Reggie Watts

Reginald Lucien Frank Roger Watts (born March 23, 1972) is an American comedian, musician, beatboxer, and actor. His improvised musical sets are created using only his voice, a keyboard, and a looping machine. He refers to himself as a "disinformationist" who aims to disorient his audience in a comedic fashion. He was the regular house musician on the spoof IFC talk show '' Comedy Bang! Bang!'' and led the house band for ''The Late Late Show with James Corden'' from 2015 to 2023.

Early life

Reginald Lucien Frank Roger Watts was born in Stuttgart (which was then in West Germany) on March 23, 1972, the son of French mother Christiane and African-American father Charles Alphonso Watts. His parents were there at the time due to his father's role as a Master Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, which also later led the family to live in France, Italy, and Spain before returning to the U.S. They settled in Great Falls, Montana, where Watts grew up and graduated from Great Falls High School in 1990. He began piano and violin lessons at the age of five, with his love of music beginning as a young child when he saw Ray Charles play the piano on television. He moved to Seattle at the age of 18 to study music, attending the Art Institute of Seattle before studying jazz at Cornish College of the Arts.

Career

Early career (1996–2009)

In 1996, Watts became the frontman for the band Maktub. While recording and touring from 1996 to 2000 with Wayne Horvitz's 4+1 Ensemble as a keyboardist, he was forced to downsize his effects pedal from a Roland Space Echo tape delay to a Line 6 DL4 delay modeler, a smaller device that makes it easy to travel. He began using the Line 6 in live shows with Maktub to replicate the duplicate harmonies from the recorded material. He experimented with improvising entire songs in solo acts with the Line 6, while trying to sound like Tom Waits, playing initial gigs at small Seattle venues and artist bungalows. While in Seattle, he composed musical scores for dance choreographers and dabbled in sketch comedy with longtime friend and future playwright Tommy Smith, who later ended their collaborative relationship when Watts failed to credit him for co-writing the lyrics of his viral hits "Fuck Shit Stack" and "What About Blowjobs?"

In 2004, after recording five albums over eight years, Watts moved to New York City's Lower East Side. In 2005, he recorded his first solo single, "So Beautiful". Inspired by '' Stella'' and '' Wet Hot American Summer'', he began infusing spontaneous comedic material with the beatbox-driven musical compositions. He also shot comedic shorts for Superdeluxe, Vimeo, and CollegeHumor.

In 2007, Watts appeared on Plum TV's ''Scott Bateman Presents Scott Bateman Presents'' and starred in the CollegeHumor internet video "What About Blowjobs?". The video became a viral hit. The same year, he also wrote and performed the theme song for '' Penelope Princess of Pets'', a web comedy series featuring Kristen Schaal and H. Jon Benjamin. He additionally appeared on the 2007 album ''Turn My Teeth Up!'' by electro-funk group Baby Elephant (composed of Prince Paul and P-Funk keyboardist Bernie Worrell). In 2008, Watts recorded a new special entitled ''Disinformation'', which features his performance at the Under the Radar Festival at the Public Theater. He also appeared in the independent film ''Steel of Fire Warriors 2010 A.D.'' as a Mutantzoid Underling and on an episode of ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'', as well as making other various television appearances.

In 2009, Watts recorded his first solo EP, ''Pot Cookies''. He also began appearing on the PBS Kids' children's program ''The Electric Company''. He performed in his first solo short film ''Watts Does London'' and made a small appearance on Comedy Central's ''Michael and Michael Have Issues''. He then did voice work for an episode of Adult Swim's '' The Venture Bros.'', Australia's '' Good News Week'', and appeared in the U.S. documentary '' The Yes Men Fix the World''. He also toured in support of Devo in a fall 2009 tour.

''Why Shit So Crazy?'' (2010–2011)

In 2010, Waverly Films shot a one-hour special on Watts called '' Why Shit So Crazy?'' The special features Watts in live performance at New York venues Galapagos, The Bellhouse, and (Le) Poisson Rouge, bookended with brief sketches and a music video of Watts' "Fuck Shit Stack". Comedy Central aired ''Why Shit So Crazy?'' and released the film as a dual DVD/CD package. Afterwards, Watts made various public appearances, including during Conan O'Brien's The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour.

''A Live at Central Park'' (2012)

Watts's second stand-up special, ''A Live at Central Park'', premiered on Comedy Central in the "Secret Stash" on May 12, 2012. It was completely uncensored and received positive reviews. The film was made available as a CD/DVD through Watts' official website as well as Comedy Central's online store.

Soon afterwards, Watts performed a song with LCD Soundsystem on their farewell documentary movie, '' Shut Up and Play the Hits''.

''Comedy Bang! Bang!'' (2012–2015)

In 2012, Watts began starring opposite Scott Aukerman on the IFC series '' Comedy Bang! Bang!'' based on the podcast of the same name. That same year, Watts began collaborating with Michael Cera, Tim & Eric, and Sarah Silverman to create a comedy YouTube channel called Jash.

In 2013, On the Boards recorded a new Watts special entitled ''Transition'', which played at various arts festivals including the Under the Radar Festival at The Public Theater; it was winner of the MAP Fund Award and Creative Capital award. The same year, Watts was invited to perform at Yoko Ono's Meltdown 2013 on the South Bank in London where he was supported by Mac Lethal.

In 2014, Watts contributed the outro vocal on "Holy City" and beatbox on the title track of the Joan As Police Woman album ''The Classic''. He also appeared as the last act in the season 4 premiere of '' John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show'' where he told some jokes and performed a song. In December 2014, following CBS's announcement that Watts would lead ''The Late Late Show'' band, Aukerman announced that Watts would leave ''Comedy Bang! Bang!'' after the first half of 2015. Watts' final episode of ''Comedy Bang! Bang!'' was on June 5, 2015.

''The Late Late Show with James Corden'' and ''Spatial'' (2015–2023)

Watts served as the bandleader and announcer for ''The Late Late Show with James Corden'' for its entire run from 2015 to 2023. He described his role on the show as "a mix of Paul Shaffer and Andy Richter". His band on the show was unofficially named Karen, but in response to the rise of that name being used as an insult, the band was renamed Melissa. Watts had a slot on the show to ask a guest a question about anything called Reggie's Question. The questions were a continuation of his time on ''Comedy Bang! Bang!'' and followed his preference for surreal comedy in his stand-up act.

On December 6, 2016, Watts' Netflix special ''Spatial'' was released.

''Autobiography'' (2023)

''Great Falls, MT; Fast Times, Post-Punk Weirdos, and a Tale of Coming Home Again''

The audio version, read by Watts, includes sounds and samples of his music.

Performance style

Watts utilizes improvisation in his solo shows, which consist of him singing and rapping both with words and with sound poetry, accompanying himself by either beatboxing

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