Ian Williams - "Stand-up Comedy to Teaching" Interview Show #253

Ian Williams, who embarked on his stand-up comedy journey at 24 while studying at the University of Illinois, has long navigated the challenging balance between his comedic passion and his roles as a high school and special education teacher. Faced with the evolving dynamics of comedy clubs often catering to younger audiences, Ian has found humor and fulfillment performing in both intimate and unconventional settings. Despite the industry's changes and his personal life demands, including being a dedicated father to four children, he maintains a deep love for being on stage. Although he recently retired from regular performances to focus on family and teaching, Williams continues to enjoy occasional appearances, reflecting his enduring commitment to the joy of comedy.

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Transcript

Announcer: 0:04

This is another episode of Stand Up Comedy. Your host and emcee celebrating 40 plus years on the fringe of show business stories, interviews and comedy sets from the famous and not so famous. Here's your host and emcee, Scott Edwards.

R. Scott Edwards: 0:21

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the podcast. We got another great fun interview of somebody that's been in the standup comedy industry for many years. He's moved on and, and does a whole nother job now with it entails dealing with kids in high school. We'll have to hear all about that. But ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome to the show the one and only Ian Williams.

Ian Willams: 0:46

Thank you. Thank you. Please hold your applause till the end.

R. Scott Edwards: 0:51

Ian, thanks for being on the show, man.

Ian Willams: 0:54

Not a problem. I'm happy to be here. Great.

R. Scott Edwards: 0:57

Well, you, I've done some research and you did a lot of comedy back in the day. Why don't we share with the audience? You know, what age were you? How'd you kind of get started in stand up?

Ian Willams: 1:09

Sure. I was 24. I was a grad student at University of Illinois. I'd always wanted to stand up. Going back to the stand up I saw on the Tonight show probably and all the influence of that. But at 24, I finally went on a stage. There was a club in a restaurant in Champaign, Illinois that tried to do it. And I, you know, I auditioned for them at like one in the afternoon through the manager and the assistant manager.

R. Scott Edwards: 1:39

The perfect circumstance.

Ian Willams: 1:41

Yeah. And it's like no one really knew how to do this. Like, I found out later that it's good to have a crowd when you audition, but this was like new to all of us kind of thing. So they're like, well, what do you got? And I'm like, well, okay. And no, you know, very few people.

R. Scott Edwards: 1:55

What year was that?

Ian Willams: 1:57

It was 84.

R. Scott Edwards: 1:58

Yeah, that was right in the beginnings of stand up comedy really starting to take off. And I can't imagine that Illinois was right on the cutting edge of entertainment.

Ian Willams: 2:10

Well, you know, I mean, I was Chicago and certainly Chicago, I was 150 miles from Chicago in Champaign, Illinois. But Chicago was noted for that. I mean, you know, you want to do this la, New York and then second City Chicago thing if you want to, if you want to play that game.

R. Scott Edwards: 2:27

Right.

Ian Willams: 2:28

I'll leave right now because I'm very sensitive. No, but it is, you know, obviously Second City was there. It really was a great environment and it was a very friendly environment, very supportive. And when I came out here, I came out to San Francisco 10 years later, or so it was a little more protective, understandably. But, you know, getting up in certain clubs with you weren't necessarily welcome because you represented someone who wanted to take stage, turn from someone else. And it was more important. You know, it just meant more, I think, in San Francisco than Chicago.

R. Scott Edwards: 3:05

Yeah. And I think that you're absolutely correct, though, that in the early 80s there was a lot stronger support group between the entertainers because it was all so new and everybody was trying to find their footing. I think when it got into the 90s and in the 2000s, it became a little bit more cutthroat and a little less supportive. But I think the 80s, which I always think of as the golden age of stand up, at least for the clubs, there was a real camaraderie between the comics. Territory made a difference to some people. Obviously, the New York comics felt differently than the San Francisco comics versus the LA comics, but still there was a little bit more openness. And it sounds like that's when you got started, that open mic you did when you were 24. Did you get the gig?

