The interview began slightly earlier than planned when Williams called about half an hour before our appointed time, seemingly very chipper and in a great mood “It’s early but I’ll make it,” Williams said. “I’ve got my Ovaltine.”

Williams is scheduled to perform at the Improv in Schaumburg from March 1-4, a venue he has never seen. “You know what,” Williams said, “I’ve been to Chicago way back. Probably the last time I performed there was maybe 8, 9 years ago. I played a small club called Zanies downtown… It’s such a small club.” When informed that other comedians have commented that the Chicago Improv is cavernous and they fear an easy death, Williams responded, “Oh really? Well, that’s kinda fun. I always like that kind of pressure. The thing about dying an easy death is once you’re dead, you don’t hear them not laughing. If you’ve got to die, you might as well die in a cave; it feels like you’re in a tomb or something.”

Williams’ optimistic attitude shined through in everything he was willing to discuss. His seemed even more impressed with Chicago as a city than he was with the prospect of an onstage death. “Gosh, I remember just walking the streets and there were tons of really good restaurants everywhere and I remember just walking in. Usually, I have to ask people at the front desk where’s a good place to eat but with Chicago, at least the area I was in, I just walked and there were all these amazing restaurants and I just remember popping into them and it was really cool. A lot of people in the streets, and noise, and it’s one of those cities that felt like it had some energy.” Williams is originally from Toronto, so he’s prepared for the snow. “I got the seven day forecast on my computer and it looks like it’s going to be Noah’s Ark time down there….I’m Canadian…so I’m well adjusted to this kind of abuse...I’m going to bring a caribou.” Williams was curious, as most of the out of town comedians seem to be, about how far out of the city limits the Improv really is. “Oh my God, it’s in Toronto! Maybe I’ll stay with my parents while I’m out there,” he quipped about the near forty-mile distance from downtown.

Those planning to attend Williams’ shows will get quite a treat, according to Williams. “[The audience can expect] more of my hijinx,” he said. “I have an act that kind of can be experimental at times. I have a routine and stuff that I plan and I have a big segment of my show that I just fly off the seat of my pants with. I just like to wing it a lot and let the audience just kind of watch me go and have fun and they get the energy of kind of a seasoned comic and the energy of a high-wire act, where they’re not sure if I’m going to fall off and crack my head open and make it to the other side and get a standing O.” For most people, going into half of a show unprepared can seem nerve-ripping at best. Williams, though, seems to prefer it. “I like it that way,” he said. “It makes it more of a challenge for me. I like the unpredictability. I like the uncertainty. I’m not ashamed to try something and if it works, it works. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t, but it keeps me on the edge and the audience I think, too. A double treat!” Williams plans to meet with his fans after his shows. “I usually meet and greet everyone,” he said. “I have CD’s and DVD’s that I sell if people want them. I shake hands, sign autographs, say hello. The Improv is great. They really treat me really really good. The folks are great. The food is great. The atmosphere is great. I really enjoy it,” Williams said.

Often times, comedians who end up in the movies did so on a lucky break. For Williams, it was more planned out than that. “I got into standup knowing that I would be in a position that if I did a good job, it could take off into many directions,” Williams said. “I knew I could end up doing voice work and TV and film and commercials and plays and I just always kind of thought standup was a really good anchor to have a diverse career. I like to try different things and because of standup, I’ve been able to. My whole career is kind of multifaceted. It worked out really good. Movies is just one of the things,” Williams commented, referring to his other careers, which include a music CD that he put out with his cousin Kevin Hearn of Barenaked Ladies, and also his project of writing and illustrating children’s books.

Williams has a series of books based on Lickety Split, the dinosaur, that seem to be hard to find in bookstores. “The Lickety Split series is a lot older, but my latest two books, one is called “The Kid With Too Many Pets,” and the sequel is called “The Kid With Too Many Nightmares,” those just came out. One came out like six months ago and the other came out the year before. Those you can still get in the stores. The other ones are older and probably not in stores.” Williams can commiserate with his character and with others like him. “There’re a lot of us out there,” he said. “I was that kid [with too many pets], too.”

Williams is obviously the all-around artistic type personified. But what if he had to just pick one thing to make himself happy? “Oh man, you know I think it might be the movies,” Williams said, “just because I feel like it’s one of those jobs where you leave your work there for others to see and hopefully inspire. It’s hard to have a job where even when you’re dead, you bring joy to people or you bring sadness, or you bring something into their lives that moves them, whether it’s a drama or comedy or whatever. And there are very few jobs in life where you can keep just touching civilization when you’re gone. To me, I’ve always found that kind of fascinating. It’s like, I’ll watch an old Brando movie, or you know, and I’m still like watching him screaming in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’…and you just move people.” Williams seems to thoughtfully consider future generations when making some of his decisions. “Even with your writing or whatever…you wanna, at least in my mind, you wanna leave that one piece of work, or ten pieces of work, behind that people are still looking at in the future. And it’s neat to know that you might have an impact on someone that’s not even born yet.”

Williams has plenty of things going on that his fans should look out for. “I’ve got a couple of movies coming out this month in March,” he said. “One is the Duke’s of Hazard sequel. I play ‘Roscoe P. Coltrain.’ It’s a straight to DVD sequel. They did that on purpose. And then I got a theatrical movie coming out on March 30th called “Meet the Robinsons.” That’s a Disney movie, and I play ‘Carl.’ He’s a robot. Carl, the robot.” Besides movies and books, Williams also does a radio show that is taped in his home town of Los Angeles, California, but broadcast in Denver, Colorado. “I do a daily radio show called ‘The Harland Highway” on 103.5 THE FOX. I record it in LA but people that are interested can pick it up on the internet at their website.”

Obviously insightful and intelligent, Harland Williams has a broad a varied life, which he uses to bring joy and laughter to as many people as he can. A final piece of Williams Wisdom: “You don’t wanna be on a road trip with stitches.”

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