Bewritings

Former Sussex student Sam Williams recently won a runner-up prize at the 2021 Chortle Student Comedy Award, earning himself £250. 

Speaking to Williams, he details how ‘the energy and the joy’ from stand-up drew him to comedy; something he initially experienced at Brighton Fringe’s The Late Show. This encouraged him to register with Jill Edwards’ stand-up workshops at the Brighton Komedia, something he urges others in Brighton to do. He continued doing stand-up for about a year before the pandemic, which prompted a 16 month break. However, he recently resumed comedy in June of this year. 

Williams continued by highlighting how the ‘welcoming’ Brighton scene helped him begin his stand-up journey. He notes specifically how his time at Sussex aided his progress: ‘As far as Uni goes – I did a film and drama degree, and I learned a lot about comedic timing from watching the work of experimental theatre groups like Forced Entertainment. And the Writing for Theatre module I took in second year gave me a chance to explore writing outside of standup, but it also allowed me to bring those skills I was developing as a comedy performer into my academic work, which produced some work that I was really proud of.’

When asked about what inspires his comedy, Williams notes the importance of his brother’s opinion: ‘I really like making my brother laugh because he’s a massive fan of standup and it’s really in his bones. So when material I’ve written works with him, I know it stands a chance in the wider world.’ He lists Maria Bamford, Sebastian Maniscalco, and James Acaster as some of his favourite comedians and highlights his love for ‘observational comedy [with] a personal focus.’ This is clearly echoed in his own work, as he focuses on his family and home, touching on his love for ‘clean comedy’ over ‘edgy humour.’

Focusing on his experience at the Chortle Comedy Awards, Williams’ set touched upon similar topics, along with his bisexuality. He describes the awards as a ‘rite of passage for anyone who starts stand-up while at Uni. It’s a competition that everyone knows about and keeps an eye on, so it can feel a bit pressurised, but it’s such a joy to be in.’ Coming runner-up this year was particularly significant for Williams after not getting through the heats in 2019; as it signified his progress over the two years. He described it as ‘surreal’ and ‘beyond any expectations [he] had.’ Due to his success, Williams was able to perform on the main comedy arena at Latitude Festival this year. He describes the awards as ‘‘the best experience of [his] life as a university student!’ 

When asked about the future, Williams stated: ‘My aims are to just keep going with it really, it’s the kind of thing where you just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other, if you set your sights too far down the line it can look quite daunting.’ He plans to split bills at festivals next summer with Joe Kent-Walters (the winner of the Chortle Student Comedy Award) and aims to gig consistently in the meantime. He concluded with ‘my old athletics coach tried to drill into us the mentality of, run without fear. And that’s how I’m approaching my future in comedy – just going with it, embracing the unknown, and fundamentally enjoying the living daylights out of every opportunity that comes my way.’ 

Massive congratulations to Sam!