Still, those leaving would have had sore faces from laughing so much.
Large sections of Watts’ show were given to his stream-of-conscious musings and often indlugently veered off into nonsense as Watts appeared to run out of ideas on where to take them.
Perhaps that was the point, though. Unlike any comedy show anyone has ever seen, it was definitely unique in the fact that no matter how talented Watts may be, he would surely never be able to identically repeat this performance.
This approach kept the full house on the edge of their seats for the show’s duration, Watts garnering such fervent appreciation for any move he made you got the feeling he could have farted into his microphone, looped and vocoded it and his army of fans would have blushed with joy and gushed “Oh, Reggie.”
But there’s no doubt he’s funny, both verbally and physically – his large, afro-topped frame bopping about the tiny circular stage drawing one of the evenings largest cheers – and his social observations and accents spot on.
Watts adopts a variety of personas – from lecturer to Rastafarian – and his mastery at building a song, using nothing but the sounds he can create from his voicebox, is nothing short of exceptional. He can go from death-metal gruff to baritone to falsetto effortlessly and his understanding of rhythm is right on point.
If you get the offer to see Watts live, book tickets without a moment’s hesitation – it’ll be crazy, entertaining, funny and unexpected all at the same time. And you, too, will leave with a sore face and the feeling you’ve just seen one talented (as Watts would say) mutherf**ka!
WORDS: JAHN VANNISSELROY
