Art Outside Interview: Reggie Watts
Performing this Friday night at Art Outside is Reggie Watts with his unique blend of stream of conscious musical comedy. Reggie has produced numerous broadband original comedy series for ComedyCentral.com, Superdeluxe.com, IFC.com, and Vimeo and originally played with the Seattle based soul band Maktub. The "Supercomedian" has performed at arts festivals across the country as well as overseas for delighted comedy and music fans alike.
What inspired you to do the brand of musical comedy that you do?
I don't know. I guess just being…it's hard to say…I guess I just always liked music and I just always thought of it as a good way to make people laugh. It just gets into people's souls a little bit more easily.
Are there people who don't get the comedy aspect and maybe think it's serious music?
No, usually, I'm pretty silly on stage and people catch on pretty well. Unless it's like a music festival and I'm just on the line up then people might get confused. But again, people will usually catch on.
You've performed at many festivals across the country, which city do you enjoy going back to?
Well I really love Portland, a lot. And I love Austin. A lot a lot. I love New York. LA can be fun. I haven't done a lot of Seattle fests but those are kind of the main cities that I enjoy performing in the United States.
What about overseas?
Yeah I love performing overseas. I love performing in London, all over England, Scotland, and I've performed in Ireland. France was fun. I haven't done a lot over there as a comedian I've only played in Paris…. Köln, I guess that's it as a comedian. Well that's not true actually I did an expansive tour a long time ago. So yeah, i've performed all over but I enjoyed performing in Sweden, Stockholm was great. Denmark was really fun too. Australia was awesome. Like pretty much every place in Australia. I really love Melbourne and Sydney. And Japan was cool when I did it, a long time ago.
Are there any countries that get your humor more than others?
Usually I try to change the show to match the place that I'm at. So most of the time, someone's going to get something out of it. I think if I'm in an English speaking country I can be a little more conceptual and subtle whereas a non-English speaking country I would rely more on sounds and using parts of their language and then using music to tie that all together. So, I don't know. It depends. They're all different and I think that people will get something out of it in all the various places I perform.
What do you do when you come to Austin?
I like going to that…what's the movie theater called? The...
The Alamo?
That's it. The Alamo! Love watching movies there. It's awesome. I love going there and I love just walking around downtown. I've mainly been there for festivals so I haven't seen it like Austin chilling. But I've started to know more people there, like Ron Berry and Rude Mechanicals and their crew that hangs around them. Hanging out at their houses, you know going to parties and just talking to people, having good food and you know, it's a pretty awesome town no matter where you go. I just try to hook up with people that I like and see how they live.
What exactly will you have in store for this weekend's performance?
(laughs) You know I don't know.
Is it top secret?
No, it's not top secret, I think it just depends. I never know until I get there. As soon as I get there I kind of get an idea of what's going on, what the vibe is, and then just go on stage and try some shit out.
What is the one thing you like people to walk away with when they leave your shows?
Confusion.