Ian Willams: 3:55

Yeah, I did.

R. Scott Edwards: 3:58

You must have some good jokes for those guys.

Ian Willams: 4:02

Well, it seemed to work out. I do remember one being very racist by any standard. I mean, it was about Asian bicycle. Asian students who rode bikes in champagne. That was kind of. And that was a pretty big group. And so, I mean, I certainly don't do that anymore. That was one of my first jokes.

R. Scott Edwards: 4:23

Wait a minute, wait a minute, Ian. Wait a minute. Are you saying that your material today is different than 1984?

Ian Willams: 4:32

Actually, it is. And I'm proud to say that I don't. You know, when something works, you stick with it.

R. Scott Edwards: 4:38

Right. There's no reason to. No reason to grow or push the envelope. Just stick with it.

Ian Willams: 4:46

You know, George Burns, I think he did the same act before the television for like 30 years. So I've always admired him, obviously. But if you. I'd rather not talk about how some of that material could be heard still from maybe not 84, 85, probably.

R. Scott Edwards: 5:07

Well, so it sounded like a very auspicious start. Did you end up, you know, working pretty regularly, making some income and doing some road work back in the day?

Ian Willams: 5:17

Yeah, I did. I mean, I was full time for 11 years and I was a grad student and I actually did my thesis on stand up. I mean, it was a. You know, it wasn't a doctoral thesis, but I did a really extended piece of writing on the state of stand up at that time. And I interviewed the Tribune guy named Larry Cart. Who I would say to this day was one of the experts. And he was just a guy who reviewed music and entertainment, but he really knew comedy. And you could go back if you wanted to and read like his review of Kippadatta or Larry Miller or, you know, anyone who showed up at Zany's in Chicago and he would. I just, I learned so much from his, from his reviews and everything and I interviewed a lot of people and a lot of comments and I got a very good grade on it and blah, blah, blah. So I mean, that's. And then I went up to Chicago. But I did do okay at the beginning, especially by standards, I guess. I mean, I don't even know what someone gets paid at like the punchline now. But in those days I would. The thing was, if you were an opener, if you went on the road, you'd get generally like 250 a week. Was that would get you into Michigan from Chicago. You go up into Michigan or you get a little money. There were two guys, Sobel, Tom Sobel and Mr. Yoder. I can't believe I'm forgetting his first name. I don't know if you know these names. They were just pretty prominent bookers for restaurants and things, you know, one nighters and all that in the Midwest at that time.

R. Scott Edwards: 6:53

Well, it sounds like that you, you know, after you did your dissertation and learned more about stand up comedy through research and writing a paper, that you actually hit the boards, started working some road gigs and made a little bit of a. I mean 11 years. That's a good run for anybody. Did you make it to headliner status?

Ian Willams: 7:16

Yeah, I did the one nighter. Not at like Zany's in Chicago. No. And it was fun. You know, when you go out on the road, you're obviously you're doing a one night or something, so. But I was a very strong middle, you know, I did like. There's a club in Winnipeg, I think it was called Rumors and it was very famous because you had to do an hour there and they would just bring one headliner up. I worked there for one week. I did an hour as a headliner, survived. But that was kind of like a reevaluation of whether I can do it. And you know, headlining is a weird thing. It really is more of a state of mind than material. Material doesn't hurt at all. But it is also a confidence, kind of an attitude. Really get the confidence and if you don't have it. When I went to Winnipeg, I felt like I was shooting myself in the foot from time to time because I was following a guy who was very local and very dirty and that's always difficult.

R. Scott Edwards: 8:18

But you know, when you force yourself to do more time. Now I don't know what you did exactly, but what I as a producer would tell people, my experience with other people in that state situation is you have to learn to work the audience and you have to be able to engage with the audience and go back and forth. And you can fill time by just talking to the audience and engaging with them and then fitting in your material when it worked. And that will help take a 40, 45 minute set easily to an hour. Was that something you tried?

