Reggie Watts
Genre-defying musical improviser who transcends the boundaries of comedy, music, and performance art
Quick Facts
Who Is Reggie Watts?
Reggie Watts defies categorization. A virtuosic improviser who seamlessly blends comedy, music, philosophy, and absurdism into a wholly original experience, Watts has carved out a unique niche in the alternative comedy landscape.
Using just his voice, a keyboard, and a looping station, Watts creates complex, layered musical compositions in real-time—often while delivering surreal monologues that drift between accents, languages, and realities. His performances reject traditional punchlines and narrative structures, instead inviting audiences into a world where meaning itself becomes fluid and playful.
Born to a French mother and an African American father, Watts spent his early childhood in Germany before moving to Great Falls, Montana. His diverse background and classical music training (he studied jazz at the Cornish College of the Arts) inform his boundary-pushing approach to performance. Before focusing on comedy, Watts led the soul/funk band Maktub in Seattle and experimented with electronic music.
Watts gained wider recognition through performances on Conan O'Brien's shows and as the bandleader on IFC's Comedy Bang! Bang! In 2015, he became the bandleader for The Late Late Show with James Corden, introducing his experimental sensibilities to a mainstream late-night audience. Despite this commercial success, he has maintained his commitment to improvisation and unpredictability in all his work.
What makes Watts a quintessential alternative comedian is his refusal to distinguish between high and low art, between the profound and the silly. In a single performance, he might transition from a complex musical arrangement to an absurd character bit to a genuinely moving moment of vulnerability—all while maintaining a sense of spontaneity that keeps audiences perpetually off-balance.
Reggie's Unique Performance Techniques
Looping & Layering
At the heart of Watts' performances is his masterful use of loop pedals and effects processors. He builds complex musical arrangements by recording and layering vocal sounds—beatboxing, singing, sound effects—in real time, creating a backing track over which he can improvise.
Unlike traditional musical comedians who prepare songs in advance, Watts creates everything on the spot, making each performance unrepeatable and unique to that moment.
Linguistic Shape-Shifting
Watts constantly shifts between accents, dialects, and even invented languages. He might begin a sentence in a British accent, transition to French-inflected English, and finish with what sounds like academic jargon but is actually nonsensical.
This linguistic playfulness serves to disorient the audience while highlighting how form often obscures content—particularly in academic, political, and corporate speech.
False Expertise
A recurring element in Watts' comedy is his adoption of the tone and vocabulary of authority figures: scientists, professors, motivational speakers, and tech entrepreneurs. He delivers seemingly profound statements that, upon closer examination, contain logical contradictions or are simply nonsensical.
This technique gently satirizes how expertise is performed in contemporary culture while inviting audiences to question their automatic deference to authoritative-sounding language.
Musical Genre Fluidity
Watts' virtuosic musical abilities allow him to mimic and blend genres seamlessly. In a single improvised song, he might incorporate elements of funk, electronic dance music, opera, hip-hop, and jazz—often transitioning between them with no warning.
This genre-bending approach reflects Watts' interest in breaking down artistic boundaries and creating new forms that defy easy categorization.
Notable Performances & Specials
"Why Sh*t So Crazy?" (2010)
Watts' breakthrough comedy special, showcasing his unique blend of music, comedy, and surrealism. Directed by Clay Jeter, it features both live performance and experimental film segments.
Highlight: His improvised song about "having sex in space" that evolves into a complex electronic dance track.
TED Talk (2012)
Watts delivered one of the most unconventional TED talks ever, subverting the format by delivering what sounded like profound insights but was actually an improvised stream of consciousness.
Highlight: His seamless transitions between accents and his parody of inspirational speaking tropes.
"Spatial" (2016)
This Netflix special showcases Watts at his most experimental, combining standup, musical performance, and sketch elements into a surreal whole.
Highlight: His extended improvisation with an audience member that evolves into a bizarrely touching exploration of connection.
Conan O'Brien Appearances
Watts' recurring appearances on Conan helped introduce his experimental style to mainstream audiences. His completely improvised performances consistently left O'Brien visibly delighted and bewildered.
Highlight: His first appearance where he created a complex funk song about "information and disinformation" that stunned the audience.
What Others Say About Reggie
Reggie Watts is exactly himself. That sounds simple but it's radical. He empowers people by his example to be their authentic weird selves.
He's a virtuoso who's completely in command of his instrument, and that instrument is everything—his voice, his body, his technology, the room, the audience.
Reggie has pioneered a form that combines music and comedy in a way that nobody had done before. He's this incredible mix of vulnerability and fearlessness.
There's really no one else like him. He's created his own genre. He's simultaneously making fun of music and making great music. He's making fun of comedy while being truly funny.
Influence & Career Timeline
Watts fronts the Seattle-based soul/funk band Maktub while also experimenting with solo electronic music projects. These early musical experiences would later inform his comedy, particularly his ability to construct songs on the fly.
Begins incorporating comedy elements into his musical performances, gradually developing the improvised, genre-blending style that would become his signature. Moves to New York and becomes a fixture in the city's alternative comedy scene.
Releases his breakthrough comedy special "Why Sh*t So Crazy?" which introduces his unique approach to a wider audience. Begins appearing on Conan O'Brien's shows, further expanding his reach.
Serves as the bandleader on IFC's "Comedy Bang! Bang!" alongside Scott Aukerman, bringing his improvisational musical comedy to television. His work on the show helps bridge the gap between alternative comedy and more mainstream entertainment.
Becomes the bandleader for "The Late Late Show with James Corden," introducing elements of his experimental style to a mainstream late-night audience while continuing to perform solo shows and release specials that push the boundaries of comedy and music.
Watts has influenced a generation of performers by demonstrating that comedy doesn't need to rely on traditional joke structures or punchlines. His success has created space for more experimental approaches to comedy that incorporate music, absurdism, and improvisation.
Younger comedians like James Acaster, Bo Burnham, and Tim Robinson have cited Watts as an influence on their willingness to break conventions and create their own forms. His work has helped legitimize alternative comedy within mainstream entertainment while maintaining its experimental edge.
In Reggie's Own Words
I'm trying to create a situation where people let go of their expectations. There's something beautiful about letting go of knowing what's going to happen next. When people are genuinely surprised, that's a true moment of connection.
I don't like explaining what I do because I think it takes away from it. The mystery is important. I like it when people make their own interpretation of what I'm doing rather than me telling them what they should think about it.
Comedy is a beautiful way to process reality. It allows us to look at something painful or complicated and transform it through a lens that helps us manage it. That's why I think the best comedy often comes from the darkest places.
I've never been interested in fitting into a box. The moment I feel like I'm becoming too comfortable with a certain approach, I try to disrupt that. Growth happens at the edges of comfort.