Patricia “Pat” Williams never wanted to be a comedian. Giving birth to her first child at fourteen changed her priorities. Selling drugs to support her children became her life.
Struggling, her caseworker encouraged her to try comedy. Once Pat took the stage, she never looked back.
“I got on stage, and I was like, ‘Okay, this is me,’” Ms. Pat said.
Now, Ms. Pat has a Netflix stand-up special, “Ms. Pat: Y’all Wanna Hear Something Crazy?,” with raved reviews. Her hit series, “The Ms. Pat Show,” just earned its third Emmy nomination. And she’s not done.
The Atlanta native is bringing her raunchy comedy to The Parker in Fort Lauderdale on Oct. 4. Expect your jaw to drop.
Ms. Pat made it her business to tell everybody her business. She feels her life is just another story to tell as she nonchalantly mentions her time being abused and shot during shows.
“I don’t know why I went through the things I went through. But I do know I made it through, and I’m here to talk about it,” Ms. Pat said.
She’s inspired by Richard Pryor and Bernie Mac’s comedic storytelling. Her stand-up is meticulously planned, but she never shies away from improvising with her audience.
“I never look at myself as being funny,” Ms. Pat said. “I was just that person that would say things that other people were thinking.”
Her material is defined by her personal stories. Ms. Pat turns her tragedies into stand-up triumphs and uses them to make every joke better than the last.
“It’s what I went through in life, but it’s okay to laugh,” Ms. Pat said. “I made it through.”
Ms. Pat struggled growing outside Atlanta. Traveling to shows across the Midwest hurt her wallet, yet she was determined to make a name for herself.
Her podcast, “The Patdown with Ms. Pat,” became a hit. Her growing acclaim sent her to the Joe Rogan podcast. Her most popular episode appearance has over a million views. Ms. Pat’s podcast is now rated 5 stars with over six thousand reviews on Apple podcasts.
Ms. Pat’s rising stardom put her on Hollywood’s radar. Imagine Entertainment reached out to her about starting a television series.
For the next five years, Ms. Pat and playwright Jordan E. Cooper spent day and night creating the pilot for “The Ms. Pat Show.” The show struggled to find its home, facing multiple rejections.
She knew achieving her dream wasn’t going to be easy.
“All I’ve ever heard was ‘no’ in my life,” Ms. Pat said. “So those ‘no’s weren’t going to kill me.”
She kept honing her comedy while eagerly waiting to see which network would bet on her. Hulu then bought the show and filmed the pilot. However, it didn’t air on their service, since it wasn’t “prestige” enough. Still, she never lost faith.
“I never felt like we weren’t going to get picked up,” Ms. Pat said.
A month later, Black Entertainment Television wanted to buy the show and put it on their new streaming service, BET+. BET bet on the show to launch their platform.
When “The Ms. Pat Show” premiered, the BET+ app almost crashed. BET then realized they struck gold with Ms. Pat.
Filming an episode is like a “family reunion.” With a DJ and live audience, the fun doesn’t stop. At first, the show only had a twenty person live audience. Now, they struggle with overcrowding.
The sitcom has three Emmy nominations for outstanding directing in a comedy series. It gave BET+ its first nominations.
Currently, she’s dominating the court comedy scene. Her hit series, “Ms. Pat Settles It,” is unprecedented.
As a “judge,” she decides if food stamps count as payment, and what is proper hair wig etiquette in real cases. With her friends as the jury, there’s no shortage of laughs.
“You don’t get that from court shows on mainstream TV,” Ms. Pat said.
She upped the ante in season two, which is now airing on BET. Despite already being on Jimmy Kimmel, Steph Meyes and Trevor Noah’s talk shows, Ms. Pat wants to go even further.
“I want to reach all of [the talk shows],” Ms. Pat said. “Just hold on.”
She invites you to The Parker in Fort Lauderdale on Oct. 4 to see her “Hot & Flashy” stand-up tour.
“Expect to laugh, cry and feel,” Ms. Pat said. “I try to wake up every emotion I can in people when I’m doing my stand-up.”
Ms. Pat sets herself apart with her unique stories and unfiltered jokes. Don’t be surprised when she becomes the next Issa Rae.
Tickets for her Oct. 4 show are on sale on her website. Don’t forget to check out the hysterical “Ms. Pat Settles It.” Episodes are airing now on BET. See why “The Ms. Pat Show” got nominated for its third Emmy on BET+.