Ian Willams: 8:52

Yeah, I was pretty comfortable with that. Yeah. I didn't, I mean, that wasn't something I necessarily relied on for the most part. I was a 30 minute middle guy and, and I do, you know, but for 45, 45 I could do. But like this case in Winnipeg, they wanted an hour and an hour was this thing where it gets in your head because you're like, you have to cover that much. And even with crowd work, you know, it just, I just wasn't comfortable. I mean, I did fine, I got paid, you know, life went on. It was just one of those things of like thinking to myself when, you know, headlining and all that. And I had, you know, I had TV credits. I won a whole episode of Star Search.

R. Scott Edwards: 9:38

Hey, that's awesome.

Ian Willams: 9:40

Yeah. And lost to Kevin James.

R. Scott Edwards: 9:45

Yeah, he's a nobody.

Ian Willams: 9:47

Yeah. And you know, I could have been better friends with him. He was the nicest guy in the world. And he gave me like radio phone numbers. Give this guy a call and I'm like, I'm going out to California. You know, you can have your. I was, it was in Florida at the time. I, I, I mean I didn't, it just, I didn't pursue it. And who knows, but every comic had a thousand of, you know, those woulda, shoulda things. And, and I'm, you know, he did very well. I, I knew he was going to do well as soon as I saw him. I, and the funny thing is on Star Search I'm kind of all over the place here. But the first show I won was like

Ian Willams: at 9: 10:24

30 at night. And it's at

Ian Willams: 10:26

the theater, the, you know, TV studio theater at Universal Studios. And I defeated a woman who had seen a friend of mine, a guy named Paul Gilmartin. He used to do, you know, stand up and he did something called Dinner and a movie on TBS for quite a few years. But anyway, he had lost. She came in, I beat her.

Ian Willams: And it was 9: 10:48

30 at night, so

Ian Willams: 10:50

I wrot and I wasn't really thinking, but they said, you know, the next set is one week later and it's

Ian Willams: at 9: 10:56

30 in the morning. So the

Ian Willams: 10:58

audience was like all kids? Yeah, that's.

R. Scott Edwards: 11:01

That's not really fair because there's such a difference not only in the overall atmosphere, but the audience. And the perception of the audience between 9am and 9pm is horrifically different. And television never did really understand stand up comedy. I mean, it's much like that initial showcase you did when you were 24 where it's you talking to a restaurant manager and a cook. You know, it's not the ideal situation. Stand up comedy needs an audience. It needs an audience that's there for comedy and that kind of understands. And I can't imagine at 9am that it would work too well. Now you mentioned Kevin James. You were coming up at kind of the, the golden years of standup. Was there anybody you worked with that became a superstar or that you looked up to and maybe learned something from any mentors?

Ian Willams: 11:59

Yeah, you know, the funny thing is the guys I worked with maybe three times and I mean, I worked with Stephen Wright once and I really enjoyed watching him, you know, and it was pretty amazing. The guys that really. There's a guy named Richard Jenny who is to me, you know, one of the best I've ever seen. And he's no longer with us in Chicago. At that time, Rick Overton and Richard Jenney were like the biggest comics at a club in Chicago called the Funny Firm. And at one point Chicago downtown had like a catcherizing star, this funny firm, which was an amazing kind of privately owned club. It had an improv, it had Zany's, which was original club, which used to feature Leno and Seinfeld pretty regularly. So in terms of like my. I worked with Bill Hicks, if you know, you know, who is one of the greatest, you know, I think. And he's also, he was very committed to what he was doing and very serious. The only guy I know got featured in the New Yorker. I was very envious of that.

R. Scott Edwards: 13:09

Well, and you brought up names that all these guys work for me now, I wasn't a comic, I was the producer. But Bill Hicks and Rick Overton and Rich Jenny all work for me. And so I'm very aware of who they are and the type of comedy. There's a lot of different strategies towards humor between those three, but I think you being exposed to those along With Wright gave you a lot of a broad spectrum of types of comedy and hopefully that helped you find who you were on stage.

