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HARLAND WILLIAMS
By Rob Turbovsky
del.ico.us
reddit!
Harland Williams is the rare Late Night guest that nearly matches Conan O'Brien in weirdness inch-for-inch. He's also an actor (Sorority Girls), children's book writer/illustrator (The Kid with Too Many Pets) and a free-form stand-up comic of head-spinning inzanity. Oh, and an ex-forest ranger.
YOU USED TO BE A FOREST RANGER. THAT'S NOT REALLY A COMMON BREEDING GROUND FOR COMEDIANS.
It's not, but what it did give me is the room to be introspective. I was in some of the most remote areas of the Canadian wilderness and spent a lot of time alone, in the woods, staring into rivers, looking at sunsets and sitting up on cliffs. I actually wrote my first five-10 minutes of jokes in the middle of nowhere.
HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT'S FUNNY IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE?
I just went on instinct. I knew if I could find topics that were generally humorous, I could wrap my personality around them. Usually, the elk or the chipmunks will give you a little chatter if it's good, and if it's not good, you'll get eaten by a bear.
YOU'RE IN A BAND CALLED THE COUSINS, WITH YOUR COUSIN, KEVIN HEARN FROM THE BARENAKED LADIES. ARE ALL CANADIANS RELATED?
That's another secret. We're all cousins. That's why we're a little bit funny, boy.
YOUR SHOW IS RIGHT BEFORE CINCO DE MAYO. ANY SPECIAL PLANS?
I might go over to the aquarium there and wrap myself in bacon and jump in with the sharks and give them a little Cinco de Mayo treat as I'm sinko-ing to the bottom of their tank.
[Harland Williams at the Comedy Connection, Fri.-Sat., 5.2-5.3. 8pm, 10:15pm/21+/$25. 245 Quincy Market Pl., 2nd Flr., Boston. 617.248.9700. symfonee.com]
