SUNRISE – Katt Williams is hilarious. I know Williams is hilarious. I know that my friends think he is hilarious. But what continues to amaze me is how everyone else seems to get the jokes that my friends and I laugh at in private company as if they were pulled right from our own lives.
Every Katt Williams joke is like an inside joke. The type of joke that causes you to look at your friends and say, “Yo, we were just talking about that.”
Williams brought his unique brand of stand-up comedy to the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise on May 15. It was one of two stops in Florida on his 100-city “It’s Pimpin Pimpin Tour.” He performed in Tampa the following day.
Williams first exploded on the scene as the vertically challenged pimp, “Money Mike,’’ in Ice Cube’s 2002 hit film Friday after Next.
He has made the character part of his persona, or vice versa. Imagine if Money Mike had gone to college for sociology and then decided to do stand-up comedy. That is a Katt Williams show.
Williams stays current with the news and pop culture trends. His routine is filled with the news of the day, Seinfeld-esque observations mixed in with a couple of dirty jokes.
Some comedians on tour just regurgitate the same routine over and over for the duration of the cross-country jaunt. Williams might tell the same joke, but never the same way.
He dealt with politics, citing his pride in Barack Obama’s accomplishment. He opined on the differences between the races, but not in the typical way. Williams showed his skill when joking about race differences. During this portion of his 75-minute set, it’s almost as if Williams gathers the audience together in a huddle and begins to share his inside jokes.
His racial jokes aren’t biased. The blacks in his jokes can be just as naïve and embarrassing as the whites, Asians and Hispanics. So where a white man may get mauled in a zoo, a black man might smoke a marijuana joint and eat all of his child’s favorite cereal.
Williams has discovered a great truth in America: That everyone here, regardless of race or socioeconomic status, is capable of remarkable stupidity, stupidity that we all can laugh at, the great inside joke.
Williams paced his set well. It didn’t seem as if he had been up for more than an hour. This is probably because he brings massive amounts of energy to the performance. He invests himself in your entertainment. Williams is great with transitions, moving from topic to topic smoothly, compelling you to keep up and pay attention.
When you do pay attention, you see there is something different about a Katt Williams show. I think that difference is effort. Williams makes an effort to keep you interested. He takes time to find those little things in life that cause you to laugh with recognition, saying to yourself, “I’ve thought that too,” or “I know, I know, my co-worker does that.”
Williams was worth the price of admission, and belly ache. I would share more of his routine, but it’s more of an inside joke. You know, between friends.
ChristopherMattox@Hotmail.com
Photo by Sayre Berman. Katt Williams
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