Five questions with Doug Williams

NEW YORK -- When he was 26, comedian Doug Williams left Alabama with $600 in his pocket and headed for Hollywood. Seven years later, Williams says he's finally arrived.

"I came from Montgomery, Ala., a small town. Most of my friends are back in Montgomery working at these local factories and plants," he said in a recent interview.

"Hollywood is a big dream out there, because it's so far from that."

Williams started out as a rapper. "The group was trying to be serious, but my raps always came out humorous, so my friends told me I should be a comedian."

He started performing standup and doing showcases at a local comedy club while attending Alabama State University.

In 1995, he moved to Los Angeles, landing a role in "The Nutty Professor." Williams was arrested for domestic violence shortly after the movie wrapped.

"After that incident, my life was really falling apart," he said. He did a "short stint" in jail, and attended anger management classes for a year. While the classes helped, Williams said he found the stage to be the best therapy.

"Had it not been for standup and getting up onstage and talking about that incident, I don't know what would have happened to me," he said. "Comedy saved my life."

Now a spokesman against domestic violence, Williams stars as Kevin, the single sportswriter and chauvinistic pool player always ready to dispense advice, on HBO's "The Mind of the Married Man." He also appears on BET's "Comic View" and "The Way We Do It," and is a fixture on the standup circuit.

He enjoys life with friends and family in Los Angeles. But he never forgets where he came from -- or the true constant in his life.

Comedy "has never failed me," he said.

1. Who encouraged you when you were starting out?

Williams: When I was coming up in the early '90s, when Arsenio Hall broke with 'The Arsenio Hall Show,' he really gave black entertainers a sense of encouragement because to get on ... Jay Leno or (David) Letterman, everything had to fall right for you to make those shows. You had to be the cream of the crop. But when Arsenio came on, it really made us feel like we had a legitimate chance to get on the show.

2. Who are your favorite comedians?

Williams: A comedian I really, really, really like -- and I've had an opportunity to meet him a few times, and he's always giving me encouraging words -- is Martin Lawrence. I really have a lot of respect for Martin. Eddie Murphy would fall into that (category), too. And Richard Pryor, just watching him. We're all -- the New Age comedians -- clones of Richard Pryor, with Eddie Murphy being first. He set the bar so high, and we love watching him so much.

3. How did you find humor in something as serious as domestic violence?

Williams: Life is funny. And the best comedy comes from tragedy. My favorite comedians are Richard Pryor, George Carlin. When you listen to those people, they talk about tragic situations that they made funny. So I found the humor in my tragedy and I was able to relay that to people, to convey that message.

4. Do you use the stage as an emotional outlet?

Williams: Absolutely. ... It really keeps me sane because my act really surrounds me and my trials and tribulations -- what I go through dealing with relationships and people.

5. Is comedy therapeutic for you?

Williams: Some people take up a hobby. For some people, it's eating. Actually, for a lot of people it's eating. Standup has been that release for me, that form to express myself.