Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Taylor Williamson talks ‘Last Comic Standing’ and ‘America’s Got Talent’

Taylor Williamson

Courtesy

Standup comic Taylor Williamson is part of the lineup of performers in “America’s Got Talent Live” on Sept. 26-27, 2014, at the Axis at Planet Hollywood.

Taylor Williamson is one quirky individual. He’s even quirky on the phone. You wonder, “Is this quirkiness an act?” and the answer would be, “I feel it is not.”

Williamson is the comic star of Season 8 of “America’s Got Talent,” the championship of which was captured by performance artist Kenichi Ebina.

Williamson also was a semifinalist on “Last Comic Standing” in 2010 and at age 27 has already notched 11 years as a professional comic. He is in the lineup Friday and Saturday nights in the “America’s Got Talent Live” stage show at Axis at Planet Hollywood.

“Even though I’ve been doing standup for 11 years now, my grandmother — and this is every time I see her — asks me, ‘Are you doing the comedy thing still?’ Like it’s a phase. ‘Yes, Grandma, this is how I pay my bills.’ ”

Before his lengthy run on “AGT,” Williamson was just barely paying those bills.

“A year before the show, I was rejected by everything a comedian could ever want to do. I was making negative money. I had nothing on my resume to get a job to earn a living. I started thinking, ‘Can being on ‘Last Comic Standing’ get you a job at Starbucks?’ ”

That changed when Williamson made his series of appearances on “AGT” on NBC, including a unique experience for any standup — appearing at Radio City Music Hall.

“That is the hardest venue ever for a comic. It’s scary enough in that environment, really a high-pressure scenario with four different judges watching you do what you do,” Williamson says. “But you have 5,000 people watching, and trying to get these people who are there to watch what is really a variety show to laugh is very challenging.

“And, you also have millions of people at home watching you, and you want them to like you, too.”

How does he unwind?

“I’m thinking of getting some T-shirts made for my fans,” he says. “You know, The Taylords. I really need to get that going. It’d help with my self-esteem, I think.

“Otherwise, I just try to keep thinking of funny things to say.”

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.

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