Brad Williams, the stand-up comedian whose fourth special tackles fatherhood, disability, and modern relationships, headlines Fletcher Hall at the Carolina Theatre of Durham this Saturday, October 24, at 7 p.m. The show lands in the middle of a four-night Southern swing through Norfolk, Richmond, Durham, and Roanoke as part of Williams' sprawling Tall Tales Tour.
A Veteran Comic Building Momentum on His Own Terms
Williams is a veteran stand-up who started his career in his teens, and as reported by CBS 17, he's now considered one of the country's most in-demand comedians. He's played sold-out shows at prestigious venues, made television appearances on The Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and Netflix's The Degenerates, and acted in FX's Legit and the Netflix film Mascots, per the same outlet's reporting. He also co-hosts the Heightened Babble podcast. The Durham stop arrives with some fresh momentum behind it: Williams' latest special, Live on Short Street!, was recorded before a sold-out crowd in Lexington, Kentucky, and premiered on YouTube on April 12, 2026, according to the special's own listing on YouTube.
That special explores relationships, fatherhood, disability, and modern life, per CBS 17. It follows Williams' 2024 special Starfish. The New York Times has declared that no one is doing stand-up comedy more hilariously than Brad Williams, a line CBS 17 cites in framing his rising profile.
From Showtime to Self-Distribution
Williams' path to YouTube megaviews didn't start there. His 2015 debut hour, Fun Size, was the highest-rated stand-up special on Showtime that year, touching on dating, pop culture, and disability, and he followed it in 2016 with a second Showtime special, Daddy Issues, according to Emporium Presents. He has since released additional specials.
Williams also made Las Vegas history in May 2022 when he became the first stand-up comedian to headline a Cirque du Soleil production, starring in the New York-themed show Mad Apple at New York-New York Hotel & Casino, per MultiVu. Born with achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism, Williams built much of his early comedy from a chance encounter: he launched his stand-up career at 19 in 2003 after Carlos Mencia spotted him in the crowd at a show, brought him onstage, and later hired him as a touring opener, according to The Acorn. He also appeared in Comedy Central's Mind of Mencia, the outlet notes. Williams routinely draws on his height of 4 feet 4 inches, his marriage to his 5-foot-6 wife Jasmine Gong, and raising their daughter, born in 2020, who also has achondroplasia, weaving those personal details into his material.
A Historic Stage Turns 100
Saturday's show unfolds inside Fletcher Hall, the Carolina Theatre's main auditorium, which seats 1,048 patrons across a main floor and two balconies, per Wikipedia. The date also falls within the venue's centennial year; the city-owned landmark first opened on February 2, 1926.
The theater's history carries civic weight beyond its stage lineup. During the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, it became a central focus of local integration efforts when “Round Robin” protests over segregated ticket lines and lounge areas took place in 1963, pressure that led the city to officially desegregate the venue in 1963, according to the Carolina Theatre of Durham. The venue now has an exhibit commemorating its role in desegregation.
Tickets for Saturday's performance are available through the Carolina Theatre's official website, per CBS 17. Williams' Tall Tales Tour includes Saturday's Durham performance.
