Earlier this year, comic-actor Katt Williams became a viral sensation when he spilled a lot of tea on a Club Shay Shay, a weekly podcast hosted by Shannon Sharpe. Williams went after other comics, Steve Harvey and Cedric the Entertainer, with the rawness that comics like Bill Hicks, Sam Kinison, George Carlin and Richard Pryor used to deliver.
I don’t know if the Netflix special Katt Williams: Woke Foke was already scheduled at the time or not. But if it wasn’t, the joke is on Netflix because Williams doesn’t deliver as much. It’s almost like he’s worried about what was going to be said or he expected the audience to hang on to his every word the same what they did on the podcast. I think it might have been the latter because you can sense his unease as a joke doesn’t land and he might have been anticipating laughter and/or applause. There’s too many awkward pauses as he seems unable to segue from one topic to another.
This was advertised as a live special and that’s the problem. If it had been recorded ahead and edited, it would’ve only been about half an hour instead of the hour-long format. And there’s only about 20 minutes of good humor and rawness. Instead, he’s too busy dragging on about the same thing. And you can sense how he’s not really into the material as much as he thought. Maybe the material didn’t land the way he wanted earlier and he had a hard time rebounding.
A good comic can tell a simple joke and make you laugh better. Williams makes a few good topical jokes notably about the Montgomery, Ala. riverfront brawl but that was nine months ago. And jokes about the the Trump shoes and Joe Biden are good. Yet, some of the material seems way too dated. And for a live show to have dated material isn’t worth the price of admissions.
It’s hard for comics because they always got to stay fresh. Mick Jagger can still sing “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” nearly 60 years later and the crowd will go wild. Williams never seems to hold back. I liked him in movies like Norbit and Friday After Next. But there seemed to be technical difficulties as Williams used photographs on a big screen to help him with the jokes that didn’t hit the right way.
I’ve heard people say this felt more like a motivational speaker or a power-point presentation. And sitting through one of those for a whole hour can be dull. You don’t have to keep the audience laughing every second you’re on stage but at least make it worth their while. Even some of the better comics like Pryor have had off days. His 1982 concert movie Live on Sunset Strip was filmed over the course of two shows. And the first show Pryor bombed so bad he walked off the stage apologizing. The next night he killed it. And it’s still one of the best stand-up concert movies ever because it was pieced together.
I’m pretty sure Williams will be back and bring his A-game next time. But for something that was advertised like this, he should’ve been more prepared.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 