Reggie Watts Biography

Fast Facts

• Won the 2006 Andy Kaufman Comedy Award and the 2009 Emerging Comics of New York Award for Best Musical Comedy Act
• Took piano and violin lessons from the age of 5 until he was 16, claiming his inspiration came from watching musician Ray Charles play the piano on the TV
• Moved to the Lower East Side in New York City in 2004 to focus on stand-up comedy and started shooting comedic web shorts for Superdeluxe, Vimeo and CollegeHumor
• Became interested in alternative performance styles while in Seattle and composed music for dance choreographers in the Northwest
• Began to experiment with improvising entire songs in solo acts and gigs across the Seattle area in 2002 after dabbling in sketch comedy
• Moved to Seattle as a teenager and briefly attended the Art Institute of Seattle before studying jazz at Cornish College of the Arts
• Wrote and performed music for "Louie" and created the theme songs for "Key & Peele," "Comedy Death-Ray Radio" and "Penelope Princess of Pets․"
• Has made appearances on "Conan," "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" and "The Yes Men Fix the World․"
• Began starring with actor Scott Aukerman on the IFC series "Comedy Bang Bang" in 2012, which is based on their podcast of the same name
• Opened for musician Regina Spektor on her European tour, contributed vocals for Spektor's song "Dance Anthem of the '80s" and also performed with dance rock band LCD Soundsystem during their first two farewell shows
• Performed solo comic gigs at Fusebox, South by Southwest, Bonnaroo, the Sydney Opera House, the Montreal Comedy Festival and the Soho Theatre
• Shows consist of mostly improvised stand-up in different voices mixed with loop pedal-based a capella compositions
• Has collaborated with longtime friend and playwright Tommy Smith in experimental multimedia theater