E8 | E X P R E S S | 0 5 . 2 9 . 2 0 1 4 | T H U R S D AY
Weekend Pass | entertainment
Off the Top of His Head Reggie Watts adds his brand of spontaneous humor to New Belgium’s wacky bike and beer party Tour de Fat Whenever Reggie Watts has an idea for a short film, there’s a high likelihood we’ll get to see it. As a co-creator of YouTube channel JASH, the musician/ comedian has carte blanche (and a modest budget) to create anything he wants, whether that’s making a music video in a single day or portraying a “Welcome Back, Kotter”-inspired teacher. “It’s an opportunity to do whatever ideas I have in my head,” Watts says. “I just go for it and they’re down. That’s rare.” It’s the kind of freedom Watts, 42, looks for in his projects — including his role as bandleader on IFC’s surreal talk show “Comedy Bang! Bang!” (10:30 p.m., Thu.) — and practices in his improvised live shows. Go to see Watts perform Saturday in D.C. at Yards Park during New Belgium Brewing Company’s free Tour de Fat festival and you’ll get to hear him write jokes and compose songs just as he thinks of them. Or you could just read this. Hey Reggie, what are you up to today?
Reggie Watts stars as the one-manbandleader on IFC’s mock talk show “Comedy Bang! Bang!”
with my friends. It’s a mini-carnival type of thing.
Hmm … just existing, I guess. They treat me very well. They’re good people. It’s for awareness for, like, riding bicycles.
There’s some time travel that happens, which is great. There’s also a murder mystery, there’s a black-andwhite episode. There are some really dumb commercials that we made.
That’s a funny thing to raise awareness for.
Are you involved with the creative process or are you just reading lines?
Once in a while, I’ll have a quick idea that I’ll tell [host] Scott [Aukerman] about and they might use it. If I wanted to [write] I probably could, but I’m a little too lazy. You’re performing in D.C. during New Belgium’s Tour de Fat. What do you know about the festival?
I’ve done a few of them. They’re really, really cool. It’s basically a festival filled with [people like] my friends from [my hometown of] Missoula, Mont. Everyone in Missoula loves drinking beer, or making their own beer, and riding bikes all the time and listening to cool, weird music. So it’s basically just hanging out
Yeah. I actually don’t drink beer but I enjoy that people enjoy it because it’s a thing that people get super connoisseur-y about. Do you ride bikes?
I do. Not as much as I want to because I travel so much, but I do. So you can enjoy the bike aspect.
I can enjoy people drinking beer and looking very refreshed. Is it harder for your act — a mix of jokes and music — to come across in a festival setting, since you’re making things up on the spot?
No, not really. It’s pretty mellow, you know. People are in a good mood and it’s usually in the afternoon. I get up and people seem ready to do things. All the stuff they have up there is pretty weird. There’s this guy that goes by the moniker
CHRIS RAGAZZO (IFC)
You wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t fun. “Comedy Bang! Bang!” is now in Season 3. Can you tease some out-of-context things that happen this cycle?
“Getting lost in [improvisation] means you’re in the zone, so it’s just allowing whatever’s happening to happen. That’s encouraging because you go, Oh, chaos is on my side.”
Ssssnake, he does these really weird acts. He’ll pair up with this strange band of bicycle-inspired dudes and do these weird cover songs. It’s a bunch of weirdness, so everyone’s tuned into that already. So by the time you get onstage, you don’t even seem that weird.
No, not at that point. Do you ever freeze up onstage, or lose track of where you’re going and get lost in an improv?
I might but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Getting lost in some-
thing means you’re in the zone, so it’s just allowing whatever’s happening to happen. That’s encouraging because you go, Oh, chaos is on my side. You play a teacher in your Web series “TEACH.” Did you ever want to be one?
I don’t think I ever wanted to be an actual teacher, just because they seem to have to do a lot of work, and they have to actually show up on time. But just being able to pop in and be a teacher for a moment, that’s only fun.