Photo: Allan E. Schoening
Having been in Australia for a few dates already on his ‘Hello Humans’ tour, comedian/artist/musician and more, Reggie Watts, still has some time left in the country, currently gearing up for some shows in Sydney as part of Just For Laughs and a final gig in Perth. Larry chats with him about his familiarity with Australia now he’s formed quite a bond with audiences this way of the year, current and future projects, working with Flight Facilities and more!
How did Melbourne treat you?
It was great! Really, really good. A really professional audience, it was good.
Fair enough! What are your general experiences in Australia like?
They’re always great, I’ve had a lot of great times here. It’s always been a place I’ve wanted to check out and every time I come back, I learn a little bit more. It’s awesome.
Do you have some favourite places to go now?
Yeah, I really love Melbourne a lot. I think it’s a super cool city. I like Sydney too. Sydney’s a little more ‘adult’, in a way. Melbourne’s a little more like a crazy teenager, but Sydney’s a little more refined. Every city’s got its weirder parts and shady parts, but in general, Sydney’s got more of a respectability just because it has all the iconic imagery that represents ‘Australia’. I enjoy those cities. Perth is a weird city, but it’s interesting. I really like Mullumbimby, I had a really good time there. It was really mellow. Byron Bay is really beautiful. I like those places.
Mullumbimby is a little more famous now, because that’s where Iggy Azalea’s from!
Oh really? That’s funny, I had no idea.
That’s their claim to fame now.
That’s amazing.
Well, let’s talk about the show – you’re going to be doing the Eddie Izzard gala as well. These gala events, I’m sure you’ve done a lot of them over the years, where you have to try and get your material across in 10 minutes or less. How does that change the way you approach the show? Do you jump in straight away and just see what works, or do you just pick something from your show that’s already been done pretty well?
I don’t really think about it too much. All it is, is just different lengths of time to perform. I’m like, ‘Okay, ten minutes. I have a rough idea…’ I just have to make sure I do as much stuff as I can and then when ten minutes is up I’m like, ‘Thanks a lot!’ It’s all just an amount of time to create energy.
Now that people know you a bit more, does that create more of challenge, to try and surprise a crowd and try and do things they haven’t seen before? Obviously, typing you into YouTube, there’s just so much content that you’ve gotten up in the world from over the years!
I don’t ever really worry about it, I’m kind of reacting in the moment. It’s live and it’s in the moment. People are there and we’re creating something together, to a certain extent, in that moment. I don’t think people are going, ‘Well he does that one thing and he might do it tonight…’ I mean, they might recognise the way that I’ve built the song or something, but I think in general, they’re like, ‘What do you have for me?’ I never really think about it, actually.
With your music, when you type in your collaborations, there are also threads all over the internet of people who go, ‘I want to see Reggie Watts do an album with Jay Z’ and all these sorts of things. Are you approached a lot to do those sorts of things, from collaborations on YouTube to actual music collaborations? Do you get approached a lot now to do things?
Not as much as you’d think. The only collaborations I’ve every really been asked to do that I’ve done…it wasn’t even a collaboration, but Jack White had me record at the studio, and that was great. It wasn’t really a collaboration, he just invited me to record there. I did something recently with Flight Facilities and that’s going to be released soon, we made a video for it. That was nice.
That’s a nice Australian connection as well!
For sure! They’re really cool guys, too. Then I guess the only other person would be with Shit Robot, who is on DFA Records and I also did a little bit of something with James Murphy for his soundtrack for a short film that he made in Japan. There are a few things, but not that much, actually. Everyone is so ridiculously busy, it’d have to be like a business proposition. It’d have to come from managers and agents, to make it happen. I’m the type of guy who’s like, ‘Hey do you want to do this thing? It sounds like fun!’ but a lot of these other people are just so inundated with so much stuff, that it’s hard to be casual about making something.
Fair enough! That just reminded me of you doing that taxidermy thing with Josh Homme as well, but that’s more on the comedy edge, not so much about making a song together.
Yeah, that was a little improv that we do, we do stuff with the guests if they want to. We just do a super quick improv with no planning, it is what it is. I guess it’s a form of collaboration but it’s not high end or tightrope type of stuff!
Looking ahead, what’s coming up for you? What’ve you got on the agenda after Australia?
I’m going to do the Maui Comedy Fest and then I go back to LA and finish another ten episodes of Comedy Bang Bang Season 4.
How long does that process take?
It takes about three weeks for me. There is production either side of it that goes into it, but for me, it’s about three or four weeks per ten episodes, which isn’t too bad. I’m doing that and then I’m working on some personal video projects and just screwing around with that kind of stuff. Next year, I hope to focus on doing an album.
Very nice! It’s busy as always, I’m amazed that you balance everything as well as you do. Are there things that take a back seat when you’ve got a life as crazy as yours?
Well the good thing is that I don’t really rehearse! When I’m not performing or actually doing something, I just have time, which is good. I definitely find time to watch stuff. It’s important for me to chill out and have fun with friends and be healthy. I try to make that the priority and the other stuff is like, ‘Where am I supposed to be? Oh I’m supposed to be there…’. [Laughs]
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Reggie Watts will be in Sydney as part of Just For Laughs from October 16-19 and as part of Eddie Izzard’s Gala on October 18th. Check out www.sydneyoperahouse./about/program_JFL_2014 for more information! He’ll also be performing at Perth’s Astor Theatre on October 21st. Hit up showticketing.com.au for tickets.
