When he was 20, Brad Williams found himself in stand-up comic Carlos Mencia’s audience, and Mencia started making jokes about dwarves.
“Yeah, that is true,” Williams admitted during a recent phone call. “He didn’t notice me at first. He noticed that the audience around me was not laughing. And he actually said the words, ‘What? Is one of them here?’ And I just raised my creepy little hand in the air and said, ‘Uh, yeah.’ And he called me up onstage. He just wanted to talk to me. He wanted to get to know me. And he asked me some questions. I answered the questions honestly. I wasn’t trying to get laughs. I wasn’t trying to be funny.
“He asked me, ‘Hey, what do you do for a living?’ And at the time, growing up and living in Southern California, I worked at Disneyland, and I said that, and the audience laughed, and I thought, ‘Well, that felt pretty good.’ But then I felt them snickering. I just turned to the audience, and I said, ‘Shut up. I’m not one of the seven.’ And that got a good laugh, and I thought, ‘Well, that felt amazing. I want that feeling over and over again.’ I went out and started doing open mic nights after that, and 21 years later, I’m playing the San Luis Obispo Performing Arts Center.”
Williams has starred in his own comedy specials Fun Size and Daddy Issues and appeared in films such as Inside Man, Mascots, and Little Evil, as well as TV series like Underdeveloped, Robot Chicken, and Legit. He’s also appeared on The Tonight Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live, and he was the first stand-up comedian to headline a Cirque de Soleil show, Mad Apple, in their 30-year history.
“I’m 41, which is about 72 in dwarf,” he said with a laugh. “Right now, I’m 21 years [doing stand-up], but it’ll be 22 years in October. Just kind of nuts. If people are just hearing about me, kind of like, ‘Oh, man, so you just popped out of nowhere.’ It’s like, ‘Nah, I’ve been at this for 21 years’—21 years to be to be an overnight success.”
Williams has achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism, and he can be very self-deprecating about it. He’s even been known to use the “M-word.”
“I use that kind of language, and I talk about it because I found out that if I go onstage and I don’t mention my dwarfism, the entire audience just stares at me like, ‘Does he know?’ And that’s weird,” he said, laughing. “For some people, I’m the first little person that they’ve ‘met.’ So, yeah, I like to talk about it, but I can’t just do an hour of short jokes. So, we’re going to get into other topics. But I can’t not write jokes from my perspective. I can’t say like, ‘Well, I’m going to write this joke from the perspective of a 6-foot-4 white guy.’ Like, I can’t do that. I’ve never lived that life. So every topic I get into will have my perspective on it.
“But I don’t mind being honest with people and telling them about my life and pointing out things that they may not know or understand yet.”
It seems all stand-up comics must contend with hecklers, but heckling a little person seems like an extra layer of political incorrectness and impropriety. Still, Williams says it happens.
“All comics get hecklers. It’s a weird thing where people will tell you, ‘Well, that’s part of the job.’ And I’m like, ‘Well, yes, but it shouldn’t be.‘ It should not be part of the job. I don’t know why this is the only art form where this happens, where we get the hecklers. No one tells a movie to go fuck itself. Saying hecklers are part of the job is like walking up to a masseuse and being like, ‘Well, part of your job is jerking dudes off.’ It’s like, ‘What? No, happy endings are not part of the job.’ Well, they are, but they shouldn’t be.”
Williams is married, and in one of his stand-up routines he joked, “I’m in a mixed-race relationship. My wife is half Chinese. I’m half. Some of you got that. The rest of you were like, ‘Half what? What’s the other half?'”
His wife, taekwondo instructor Jasmine Williams, is 5-foot-6, and they have a daughter, Elway (yes, named after John Elway, the former Denver Broncos quarterback). Five-year-old Elway shares her father’s condition, and like his father, Williams is preparing her for the inevitable teasing.
“I’m writing comebacks so that when people do make fun of her—and they will at some point, it’s a part of life, part of growing up, not just being a little person, just part of being a person,” he explained. “There’re going to be some people that, no matter what you are, no matter what you look like, they’ll have something to say. So I’m just writing a few things so that she’ll be able to have a quick comeback—and it’s shocking how much people are not prepared for that. As a dwarf, I know what this life is, I know what to expect, and I can guide my daughter in that way.”
If you’re ready for some humorous and inspiring observations on disability, relationships, sex, race, and everyday life, Brad Williams is ready to make you laugh.
“Just know that my show is a lot of fun. I’m gonna take you on a ride. I’m gonna make you laugh. I’m gonna make you think. I might make you cry. But in the end, you’re going to leave smiling. Everything is designed so that you leave going, ‘I got my money’s worth. I had a good time.'” Δ
Contact Arts Editor Glen Starkey at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in May 29 – Jun 8, 2025.
I love this guy! He is a champion for getting up there and showcasing his life in such a personal way. He is just like the rest of us, yet braver and funnier. Let’s show him some love and respect for addressing the elephant in the room. It’s not easy, but it’s necessary. He helps people understand that we are all alike, regardless of our size, color, or sexual orientation. We all want to be liked, respected, and have fun. He embodies all these qualities. Come check out his show and get ready for an amazing time!