by Katt Williams knows that comedy is show business, and you need to know both the business and how to put on a show.
Williams told me that this morning in an exclusive interview for my podcast, Last Things First, and he certainly still delivers when it’s time to shine. His four HBO specials have been great. I recently rewatched 2008’s It’s Pimpin’ Pimpin’, also now on Netflix, although my favorite special of his remains his 2014 effort directed by Spike Lee, Priceless: Afterlife.
His new hour and first for Netflix, Great America, demonstrates that no matter what you see or hear about Katt from TMZ or the tabloids, when he’s onstage, he’s on.
Williams told me that the simulated rain in the background is symbolic of the storms we’re living through now. All is sunny inside, though.
As I wrote in my review for Decider:
Even if it’s raining outside his window as he jokes about Jacksonville and its peculiar “sun rules” and “slave heat.” But he says he picked Florida’s largest city because its diversity exemplifies our nation’s greatness. “We get a real taste of what the fuck America is. We get everybody in the same building at the same time at the same place in Jacksonville,” Williams says. He then proves his point by asking various demographic groups to applaud and holler to announce their presence in the theater. “We can all feel safe tonight.”
