Presenting:
Deborah Williams
Deborah Williams
Deb is one of the creators and stars of the international hit comedies, Mom’s the Word trio of shows. She was recently seen on stage in Ruby Slipper’s award winning Lifesavers. She is a writer, and comedian who works regularly for CBC TV and radio and can be found mouthing off on rantingparent.com.
Deb has co-written and co-stared in the TV pilot, Ask an Expert. She has written two hit shows for Axis Theatre and Wince and The Stay Fresh Special with Alison Kelly. She is a graduate of Studio 58 and has worked in the arts for the past 25 years.
Deb is a Half Baked Wife, Feeble Friend, and Mediocre Mother of two fabulous people.
And here’s how she answered my 6 questions about creativity:
What inspires your creativity?
People Inspire me. I love sitting on a bus or in a café and just listening. I could sit for hours, days, years. I love meeting new people and hanging out with people who do completely different things in life than I do. I’m always inspired when I come home from serving dinner downtown Eastside. So many stories.
How have you reinvented yourself through your creativity?
I reinvent myself every few years. I feel the urge to learn something new, try something unknown. Feel uncomfortable. I must enjoy it because I keep doing it. I had to reinvent myself to become a mother, because I thought those new beings were just going to fit right into my life like accessories. They don’t. Lots of creativity around making that work. Then I decided I wanted to be more than an actor, I wanted to be a writer, then a standup comedian, producer, solo performer,… I am working on a one person show which is the scariest thing I’ve done to date, but that’s just how I do it. If it scares me creatively, it must be where I’m going.
Based on response to your creativity, how do you involve others?
I think my job is to help people laugh more and so far it has worked. We need to laugh at ourselves and the crazy thing we call “life”. People like to hear their stories and lives told by someone else, in all its pain and detail. They are relieved they’re not alone. I also love collaborating with other artist. The more the merrier and all the rest of those clichés are true. I recently started a story telling series; a venue for people to be creative on their feet with the most basic of entertainments; our story. People are coming out of the woodwork asking to share. Really fun to have another space and reason to gather in creative community.
What is the wildest journey your creativity has taken you on?
Mom's the Word in Korea
Mom's the Word in Germany
I have been able to travel to many parts of the world with my work and my words have travelled farther. I know that, because Mom’s the Word has been translated so many times that my children are being yelled at in many languages around the world every evening. Pretty heady journey.
What’s next for you?
I have a brand new year. A year of firsts. My kids are about ready to leave home and my life is changing. Again. I’ve been doing Mom’s the Word and the sequels for almost 17 years so I am doing two more weeks of that before I am off on a new journey. I start in January workshopping my one-person show, Taking it Off, working with Michele Rimle and Andrew MacIllroy, then off to do the lead in Becky’s New Car at the Arts Club in the spring and then a fantastic project at The Caravan Theatre show this summer. The Carvan Show involves 7 amazing theatre companies and I can’t say how excited I am to being playing with them all. I am continuing working on rantingparent.com and my fingers are crossed about the pilot we filmed last summer. Always lots going on. I never hold my breath for any one project, but enjoy the ride.
What is your most memorable moment in the act of being creative?
My most memorable moments being creative happens every time I start a new project. It feels like the first time, and the idea is the best in the world, and it is clearly “meant to be”. The second half of that feeling sits in my gut as I’m waiting back stage to try the new piece of creative work saying “Why do I do this? Let me just poke my eyes out to remind me never to start anything ever again”. I guess the feeling evens out in the middle because I just keep doing it.
And here’s something that inspires her creativity:
Thanks and keep ranting Deborah, we love it!
Stay tuned for next week’s interview with Tameer Barnslee of Healing Presence!
“These gals are shaking the Tree, gathering up around them the fruits of creativity.”
