Interview with Welsh comedian Steve Williams ©Alan Evans

1. The Steve Williams Interview by Alan Evans
Steve Williams is one of the best comedians in the U.K. at the moment. Steve hails from Newport and
takes a lot of his inspiration from observing people. He is having great success with the BBC series
Russell Howard’s Good News. I interviewed Steve by telephone during a break in his successful U.K.
tourI began by asking Steve how the tour was going.
Brilliant, its all up and running and exciting. Its coming to Wales and I’m coming home. I’m really
looking forward to it. Your down in Carmarthenshire aren’t you? I’ve worked with Rhod Gilbert quite a
bit he’s a great bloke, and Carmarthenshire’s finest home grown talent.
What got you into comedy?
If you live in Wales you know what gets you into comedy. Wales is such a funny place and you grow up
being funny. To come home and tell the stories about what you see is a real privilege. Observations of
people make you laugh. I make mental notes in my head. I was reading the paper the other day and it said
that policemen put a bouncy castle under a suicide jumper in Swansea.
Who is your favourite comedian?
It has to be people like Eddie izzard, Dylan Moran, Billie Connolly and Frank Skinner. They are all great
in their own right.
I was brought up in the politically incorrect days of Benny Hill and Bernard manning. Has comedy
moved on a long way from that or has it just placed a more polished façade over the taboo subjects such
as sex, race and religion?
I’m 34 and I was brought up on comics like Lenny Henry, Alexei Sayle. It has moved I don’t think that
comedians try to offend people these days. Those comedians are victims of paradigm shifts in attitudes.
That’s how things were then but comedians play by different rules now. Comedians have a code and I
would never do anything, which offends. We write our own stuff and its more interesting for the audience
and me.
Do you use any material about the Welsh or being Welsh in your routine?
Yes of course. Sometimes you can’t help it. The day Welsh people stop doing dopey things will be the
day I stop talking about them.
Are you looking forward to performing in West Wales?

2. I love it, its brilliant but you still have to pay on the bridge when you are going home.
Will you be sampling the delights of Welsh cooking whilst you are here and if so, what is your favourite
Welsh dish?
My favourite dish? Welsh rarebit but its just cheese on toast isn’t it.
Do you have a favourite place in Wales to visit?
I love Newport and Cardiff they’re great cities and Swansea has also gone up in my estimation. When
you go further west like Tenby and Narberth its pretty cool. The camping sites and coastline it’s so pretty
and it’s a lot Welsher than Newport.
Is there anyone in comedy you would like to work with as a double act?
I would like to work with Billie Connolly I’ll just sit on a stool behind him. You don’t want to tamper
with his genius. I would just pick up the gate receipts for his sell out tours. I write for a programme called
Russell Howard’s Good News and that satisfies my appetite for writing at the moment. It is a massively
successful show and I have been fortunate to be part of it
Could you tell us what the key to being a good comedian is?
I think observation and enjoying the behaviour of other people and recording it in your mind. Verbalising
it later that night and having the confidence to tell the story later that night. Comedians have a code I
wouldn’t say anything that’s deemed racist or offensive. You let the audience be the judge. If you say
think something t is funny you say it and you should be prepared to stand behind it you let the audience
be the judge. These are the things I saw and I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
Have you ever considered coming to perform at the Laugharne weekend?
I’d love to; I’m just waiting for my invite
What are your plans for 2011?
The tour for February, Russell Howard’s Good News series four and series five in the autumn so the year
is mapped out.
More information on http://www.stevewilliamscomedy.com/