Katt Williams has been in the entertainment industry for years now and he’s still going strong. But whereas most comedians, even the likes of Dave Chappelle, have bombed before, Williams asserted he’s always been a strong performer. However, in his earlier days, the comic once confessed that he’d bombed twice prior to his mainstream success. One of those times he was under the influence, and the fans knew it.
Katt Williams got started because he snuck into a comedy club after running away from home
As some may know, Katt Williams, emancipated himself at just 13 years old. He traveled from his home in Ohio to Florida. Once there, he’d rely on little resources to take care of himself and survive without his parents.
Eventually, Williams would sneak himself into a comedy club, only to find himself on a comedy stage where he delivered his first joke to the audience. He would later try comedy again in Oklahoma for a cash reward prize, and a chance to perform in front of comic Jeff Foxworthy. This was significant for Williams, as he eventually realized he could make a living doing comedy. This was an important revelation for the then-young Williams, who didn’t even know the profession was a thing.
“I didn’t know that was Richard Pryor’s job,” he told the New Yorker about listening to his idol.
He thought that Pryor was just someone who was simply caught on tape. His journey would later lead him to follow in Pryor’s footsteps as one of the industry’s most prolific comedians. And although Williams asserted that mostly all of his shows were successful, there were two times he admitted to bombing.
Katt Williams experienced one of his only stand-up failures because he performed while high
In an interview with Gakcity, Williams was more than confident about his track record as a comedian. He revealed that he’d been getting the laughs he wanted since the day he started doing comedy.
“I was 16,” Williams said when he was asked when he first started stand-up. “I killed. Five minutes.”
But at the time, Williams revealed that he’d only bombed two times in his long career. One of his bombs was due to a scheduling mishap that caused the comedian to arrive late at a show. But his other stand-up bomb was due to his own choices.
“The second time, I got really, really high,” Williams revealed. “I had two shows. The first show, I killed. Three standing ovations. Went into the backstage with another celebrity. Got too high.”
So by the time he performed the second show, the Scary Movie 5 star was having a bit of difficulty. But fortunately for the comedian, the audience seemed a bit more understanding of Williams’ situation.
“The audience didn’t boo. They were just in shock,” he continued. “Because I was everywhere. I wasn’t finishing jokes. I was only saying the end of the joke. It was crazy. They were watching a dude high and they knew. They were like, ‘Oh, we paid all this money. He was high off of his ass.’”
Katt Williams doesn’t believe drugs enhance an entertainer’s creativity
Whereas some artists may turn to drugs or alcohol to access a certain level of creativity, this wasn’t the case for Williams. In an Instagram Live interview with Fat Joe, the rapper shared how he sometimes thought comedians used drugs for their ideas. But the multi-millionaire believed this wasn’t the case.
“The misconception is that there are drugs that can help you do your job. No there isn’t. There aren’t drugs that help you memorize, to be creative, to come up with something that someone didn’t already say, to figure out the funny thing in something tragic,” Williams said according to Atlanta Black Star. “Those are not the side effect of drugs, those are the side effects of brilliance. So if you think there is some state you can be in that can deliver you a higher frame of comedy, there isn’t. It’s the closest connection with the people.”
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