Steve Williams: Stand Up Story Man

It’s a rainy Tuesday night in Edinburgh, and inside the jam-packed Stand Comedy Club, Steve Williams is attempting to work up a storm for his audience. Williams gets off to shaky start with his uninspiring warm-up banter as the audience don’t offer up much for him to bounce off. However, what is most disappointing is that he seems completely unprepared for this eventuality. Leisurely leaning against the wall behind him, unfazed and unenthused, Williams drags out this part of the set for far longer than it merits, before eventually turning the topic of conversation around to his prepared material. This is where things start to improve.

Drawing from his experiences as a working-class Welshman married to an alpha-female lawyer, Williams bases his gags on his aversion and awkwardness to situations which call for maturity. The laughs begin to flow more freely at the descriptions of his encounters with gnome-like floor staff in the cosmetic stands of department stores, and he brings a whole new meaning to the ‘vajazzling’ craze when he accompanies his wife to the gynaecologist and accidentally lets her use a glitter spray on her private parts to freshen up beforehand.

On this occasion, Williams’ set unfortunately consists of more forgettable than formidable observations on exhausted topics. With only a few instances standing out among a series of non sequiturs, the Welshman only serves to offer us a glimpse of the potential which one fears might never be realised when combined with his seemingly passive attitude to his trade.