July 2015 - Make 'Em Laugh - WILLIAM BOLT

Winter Elise (@WinterElise1)

Homegrown, William Bolt has an interesting take on the world, thanks to his Santa Fean upbringing and living aboard. Soft spoken, he is not someone you would expect to be a comedian, especialyl when his day job is substitute teaching or selling vintage video games.

From a young age William enjoyed making people think and laugh. It was never about the easy jokes, but, he never considered it a possible career until he moved to Tokyo, Japan. There, a friend convinced him to try an English speaking open mic night. The first time he went he showed up about thirty minutes early only to find it was full. The next week he showed up and hour early, full again. The third week he showed up ninety minutes early and managed to go on at 11:00pm that night. English speaking comedy was a major event in Japan at that time. “There was a girl there who looked like she walked out of ‘Mad Max’ who was heckling everyone. She of course was one of the few people who stayed for my set. She didn’t say a word during my time and then came up to me and told me I was funny.” Motivation comes from strange place in the stand-up world. From that scene, William moved to San Francisco where he try to break up a fight one night and was knocked for his involvement. That ended his comedy dreams for a while. His eye and jaw were damaged in the altercation. Eventually William found his way back to Albuquerque and to the stage.

A self-aware man child who still eats peanut butter on crackers and calls it a meal, William is a paid substitute teacher for APS and avid video-gamer in his free time. You may even catch him around town with a camera doing some freelance photography. But in the evening you’ll find him at local mic nights around town to hone his skills. “Open mics are like going to the gym.” Stand-up, Improv, or dentist commercials you are sure to see this talent guy around Albuquerque. He offers one piece of advice for anyone aspiring to make a career in the arts here in town, “If you don’t like somebody say no if they offer you work. Don’t lose your integrity.” Sound advice.

You can keep up on all of William’s comedy performance by following him @wcbolt on Twitter.