Ian Willams: 13:45

I did. It's funny, you get, you know, I was pretty much who I am off stage and the guy you're talking to right now, there's no great transformation. I wish there could be, but anyway, in general, I'm just speaking in general, but, you know, all of them are pretty much who they are. They just exaggerated or, you know, present, you know, amazing material and they have many years experience and. And one of them is still alive. And I don't know that Rick Overton still, like, I actually, I saw him a couple years ago in an improv thing in Chicago in San Francisco for a big thing here where they do about two weeks of stand up and all types of. And then they do tribute to Canadians and all that. So I did see him at Sketchfest a couple years ago.

R. Scott Edwards: 14:34

Well, I was just trying to help paint a picture of what you were like as a standup comic. We talked about how you got into the business. We talked about how you did your research and wrote a paper on it, and that kind of gave you an educational foundation. But then by working in the clubs in Chicago and getting a chance to hang out with people like Bill Hicks and Rick Overton gave you, these guys are very experienced, successful headliners, gave you a chance to see that side of it. And I'm thinking that you had the success you had for your 11 years because you were able to learn from all these different angles about the industry.

Ian Willams: 15:22

No, that's very fair. Yeah. And many more. The guys get to drop more names in terms of, like, the guys who I, you know, those guys I work with in Chicago. And that's not a road gig. When you work on the road with certain comics, you really get to, you know.

R. Scott Edwards: 15:40

Oh, yeah.

Ian Willams: 15:40

When you're worse, you get to know them better.

R. Scott Edwards: 15:44

Yeah. When you're stuck in a shitty condo with some comic you don't know, you learn a lot about them. Yeah, well, speaking of that, in your 11 years, were there any really, you know, special fun gigs that you consider the best, or did you have like a worst road gig situation?

Ian Willams: 16:05

I have it all. No, I mean, the, the best, I think for me. I will tell you something very weird. One week ago, you know, probably know Steve Osborne, but he, he and I know each other and he lets people up on Sunday night at the Punchline in San Francisco. And I, you know, I worked with him a couple weeks ago at a winery and he said, you know, come by and maybe I can pull you up. And I don't live. I live 10 minutes from the punchline. I mean, my wife and I bought a house at San Francisco in 93 and it was $185,000. And it's now currently worth almost $200,000. We have upgraded. No, I'm kidding. The deck is massive. But Steve, you know, for Steve to come to the punchline, it's probably 45 minutes from Sebastopol, if I'm not mistaken. I think that's where he lives, I'm pretty sure. But, you know, I don't. Does not like. I'm just saying that I'm fortunate to have, you know, stable housing in this ridiculous place, this town. So anyway, I'm getting. I went there last week, I got up for five minutes. I did great. And it was one of the most. It was almost like being in a time machine. It was unbelievable because it was the first time I'd been in a club, like a comedy club, 25 years probably because I, you know, as we will find out, I pursued a degree or a, you know, career in education. But last Sunday night, it was like, it was. And it just like, the feeling was so amazing. Now granted, five minutes on a Sunday night and no one worked. Monday was President's Day. It was packed. But it was just really an amazing feeling. And I've done a lot of gigs since then, but everything is compromised. I'm not trying to, but, you know, not in clubs. I'm just saying, like, not in a comedy club. So a lot of the stuff is, you know, like, I work at a winery pretty often that does comedy and it does it very well. But it's not a full time comedy place and other restaurants and everything. So it was really amazing. But more, you know, in the old days, I had a gig. I opened for Tim Allen at the Marin Civic Center.

R. Scott Edwards: 18:21

Oh, that sounds like fun.

