Paul Williams

“Join New Zealand’s fastest comedian (5km and 10km) for an enchanting afternoon In the Moonlight. The show includes music, romance and even photos. He’s been on TV, starring in the critically reviewed Taskmaster New Zealand. Good for all ages but if you’re really old, please only come if you promise to stay calm.“

“Olga Koch brings you the rollercoaster romcom you aren’t tall enough to ride. Strap in.”

Show Title: In The Moonlight (Paul Williams), Just Friends (Olga Koch)
Location: Komedia, Brighton
With: Wesley Mead
Comment: We were so excited when we saw that Paul was coming to the UK, and immediately bought tickets for the London show. Unfortunately when the date arrived, the country was going through an extreme heat wave, and our train was cancelled due to the 40 degree temperature! Luckily he still had a show planned for Brighton the following week, but there were no trains leaving Brighton late enough to get home, so I ended up having to drive the 6 hour round trip, getting home at 2am on a work night! It was so worth it though – the show was amazing, and we even got some new songs.

“After 6 long, cold years my album launch show is happening May 11 in London at Earth Hackney. The album is hot fire and it’s going to be the best night of 2024.“

Show Title: Album Launch Show
Location: EartH, Hackney
With: Wesley Mead
Guests: Sam Campbell, Nish Kumar, Rose Matafeo, James Acaster

Comment: Everything about this show was perfection. We had the best seats – front and centre, but on a comfy two person bench by ourselves, with an aisle on each side and in front! Sam Campbell as the opening act. Nish Kumar on guitar. James Acaster on drums. Rose Matafeo singing on “Bond Themes…” was better than the original! And she did the full “Surf Music” dance with Paul, not the backing dance she usually does with Brynley. Paul was on fire – so much energy. The new album was amazing. The banter between them all was hilarious. One of Paul’s new songs is about someone called Matthew, and he put a photo up on the screen. James was genuinely horrified “Is that his real name and photo?!” #Don’tBeTooSpecific

The atmosphere in the audience was electric. The standing ovation at the end was so loud, and went on for so long that I wasn’t sure it would ever stop. Paul seemed genuinely overwhelmed by the reaction. He later told us it was the best night of his life, and from being there it feels like that was probably true.

“Paul bought a second-hand film camera last year and it turned out the previous owner had left a used-up roll of film in it. This show is about that. Good for all ages but if you’re really old, please only come if you promise to stay calm.“

Show Title: Mamiya 7
Location: Assembly Roxy (Upstairs)
With: Wesley Mead
Comment: Paul Williams is one of our favourite comedians, and favourite celebrities full stop. We had tickets to see this show in London first, but it got cancelled last minute. No worries, we thought, we still have Edinburgh…
We knew something was wrong early on, as Paul was 30 minutes late coming on stage. When he came out he apologised and said his PowerPoint presentation needed to be downloaded from the Cloud, and his internet connection wasn’t working well enough.

He connected his laptop to the screen to show that it was only a few percent downloaded, but said he’d start anyway, and hope it sped up. As he tried to get through his material he was getting more and more despondent as the download just wasn’t progressing. The crowd were all clearly genuine fans, and cheered for him anyway, but by the end he looked ready to cry. At one stage his brother Guy Williams appeared as a punchline which was meant to relate to an earlier section. Paul said to him “I haven’t even set this joke up. The whole thing is effed” then said to the audience “there’s meant to be a big finale here, but I can’t do any of it. This is the worst night of my life. I want to kill myself” and then walked off stage. It was awful. We felt genuinely devastated for him.

“For one night only, the Taskmaster NZ star and Lorde’s favourite Kiwi musician (‘That was really nice of her’ – Paul) plays the hits at this year’s Fringe. Fresh from the launch of his sophomore album in London and shows in New York, LA and New Zealand, Paul plays a special late-night gig, featuring the best of Surf Music and his brand-new album.“

Show Title: Paul Williams Plays the Hits
Location: Assembly Checkpoint
With: Wesley Mead
Guests: Nish Kumar, Rose Matafeo, Brynley Stent
Comment: After the album launch show a few months earlier, we were desperate to hear Paul’s new songs again (as the album hadn’t actually been released yet, despite what you’d think), and suddenly really worried he would cancel the show due to his depressed state after his technology failure earlier in the day. Luckily this wasn’t the case, and he even made a joke at the start saying “I wanted to kill myself earlier, but then I remembered I needed to do this show first”.
The whole thing was brilliant. Nish reprised his role on guitar, Rose on vocals for “Bond Themes”, and this time Brynley was there to join her for the “Surf Music” backing dance. We were stood right at the front, touching the stage, about 50cm from Paul himself. Guy Williams, Maria Williams, Guy Montgomery, and David O’Doherty were all in the crowd too. In fact, Guy Williams walked past while we were all queueing outside and was like “are you all queueing for my brother?!” sounding genuinely baffled at how many people were there.