If you don’t have any upcoming vacation plans and suspect you might be stuck in the city this summer, don’t fret, because so will Reggie Watts.
After completing a month-long residency at the East Village’s P.S. 122 in May, Watts scheduled a few appearances in Gotham for the summer months. Watts performs June 22 with comedian Natasha Leggero at Central Park’s SummerStage and June 24 at Red Hook Park in Brooklyn with DJ Stormin’ Norman, in what is initially being called “spoken word.” In addition, audiences at the Afro-Punk Festival 2011 (see Pavla’s post below) get to see Watts take the stage at Commodore Barry Park August 27 or 28 (yet to be determined by the festival’s schedule). All of these performances are free to the public.
For Radio Play, the focus of his theatrical residency at P.S. 122, Watts again teamed up with director Tommy Smith. Watts employed his amazing versatility at this show, combining his acclaimed live beat-looping and singing with surreal radio-style segments. Watts, and the several other cast performers, created live commercials, theme songs, game shows, and strange late-night talk show rants. Radio Play touched on music, comedy, philosophy, sociology, and pop culture, the many elements comprising American radio. The hour of improvisational brilliance featured a rarely-lit set, dense with record players, speakers, sound boards, equalizers, a wardrobe rack, and even a fog machine.
Watts and Smith collaborated on several other multimedia acts such Disinformation, Dutch A/V, and Transition, which featured at The Public’s Under the Radar and several other festivals. Before establishing himself as a staple of New York’s comedy and performance-art scene, Watts also lent his beautiful vocals as the lead singer for Maktub, a Seattle-area group that, unsurprisingly, fused several musical elements, most notably jazz, hip-hop, funk, and R & B.
Given Watt’s history of and proclivity to improvisation and versatility, there is no telling what will come of his summer performances. If you suspect that you will be hanging around New York City this summer, though, be sure that Reggie Watts will keep you in good company.
