Michael Louis Calvillo Must Be Destroyed

Saw the Katt man last night…

Whoa! I’m not sure what the hell was going on.

The Man came out dressed in rodeo-militant-raver wear complete with spike studded captain’s hat and green lights attached to the front bill. A bull’s head skeleton, those old western kind, adorned his mic stand. And when he spoke, it was as if his spirit had been through the meat-grinder. He was beat down, Loyal Reader.

There were funny bits, sure, there were smart-psycho genius funny jokes, but his morose cadence and Presence with a capital ‘P’ were lethargic at best. The otherwise hyper, motormouth was pausing between bits while the crowd fell into awkward silences. One Chicano man freaked out after about an hour of the odd, scatological weirdness. He was so irritated he threw up his arms and screamed, “THIS SHOW SUCKS!” on his way out the door.

Williams instantly came to life, cussing out the heckler, baiting him, threatening to drop kick him right there on the stage. The place felt alive for a few electric minutes, but then Katt went into more of that slow drawl, drawing out stranger and stranger bits. Punch lines came at odd intervals. More people got up and left (this happened at a clip of about one or two couples every fifteen to twenty minutes).

(A picture is worth a thousand words.)

My party was getting antsy (and we’re generally a pretty patient bunch). But the vibe in the room never improved. It soured and that was that. We ended up leaving after about two hours, frustrated that we didn’t get what we thought we were going to. There were some brilliant bits sprinkled throughout the set. Katt Williams, as nutso as he seems, is still an endearing figure. Throughout the set he kept referencing his wealth and then bringing up crap like how Dave Chappelle walked away from 50 million because the Devil Media Outlet he worked for was only giving him 10% of five hundred million dollars. Because he walked away, the Media Outlet made it look like he was smoking crack. They asked the public, how can you walk away from 50 million dollars! They insinuated that you’d have to be on crack to pass on 50 million bucks!

Nobody really understood the financial chaos going on. Nobody listened to the details, they just figured Dave went crazy. The Media Outlet was screwing him over. All of this paired with the onset of mega-fame? Fuggedaboutit. The poor dude just needed to get away. This is all fine and good and interesting even, I’m glad Katt cleared it up, but the material wasn’t necessarily funny. It made me feel like Katt was the one in need of a relaxing getaway.

(Avoid the sanitarium at all costs! Stay sane!)

The comic delivered his material with such a quiet scorn that everything felt sharp and kind of uneasy. He kept putting himself down, shaking his head and letting us know how unfunny he was. He reasoned that if Dave Chappelle was Number One, and Dave Chappelle doesn’t even work, then why should Katt? If the funniest guy in the world wasn’t functioning, why should Katt? I understand what he was trying to say, but it still seems kind of illogical. You’re you, not Chappelle! You don’t have to share his pain. Besides who cares how much you empathize with Chappelle (who I love just as much)? I want some fun jokes, dammit!

(Uncomfortable comedy)

The jokes came, but they came implanted deep inside confessional grenades that kept exploding in routines about his “over-structured” childhood as a Jehovah’s Witness or Conspiracy Theorist paranoia about Muslims, and celebrity assassinations, and Bible stories. The man even attacked evolution, claiming it didn’t exist because the dinosaurs never adapted. Hmmm. Can anyone say cataclysm? There are some things you just can’t adapt to.

The off night resulted in some interesting moments. I still think Katt is an incredible comedian, deserving of all the money, and awards, and honors, he has earned (and can’t seem to stop talking about), but he seems to be going through some burnt out phase where touring is wearing him down. Maybe he was just tired. I think it goes deeper. I think Celebrity is making him sick. Money is losing its luster. His life is probably ready to evolve into a new phase (believe that).

I have faith Katt will get his mind right. He’s super smart. Set pieces on The Rodeo and Muddin’ and White People and Prison and Life in General, were as deep and inspired as they were funny. His rant on cancer was killer (I suppose I’m a little biased here). He’s definitely one of the special ones, I just think he ‘s in dire need of a rest. As rich as he boasts to be he can afford it. So please, Mr. Katt Williams, fly away. Lounge on a tropical beach. Love your blessed life. Speed talk your way back into our good graces!

A path to glory…

This entry was posted on August 6, 2011 at 9:58 pm and is filed under News, Rants, Raves. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.