Har-Larious

Harland Williams brings his brand of surreal nonsense to the stage in this audio release, relying on a rubbery delivery and the kind of unpredictable crowd work that works best when the room is slightly confused. Best known in 2005 for playing weird side characters in studio comedies like Dumb and Dumber and Half Baked, Williams uses this club set to double down on his reputation as an eccentric live performer.\n\nRecorded at the Funnybone in St. Louis, Missouri, the performance finds Williams tossing out non-sequiturs and testing the limits of audience patience. In tracks like \”My Buddy Larry,\” he argues about vegetarianism, while other bits spiral into hypothetical scenarios about body enhancement and tattoos. He spends much of the set in direct conversation with the front row, throwing out bizarre names and waiting for the room to catch up to his rhythm.\n\nBecause his highly visual style of physical comedy does not translate perfectly to a pure audio format, some of the jokes struggle without the accompanying facial contortions. Still, the album captures a comic entirely comfortable letting a set derail into chaos for the sake of a strange reaction.