By Houston Williams
"All comedy comes from a dark place."
-Katt Williams
In his new DVD, Pimpadelic, Katt Williams often refers to his once illustrious career as a stand up comic, a legacy that still resonates with fans. However, the video now may be one of the last documents to chronicle his stand up life now that the entertainer has official retired from comedy.
The film, mostly taped in Washington D.C., also serves as a glimpse into the murky recesses of Katt's mind as well as his comedic genius.
"If you're going to be the caliber [comic] that I am, you have to have a lot of bulls**t in your life," he says in the limo commuting him through the city. "As a comic, the bad things are good. The journey is worthwhile."
And from the moment he jumps on the stage, he offers much that is worth watching, merging the reality and humor into a highly combustible mix.
On money and Michael Jackson, he says:
"That's why sometimes you don't don't want too much f**kin' money. Look at Michael Jackson. He ain't mean to look like that. That wasn't in his f**kin' plan," he said. "That's not the face he thought he was finna end up with. He just had too much money. Sometimes being broke is a mutha f**kin' protection.
In the video, he visits the D.C. Iverson Mall wearing a bulletproof vest under baby blue leather.
He would later quip from stage that the shopping area was so small, it was in the shape of a circle.
Comedy is expected and routine from Katt. Pimpadelic features Katt in rare form as he sheds the humor and offers his more human, intimate side. He discuses his family life, his relationship to God and offers gems of wisdom to those daring enough to pursue comedy. These are the moments that will endure and round out Katt’s outrageous public pimp persona.
On success, he says, "Life is change. I'm trying to be changed by all new circumstances. It would be ridiculous for me to get money and fame and not change. If I was going to stay the same, I could have stayed in the same position. I want to change more. That's the goal."
But the comedy is what ultimately anchors Pimpadelic and will please all fans of Katt Williams and earn him new ones.
Katt even takes technology to task.
"Ya'll remember when the cell phone came out, was it not this mutha f**kin' big?" Katt says holding up a chair. "Now the cell phone's so small that by next year...its going to be a chip on a n***gas tongue. "Hello, no n***a, I'm on the tongue phone."
At the end of Pimpadelic, Katt sums up his aims nicely.
"You try to be good. You try. You try to do as much good as you can possibly do," he say of his job as comic and man. "I want to get a promotion, I want to get a raise and I want to retire," he ends.
Pimpadelic includes some footage that is older and likely identifiable by hardcore Katt Williams fans. Still, the grainy footage is like sitting in a live comedy show – ultimately pleasurable.
