Performing Live Is Definitely My Favorite Thing to Do - Jacob Williams (Stand-up Comedian)

Jacob first made his primetime network television debut as a stand-up comedian on America's Got Talent (NBC) and advanced to the Semifinals. 

1. How and when did you choose comedy as a career? 

I started doing stand-up comedy officially at the beginning of my freshman year of college a little over 13 years ago. I met a friend in my class who I saw try it at an open mic which taught me that there is a starting point and you don’t have to be amazing at comedy right away. 

I was terrified leading up to my first time performing but I also ended up having so much fun that I wanted to keep doing stand-up as much as I could and try to get better at it. 

Before that, I had had some brief experiences in grade school, middle school, and high school trying to entertain friends by making up jokes, writing short stories, acting in school plays, making short movies, doing some improv, and trying to be funny in my high school graduation speech.

I was not a valedictorian or a particularly great student but it was a small class and they allowed any students who want to give a speech to do so. 

Comedy was always fascinating to me and so I got addicted to it and did it for free for a long time before it gradually became my only job a few years ago which I feel very grateful for and lucky about and I never want to take that for granted. 

2. What type of content do you enjoy producing the most and is the most challenging? 

I like coming up with new jokes because it is always a mystery to me how it will happen and it feels like a challenge to find out what actually works consistently with audiences. 

I end up throwing out a lot of the stuff I come up with but any time that I’m finally able to find something new that is funny to both me AND the audience, that is a lot of fun. 

3. Do you prefer digital as a medium or do you enjoy doing live gigs more and why? 

Performing live is definitely my favorite thing to do and I hope to keep doing that as much as possible when it is safe to do so. 

At the same time, especially recently, I’ve enjoyed trying things out on social media or zoom shows and have written some material specifically for the format of online shows which I don’t use at in-person performances. 

4.People, who are interested in taking up stand-up comedy as a profession, do they need a funny bone or they can develop one? 

I think that a lot of success in comedy depends less on how funny you are naturally and more on using consistent effort and willpower to write, perform, and get better at comedy. 

It definitely helps to be naturally funny but I don’t think you can rely on that without putting in a lot of other work as well. 

5. How stable is being a stand-up comedian as a profession in India? And what is the future of this profession? 

I am not sure what the current stand-up comedy scene is like in India although I had a lot of fun performing for a small group of family friends there once when I visited with my parents to see the family of a pen pal my dad had been in touch with since he was in grade school. 

I also have no idea what will happen with the future of stand-up but at the moment it had been an interesting time to experiment with new styles of performing with online shows, outdoor shows, etc. in an effort to keep doing comedy consistently while staying safe during the quarantine. 

6. What impact do you want to make in this world? 

I would like to keep learning and growing as a person and to try to be as kind and empathetic to people as I can. 

7. Which is your favorite book and why?" 

There are too many good books to narrow it down but I’m really enjoying reading Don Quixote at the moment and I like Simon Rich’s short story collections a lot. 

I really enjoyed reading Wuthering Heights recently and for non-fiction books, one of my favorites is The Laws of Human Nature along with everything else I’ve read so far by Robert Greene. 

Instagram ID - @mrjacobwilliams

Jacob Williams' comedy follows his misadventures through the worlds of dating, day jobs, and dining alone. 

He recently made his late-night network television debut performing stand-up on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS). 

He also performed on the Comedy Central shows Adam Devine's House Party and Roast Battle. 

Jacob has been a cast member on the hit improv/sketch comedy series Wild 'n Out (MTV) for nine seasons including the upcoming one. He has also provided the voice of a cartoon character on the animated miniseries Football U (MTV Other). 

Jacob lives in New York City where he performs regularly when he is not on tour at comedy clubs, colleges, and corporate events across America. 

Jacob Williams 

Stand-up Comedian

Interviewed By - Aditi Ashok