?The past is something for you to learn from and the future is something that you hope is going to happen, but I?m always speaking to my actual fans in present tense.? ?Katt Williams
Being able to read at age 3 is almost as rare as knowing how to drive a car at age 10. However, popularly known comedian, Katt Williams could read fluently by the time he was only three-years-old. From an extremely young age, Williams showed interest in literature and creativity. However, his parents weren?t supportive of this. When most parents would make their children go to their room as punishment, Williams parents would take his books away from him when he misbehaved.
Being the bright individual he was, by age 12, Williams had received a full scholarship to The National Science Academy in Dayton, Ohio. But, as soon as he realized the nature of this scholarship, he purposely failed a math test in order to become ineligible for it. His parents were so upset by this that they mentally and verbally abused him so bad that at age 13, Williams emancipated himself from them. In order to pursue his dreams, he moved to Florida and began to explore his more creative side. Being a teenager in a new state pursuing a new dream didn?t come easy for Williams. For 4 years, he was homeless, living on the streets, performing stand up comedies in small night clubs. To make money, he sold magazines and books door to door and stole radios out of cars to sell on the streets.
Experiences mold people. What Katt Williams experienced before hitting his twenties has a direct impact on his career as a comedian and on his life as a father and a person. Because his parents were not supportive of him as a kid, he was forced to be independent at a very young age. Although it seems as if Williams? past experiences would shape him into being a man of self-sorrow and fear of not being accepted, he took his pain and flourished into a passionate man who seems as if only hilarious things happen in his life. Williams showed perseverance to overcome his parents abuse and follow his dreams of one day becoming a comedian.
Throughout one of his comedies ?Katt Williams: The Pimp Chronicles Pt.1? Williams repeatedly says ?Enjoy your life. Life is too short for the bullshit.? Because of his abusive childhood, Williams learned early that life is short, and the ?bullshit? he is referring to is the verbal and mental trauma his own parents put him through. Now, as a father of 8 children, it is important to him that his own kids don?t experience the abuse he did and that they know they are always supported by their father.
Williams with one of his sons on stage at a show.
Of his 8 children, only one of them is biological to Katt Williams. After becoming successful in the comedy industry and divorcing his wife, Williams wanted to be a father to more children, so he adopted seven. Although when we are first introduced to Williams at the beginning of ?The Pimp Chronicles? he is portrayed as a pimp dressed in a fur coat, sunglasses, and lots of flashy jewelry, once he begins to tell his jokes, it is evident to see how his fatherly instincts shine through. He tells jokes that relate to his everyday life, but says them in a way to produce laughter throughout the audience. In ?The Pimp Chronicles,? he says:
?It?s cool to get high, but it?s not cool to get high and eat all your kid?s cereal.?
He very strategically formed this joke because people can relate to it. Most comedians that are really successful, like Katt Williams must be very intelligent in order to craft the wit behind the jokes.
Williams uses a stool as a prop to craft a joke about cleaning when high
Jokes should be crafted for universal humor. The everyday person needs to be able to understand the joke in order to find it funny. Most all of his jokes, including this one, are rooted in things common people would understand. Everyone in his audience is either a parent themselves or has some type of relationship with their parents. Also, most everyone there has some sort of experience or understanding about marijuana. Therefore, this joke grabs the attention of the audience and produces a laugh within them.
In this particular joke, it?s clear to see his fatherly nature. Although he carefully crafted this to get a laugh from the audience, his experience as a father directly impacted the root of this joke. Many comedians draw from personal experience in order to make their jokes more relatable, and this is exactly what Williams does in this scenario. It is probable that at some point, Williams got high and ate his kid?s cereal, so now he can draw off this experience as a dad to craft the wit behind his joke.
This theme is consistent throughout many of his jokes, including his ?Fuck Michael? sequence. He states how Lil Kim went to jail for doing exactly what his mom taught him to do ? to not snitch; here once again William?s morality is seen. He follows this with a joke that makes it seem as if it is unfair that Lil Kim is in jail but Michael Jackson is still roaming the streets with fingers that smell like little boy?s booty hole. ?Fuck Michael? he says once again. Williams includes this joke to suggest that one?s past greatness doesn?t excuse one from their present mistakes, a typically dad tactic, right? Throughout the whole joke about Michael Jackson, the father with morals side of Katt Williams is heavily seen.
Some of Katt Williams other well-known fame comes from his criminal recorded. While he was homeless and stealing car radios to make a living, he faced many criminal charges, but it didn?t stop there. Even after Williams didn?t need to steal things for financial purposes, he still stooped down to these lowly ways. In October of 2009 when his movie ?Katt Williams: Pimpadelic,? was number 8 in the nation, he was charged with burglary and criminal trespass and was released on a $40,000 bond the next day. At this point in his career, he didn?t need the money that he stole, but it?s clear to see how his past still haunts him.
Williams cover for his movie Pimpadelic
As a kid, Williams being discouraged to follow his dreams, and as a teenager when robbery is what he relied on to make money had a large impact on many of the flaws he has today. With the great fame of his movie also came great flashbacks to the past when he thought none of this would have ever been possible.
Behind the comedian and the ?pimp? we see on stage, there is a person. A person with many experiences that have had a direct impact on his life today. A person that had a difficult, challenging childhood that forced him to mature at a very young age. A person that despite the criminal charges is a father, a good father. A person that was discouraged to follow his dreams but showed perseverance and agility to turn his dreams to reality. A person that not only uses his jokes for humor, but also for teaching. A person that uses some of the most foul language, but, more than anything, a person, who behind all the jokes is more than a comedian; a person who is a father, a person who is a person.
