Comedian Brad Williams is set to headline Cincinnati's Taft Theatre on October 4, bringing his Tall Tales Tour to the historic downtown venue with material touching on relationships, sex, race, and everyday life. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., with the show beginning at 7:30 p.m., and tickets are available through the Taft Theatre.
Williams, who has performed stand-up since his teenage years, arrives in Cincinnati as part of a busy stretch for the comedian, according to WKRC. The Cincinnati stop follows closely on the heels of a show in Northfield, near Cleveland, on October 3, part of a tour that has taken him across dozens of cities in North America and Europe this year, according to Live Nation.
The Taft appearance comes just months after Williams released his fourth solo special, “Live on Short Street!,” on YouTube on April 12, recorded live before a sold-out crowd in Lexington, Kentucky. That hour covers relationships, therapy, and disability, building on the more personal, self-deprecating storytelling style that has defined much of his career, the special's release page notes.
A Career Built on Honesty About Disability
Williams incorporates his experiences with dwarfism directly into his comedy, and per WKRC's reporting, he has built his stand-up career around relationships, marriage, fatherhood, and disability. That approach hasn't always been universally welcomed. Early in his touring career around 2009, fellow little people picketed outside a Livonia, Michigan comedy club, mistakenly believing his act exploited dwarfism, though several protesters ultimately joined the audience and came around to his self-deprecating personal storytelling, according to Revue.
His stand-up resume includes a notable Showtime milestone: his 2015 debut special, “Fun Size,” became the network's highest-rated comedy special of the year, followed by 2016's “Daddy Issues.” The late Robin Williams was reportedly a fan, once dubbing him “Prozac with a head,” per The Flynn. His most recent special before this year's release, “Starfish,” premiered on the Live Nation streaming platform Veeps in 2023, intentionally timed to the Winter Solstice as the shortest day of the year.
Beyond Stand-Up: Film, TV, and Podcasting
Williams' screen credits stretch across television and film, including appearances on “Legit,” “Deadbeat,” “Little Evil,” “Mascots,” and “Reno 911: It's a Wonderful Heist,” along with late-night stops on “The Tonight Show,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” and Netflix's “The Degenerates,” according to WKRC's reporting. His film résumé is also expanding, with a role in the comedy sequel “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues,” which further builds on his mainstream profile beyond live comedy, per Review Magazine.
In 2022, Williams became the first stand-up comedian to headline a Cirque du Soleil production, hosting a three-month run of “Mad Apple” in Las Vegas. He also co-created and co-hosts the podcast “Heightened Babble” alongside JB Ball, following an earlier run co-hosting “About Last Night” with comic Adam Ray for more than five years, a podcast that regularly topped digital comedy charts, according to Wiseguys Comedy.
A Historic Stage for a National Headliner
The Taft Theatre itself carries plenty of history. The 2,500-seat Art Deco venue opened in January 1928 inside the Cincinnati Masonic Center building, named for Cincinnati newspaper publisher Charles Phelps Taft, according to Cincinnati CityBeat. A major renovation later updated 38,500 square feet of the historic facility with modern air conditioning, expanded restrooms, and replaced auditorium seating, bringing capacity down to roughly 2,260 seats, per Messer Construction Co.'s project details.
Since 2010, the venue has been operated by Music & Event Management Inc., a subsidiary of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, under a long-term lease with building owner Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. Hoodline previously covered stand-up comedy booked at the Taft Theatre as part of a roundup of weekend arts events in the city, and Williams' October 4 date continues that tradition of national comedy headliners passing through the historic downtown stage.