Ian Willams: 18:24

Really. At the peak, I got 20 minutes, I had a coffee waiter for me, like I had two people. One guy just got me coffee and the other one, you know, led me around and put me on stage. But the funny thing is, it was the easiest gig I've ever had. I could say that because. And it's a weird thing about stand up. You start out in the worst situation, then you wait to get bumped at 1 in the morning in front of four people, and you finally, you know, get better and get more comfortable. And once you get good, you don't have to be good because the audience will, you know, in this situation. They were so. They would laugh at anything, not of anything and. But it was, it was just funny. I just had a blast. I remember that. That was, yeah, that was, you know.

R. Scott Edwards: 19:13

It goes back to what we were talking about. There's so many different situations from a, you know, a private gig to a winery, to a showcase in a restaurant, to a full theater that you're opening for Tim Allen. I mean, it's a huge difference when it comes to stand up comedy. There's two things I wanted to go back on. You've kind of jumped around a little bit. So first off, let's let everybody listening around the world know that you can't get an outhouse in the bay area for 200,002 that you did after 11 years in the business. You did swing away. You became an accredited teacher. You're now currently teaching high school. You're still doing some stand up comedy as you've already alluded to in some private gigs. And you have an upcoming fundraiser with me, which I'm excited about. But let's take it back a little bit. What was it after 11 years that pushed you to switch away and get your credential and start teaching high school?

Ian Willams: 20:16

You want her name?

R. Scott Edwards: 20:19

You're taking names? No, I meant was. A lot of times it's family, but other times, you know, you just feel like you've gotten as far as you can get in a career and it's time for something different or, you know, I don't know, somebody cracked a whip and said you had to be a teacher. I'm just asking, what was your story?

Ian Willams: 20:40

Well, really floppy sexual protection and. No, I'm kidding. I'm married to the same woman who took my career away or whatever. It was really a thing where I was. When I moved to San Francisco, I moved in 93. I met my wife to be about four months later and we, you know, we dated for quite a while and then a child was produced and then two more. But it was really kind of a thing with me in Stand up. It was. I had to make some decisions about going to LA and I didn't want to go to la. And that's kind of one of the big flaws in my life plan. If I want to do stand up, you kind of have to want to go to LA or New York. I mean, maybe people have defied that, you know.

R. Scott Edwards: 21:32

No, but you're, that's a truism. If you're really going for the career, you got to be where the big jobs are. How did you pick Teaching high school, that's a tough gig. Were you always, you, you were, you got accredited so you had to have the education and the careers, the diplomas to do that. Was that something that you were looking forward to doing or you, you felt you'd be good at?

Ian Willams: 21:58

No, no, I don't mean to be. I hate to sound, but I mean, it was like, I gotta find a job because I had. In 95, my first daughter was born. And then in 97, my twin girls were born. And then in 2000 my son was born, all with the same wife. And we, you know, and the thing was, there was. She's a. My wife is a stay at work mom. That's what I think, because she is really, she has four jobs right now and she's supposed to retire and it's kind of a myth, I think, I think. But she's kind of a workaholic. So we, in order to survive, I couldn't do, stand up and stay and really be with my kids and help raise them and everything. I mean, I had to make a choice. And the whole thing about education, I did like it. I'm not trying to say that I did not go to college to be a teacher and I really, I've learned so much and I have a completely different view of it from, you know, when I, before I started doing it. For me, it was a, you know, kind of a thing where I looked at different schools. I thought, okay, teaching, it aligns with my kids lives, you know, that's one thing, right?

R. Scott Edwards: 23:07

When you're off, they're off. Vice versa, the stuff they're interested to. Now, did you find, and this is a question that I've been waiting to ask you. So it's the important one. When you went into teaching and you teach high school, which is not the easiest, did you find that your experience in comedy and the communication skills you developed as a comic, did that help you with the kids?

