Katt Williams proved he has at least nine lives when he left thousands in stitches for the St. Louis leg of his ”Born Again…Again” Friday night at the Chaifetz Arena.
In recent years, Williams has been reduced to little more than a regular subject of urban celebrity gossip fodder thanks to arrests, outbursts and no-shows.
Even as the show was underway, more than a few among the audience worried amongst themselves if Williams would arrive to the headlining gig, because his stops in Houston and Atlanta w, he left halfway through his original set and canceled the makeup date a few days later.
But when Williams bounced across the stage in full pimp regalia – fur coat, leopard print three piece suit and relaxed hair – any doubts were silenced.
He closed the show with a bow and a promise that he would always stop in St. Louis because the city rides with him.
The hilarious performance gave them good reason to – and made it clear why he’s been able to pack houses even in the midst of dealing with personal turmoil that would have permanently sidelined careers of comedians with lesser talent.
The opening acts of the “Born Again…Again” tour set Williams up for the grand slam that he served St. Louis comedy fans.
Chalant Phifer was up for the task of hosting the show – which kicked off with unknown St. Louis native Duke Taylor. Taylor’s short performance displayed potential for him to rise in the ranks of the St. Louis comedy scene if he continues to build his confidence and hone his act.
When raunchy southern comic Ashima Franklin hit the stage poking fun at her own shape, the laughs didn’t stop until the entire show was over. In addition to some serious comedy after dark, Franklin spoke of her struggles of being top heavy with no bottom and being caught up in the current trend of women wearing waist trainers.
White comic Richie Redding was charged with opening for Williams.
With his introduction, Chalant set the stage for Redding’s unforgettable performance that threw race-themed comedy in reverse.
He claimed Williams found Redding at Riker’s Island Prison, only to have the stereotype of the average Joe white man walk to the microphone. It turned the audience on its ear and had them open to receive his tongue and cheek observations about African Americans.
A highlight was when he talked about black people having the best danger instincts of any other race – which gives them an unfair advantage during track and field sprinting competitions because of the gun start.
Williams was almost immediately up next for show that had a late start, but llittle to no lag time between acts.
A sizable portion of his 70-minute set was devoted to comedic spins on the less than savory news that kept him in the spotlight.
“I’m black and I’m a celebrity, that means I have two targets on my back,” Williams said. “And there is no way you can dodge two targets.”
Williams worked his recent health scares – including a torn shoulder, a spider bite and a staph infection – as a huge chunk of his hilarious set.
“I just couldn’t see myself being killed by a [expletive] spider,” Williams said.
“At first I thought maybe I got some special powers,” Williams said. “Then I thought, ‘what if the spider stole my powers? What if there’s a spider running around [expletive] all ‘willy nilly’ and telling jokes and [expletive]?”
He claimed that he was bitten by a brown recluse spider and later began experiencing symptoms of the infection while on stage after being treated for the spider bite.
“I almost died while on stage telling jokes about almost dying,” Williams said. “What kind of [expletive] is that?”
Williams also worked the unrest in Ferguson into is act – woven around his own problems with the law.
“I know about y’all’s police, so I was in my hotel room like a kid on punishment,” Williams said. “I was like ‘Jesus, just let me stay out of trouble and away from spiders.’”
On one of the few serious notes of the night, Williams gave props to the Ferguson protesters, essentially saying that the whole world was proud of how they stood up against the system.
He talked about his own issues with police and how he’s facing serious prison time for a bunch of misdemeanors and an armed robbery – for what he says was the act of taking a phone and deleting footage that was recorded of him.
“How is this armed robbery, because I used my arms?”
He was in top form as he constantly reminded the crowd with each hilarious bit that it was his comedic talent – and not troublesome controversy – that deserves the credit for his staying power in the industry.
