Liam Williams

Who knew that melancholy could be so enjoyable? In his debut solo hour, this up-and-coming comedy misanthrope explores "man handing misery on to man" in moving and intricate detail.

Packed with lines that surprise and delight, Williams’s writing tends to take centre stage. In search of some meaning among the post-university aimlessness, various set pieces are employed to demonstrate his lyrical style and to provide occasion to expand this narrative. A particularly strong segment on ‘First World Problems’ memorably evokes a growing anger over genuine woes of the lower middle class, at the same time taking aim at the reductive nature of modern communication.

This is typical of the ambition on display here. Each faux proposal for a documentary, each suggestion of a new play title, even the straight standup takes care to send up the form with incisive wit. These discrete sections do introduce a slight disjointedness to the show, but it’s a testament to Williams’s standup voice that we’re left wanting more talking and less reading.

Indeed, for a young comic, this is an assured piece of work that demonstrates an impressive command of tone, employing it with force on inter-generational attitudes to life and the existential angst of the educated twenty-something. There are glimpses of social commentary peppered throughout, it’s an account that rings true with this generation and yet it’s highly personal; there’s a sophisticated reflexivity at work here and it’s seriously affecting. 

Liam Williams is an exciting new talent, long may he wallow.