Ian Willams: 23:33

It really did. Yes, it absolutely did. In fact, it's invaluable. I mean, I went into a program at State that was called Project Include that gave you a general education credential and a special education credential. So it was a two year, I'd say a year and a half or I think it was two years, two year program. And you looked at education from different perspectives. And I ended up, of course, anyone, everyone in my class that went through that program all ended up getting hired in special education because that's where the jobs were, an overlook. So I dealt with a lot of kids with behavior issues, kids where you needed to have patience and thick skin and you could be armed. I mean, that wouldn't hurt. So I'm just saying. Absolutely. You know, there are certain things. I haven't ever done this on stage and I have a. Sometimes you get into a comic mode where you're in front of a class so that the kids who are interrupting you become hustlers in your mind. And it really is a funny thing. Especially now when I'm in front of a class, I need silence. That used to be the standard, but kind of post pandemic or whatever, kids are really comfortable talking to each other when you were trying to talk. And I say that as someone who co teaches in a classroom. In my own class, it's not allowed. But in other classes, teachers kind of work with it. They're just basically nicer. And I'm somewhat like an old gestapo world or something. I don't know.

R. Scott Edwards: 25:13

Well, I would call it disciplinary situation. And I think kids need guidelines. I think they need those rails to know what's allowed in society and what isn't. And so the more liberal teachers that kind of have that going back to my generations, that hippie kind of anything goes is different than the more militaristic, hey, I'm going to set boundaries and you're not going to like it, but it's going to help you when you leave school. I'm more lean that way. The fact that you also got your education dealing with special needs kids is really impressive, by the way. I think it's. First off, unsung heroes are teachers. Let's hear it for them.

Ian Willams: 26:03

Thank you.

R. Scott Edwards: 26:04

And dealing with special needs kids is even extra, extra effort. As you said, you need the patience, you need the control. And the fact that you're able to do all that, Ian, is really special. And I'm sure the fact that you have three girls and a son help you not only with the kids at work, but dealing with the kids at work. Probably make you a better father, I would guess. And all this comes together, as I'm trying to wrap this up for us, is that you learned a lot, both through research and actual stage time for over a decade in comedy. In the last couple decades, you've been able to use those skills and help teach high schoolers, help deal with special needs kids, be a great father and raise four of your own. I mean, it did all kind of work out, right?

Ian Willams: 26:56

So far, everything's day to day.

R. Scott Edwards: 27:00

No one's in prison, right?

Ian Willams: 27:02

No, you know, I mean, I'm Close, but no, no one's in prison. Health is good. Yeah, I know what you're saying, and I do. That's. You know, at one time, I did want my son to win the Stanley Cup. I had that all laid out, but we didn't, you know, he was gonna have to move to Canada, and so that didn't happen. But he is happy what he's doing.

R. Scott Edwards: 27:24

Well, I just, it's, you know, you and I aren't friends. We're gonna be working together soon. But I wanted to get to know you in finding out about your foundation in stand up comedy and where you took your personal career with or without the support of your wife, getting into fatherhood and then teaching, I think it sounds like an amazing career. But for my audience, which is here for the comedy, it's important to understand that the standup comedy, as difficult as it is, does teach you skills that can be bent and twisted to help you in other areas. And I am sure from other people I've spoken with and getting to know you, that having a foundation in stand up comedy was certainly an asset as you moved into teaching. Now, I know that you're not doing regular gigs. You're doing fundraisers and restaurants and wineries. In fact, as I mentioned, you're doing a gig for me soon. These days, do you see yourself continuing spot hitting comedy or would you like to get back into the clubs or is that kind of done and you've moved on and you just playing with it because you enjoy it?

Ian Willams: 28:38

No, I mean, I'm, you know, retiring in June.

R. Scott Edwards: 28:42

Hey, wait a minute, wait a minute. Yay. Congratulations. That's awesome.

Ian Willams: 28:50

My students could not be happier you.

R. Scott Edwards: 28:54

Got support.

