams was noticed in the crowd he was invited on stage and was able to hit back with jokes of his own, impressing Mencia so much that he was invited to be Mencia’s opening act moving forward.

Looking back on those well received initial performances Williams told City Hub he was immediately “hooked” on the idea of being a comedian full-time, despite it not being his childhood dream job.

“My dream job was to be a sports announcer but when I found stand-up I dropped out of college.”

Whilst comedy may not have been his dream job it was something which Williams had unbeknownst to him he been honing and perfecting from a very early age.

“Humour was always my defence mechanism and how I got attention or made people comfortable with my dwarfism,” he explained, “I would make fun of other people worse than they ever made fun of me. One day at kindergarten a kid said to me ‘Ha ha, you’re little,’ and I responded ‘Ha ha, your mum doesn’t live with your dad anymore.’”

Obviously as a comic with dwarfism Williams has to broach that subject within his comedy but he also explained to City Hub that his show is much more than that.

“If I walked onstage and talked about the weather, people would stare at me thinking ‘Does he know?’” Williams said before adding, “Disability, relationships, race, sex, it’s all there. The fact I’m a dwarf is just one part.”

Even when Williams speaks about the difficulties he has faced along the way he remains incredibly upbeat and always funny. 

In terms of the biggest upside to his fame now it’s that he doesn’t get “called Peter Dinklage as much.” And in terms of the hardest part of his career, “whenever I check into a hotel and the shower head is pointed straight up.”

Whilst the upcoming tours of both Williams and Jefferies are seperate Williams wouldn’t rule out the pair ever touring together on the same show.

“[Jim] is a great friend, he’s even done cocaine off my back once so Guess that means we’re close. He’s also one of the most popular comedians in the world so of course I’d want to do a co-headline show with him!”

When asked what a potential co-headline show with the duo would entail Williams hit back with a hilarious jibe, “A dwarf and an Australian? That would be called The Shrimp On The Barbie Tour.”

Until then though these two phenomenal comics are worth taking the time to see in their rights because if nothing else, “you’ll have an amazing story to tell your friends the next day.”

Brad Williams

Dec 14. Factory Theatre, 105 Victoria Rd, Marrickville. $36.30+b.f.

Jim Jefferies: The Night Talker

Dec 15-16. ICC Sydney Theatre, 14 Darling Dr, Sydney. $79.90-$99.90+b.f.

Tickets & Info: www.frontiercomedy.com

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