Harland Williams

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on September 22nd, 2005

A Globe and Mail article on hometown boy Harland Williams seeks to corral all the various projects that Williams curently has his fingers in. As a bonus, they give you a recap of how he got here.

In school, however, he never aspired to class-clown status. “That tended to go the John Belushi types, the masters of the obvious. I’d come chugging in after and try to top them with something more clever.”

At one point, his father suggested Williams might want to become a priest– he had attended a Catholic private school. Later, they tried to get him a job at a muffin store.

Instead, he chose comedy, and while he was a fan of many comedians, he chose not to model himself on any one performer. “I hope it doesn’t sound too self-absorbed, but I tried not to have comic influences, because then they would influence what I did. I admired Ellen DeGeneres, Steven Wright and Steve Martin in the early days, but I wanted to create my own vibe.”