Ian Willams: 28:57

You know, so then I'm. It's a really funny thing because. And the scary thing is that kind of punchline experience. I don't belong. I don't want to say I don't belong in the clubs, but the clubs are definitely for a younger perspective. I would, you know, when I was doing stand up, Tom Dreeson was kind of the older guy who would come by and people would kind of, you know, you know, he's older and that's what I've become. Or. But the club situation, I mean, you know, this particular club is a lot of fun. So I mean, I'm kind of. I want to keep doing it, but I do know that I got to figure out how to do it really regularly.

R. Scott Edwards: 29:36

Yeah, get your chops back. But also, I understand being an older producer. I would love to reopen. You know, my wife has Threatened to leave me if I do but reopen a comedy club or something. But as she often reminds me, that as much as I enjoy being on stage, it's a different lifestyle, it's a different audience, and it's a different era than what you and I worked in back in the 80s. And that doesn't mean it's bad or good. It's just different from our experiences. However, as a producer, I do several fundraisers. I like going and helping places like wineries and stuff, producing a show. And I would recommend or assume that in your place in your career, you'll be able to keep your toes in the water and get on stage here and there and, you know, keep that joy of stand up in your life without letting that, you know, ruin the career and the fatherhood and the husbandry that you've built.

Ian Willams: 30:40

Well, I don't know. You know, it's kind of exciting to maybe run off with somebody and.

R. Scott Edwards: 30:47

Ladies and gentlemen, his wife is not listening.

Ian Willams: 30:51

I mean, the number one thing is when I was 30 years ago or 35 years ago, whatever, I, you know, these. I was like on a clock, like, you know, like a woman's biological clock and, you know, like a career clock. And I was kind of like, okay, I've been on Paris Search now I got, you know, this, and you can see whether it's working and it's not. But it's so stressful. Now if I, you know, I will appear on any street corner kind of thing. I'm. I'm not fussy or picky. I just enjoy being able to do stand up. So that's kind of where I'm coming from.

R. Scott Edwards: 31:27

Well, that's awesome. And I, as a producer, am excited that you've stuck with it. I've seen your tapes. I know you're funny. You're going to be doing a set for me at a fundraiser coming up in a few months. And I just wanted to get you on the podcast and let you tell your story, because I think it's interesting I had a chance to interview comics that their whole life has been in comedy, and it's challenges and ups and downs, especially when you get married and have families. And I know several comics like you that had to shift off, and some stayed in the industry, some went into teaching or some other industry. They loved stand up. It was a good part of their youth, but they've had to move on so that they could support a family and have that lay down some roots that you can't really do as a road comic. But Ian, looking forward to working with you soon. Thank you so much for being on the podcast and sharing your story. If somebody wanted to hire you for a winery gig or something, is there a way to find you?

Ian Willams: 32:26

You know, my, my high school principal is my agent. That's kind of, I'm not kidding, but I mean, I'm in the book. I'm on Facebook. I know. This is kind of why I made it in terms of my own promotional. So, yes, I would just say, you know, Facebook. Ian Williams.

R. Scott Edwards: 32:51

That's okay, Ian. No pressure. Ladies and gentlemen, if you're looking for some stand up comedy entertainment that's fun and clean in the San Francisco Bay area, his name is Ian Williams. And if you need some tutoring or some education, he's a terrific high school teacher and special ed teacher. We're very proud of him for that. And he's an amazing father of three daughters and a son. Congratulations on all your successes, Ian, and thanks for being on the podcast.

Ian Willams: 33:19

Thank you so much, Scott. You could be my life coach. Anyway, I appreciate it. You were very comfortable. You're very kind and I had a great time.

R. Scott Edwards: 33:31

Great. Thanks so much for being on, ladies and gentlemen. We'll be back next week with some great stand up comedy. Thanks for joining us on the podcast. We'll see you soon. Bye.

Announcer: 33:41

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Stand Up Comedy. Your host and mc. For information on the show merchandise and our sponsors, or to send comments to Scott, visit our website at www.standupyourhostnmc.com. look for more episodes soon and enjoy the world of stand up comedy. Visit a comedy showroom near you.