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Karen Williams is a stand-up comedian who first took the stage in the 1980s. She set a new standard for representation as the first openly gay Black comedian. Across nearly forty years of comedy, Williams has remained true to herself through it all; she spends ample stage-time discussing her sexuality, race, and femininity, not allowing any part of herself to go unnoticed.
Featured in the award-winning comedy/documentary "We're Funny That Way," she’s shown regularly on HBO and was a nominee for the 1999 GLAMA Award for her outrageously funny comedy CD, "human beings: what a concept" (Uproar Records). As a solo entertainer, Karen Williams delights SRO audiences from San Francisco to South Beach to Sydney.
Known for her quick repartee, insightful commentary, and audience rapport, Karen Williams is unabashedly herself. The nation’s first openly lesbian black comic to include specifically lesbian material in her act, Karen Williams started building her career in the early 1980’s in the San Francisco Bay area. In 1988, in response to the AIDS ...
Jun 26, 2021 · June 26, 2021. Isabelle Lichtenstein. Karen Williams by KEITH FORD. As the first openly lesbian Black comic in the United States to include specifically lesbian material in her act, Karen Williams changed the game for a number of communities. Since then, she’s had a prolific career in comedy. She’s released “I Need A Snack,” a one-hour ...
Williams certainly deserved a night off. She had just hopped off the boat from performances on an Olivia cruise through Scandinavia, and was busy planning three birthday parties, all on the same weekend and all her own, with one benefiting the local LGBT center near her home in Cleveland, Ohio.
Stand-up comic and inspirational speaker, Karen Williams, shares her power with the people (while cracking them up).
Jul 6, 2006 · The Long Laugh: Comic Karen Williams. Sarah Warn July 6, 2006. 6 minutes read. Karen Williams has been practicing Nichiren Buddhism for 35 years and performing standup comedy for 22. There’s a deep connection between the two vocations. “I got the courage to be out and to be a lesbian comic–and to continue to be who I am as a human being ...
