UB Anniversary ReVisit: Katt Williams Talks Money Mike + Robin Williams

By 8, he was reciting “Anyway” for the NAACP By 9, he won an Oratorical Competition in Dayton. People from the audience came up and told him how funny he was. Afterwards, he announced to his parents that he wanted to be a comedian like Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby.

By 12, he won a number of Awards for science projects which landed him a full scholarship to The National Science Academy, a prestigious private school in Dayton. As soon as Katt found out about the scholarship, he failed a math test so he didn’t have to go. Comedy was in his blood.

Katt emancipated himself and moved to Florida with his dog, Rasha, and became one of America’s youngest flower salesman, selling roses on the street corners in the Coconut Grove.

During his early teens, he had a number of odd jobs. From the carnival circuit to magazine salesman, he traveled throughout the United States, but he returned to Florida for his first performance in a comedy club Ruskin.

Katt was too young to get into a Florida Night Club where his friends were going out for a night of fun. He noticed two guys, about his age, waved through the line and found out they, as comics, could get in. He joined the line and ended up on stage. The theme of his act was: ’I was the entire black neighborhood.’ “When people started laughing, I stopped to smell the roses.”

Next stop was Oklahoma City. He snuck into “Joker’s”, where there was an all white audience. He convinced management to let him perform even though he was still under age. “It was so white, I wasn’t even black,” Katt stated.

In 1995, Katt became a father and his life changed forever. “Having no “legal skills” and having an aversion to manual labor, my options weren’t that great. I was a single father and I had a constant motivation.”

In 1998, he moved to Oakland to perform in the Black Clubs. It was magic.

He hosted shows at Crackers, 1st Stop and Standing “O” Comedy. He headlined at Club Manhattan and crossed the Bay to San Francisco and headlined at Laughs Unlimited, and Bo’sBounty. He won the Canadian MIST Comedy Competition.

Finally in the summer of 1998, he thought he was ready for Los Angeles. A friend from Oakland drove with him six hours to get on stage at The Laugh Factory Showcase. “We had to wait in a line and by the time, we got to the front, only one of us could get up. We split the time and each took 1 ½ minutes. We didn’t know that inside there were only four people. The way I figure, I told a joke and 1/3 for each person. On the way back to Oakland, I told my friend, ‘considering the amount of time we got on stage, we might want to consider shortening our commute.’”

In 1999, Katt Williams and his son, Micah, moved to Los Angeles.

In October of 2001, Katt went on his first theatrical audition at New Line Cinema for “Friday After Next” and landed the part of Money Mike. Ten months later, Katt auditioned for the Montreal Comedy Festival and was chosen as one of the “New Faces”. Before he stepped foot on stage in Canada, he landed an overall deal with NBC Studios. In October, he auditioned at Twentieth Century Fox for NYPD Blue and aced the part. In April of 2003 he starred in the Tracy Morgan Pilot for NBC which was picked up for mid-season 2003-2004 on NBC.

Katt became a presence at The Improv, The Comedy Club, The Icehouse and even had his own room at The Hollywood Park Casino where he had a large, loyal following. He’s become a staple comedic force on BET, appearing on shows such as “Comic View“, “Rip the Runway“, “Black Carpet“, “106th & Park“, “The BET Awards” and “BET Comedy Awards.”

Katt hosted the 1st Annual BET “Hip Hop” Award Show from The Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. In his role as host he received an overwhelmingly positive response from critics and had a chance to speak directly to Hip Hop audiences globally and share his insight on urban culture, folklore, lifestyle, history and music.

Katt Williams’ talent extends over multiple mediums. Known to most for his breakout role in three seasons of Nick Cannon’s highly-rated MTV improv show, “Wild n’ Out,” the funnyman has appeared in music videos for everyone from Outkast (“Roses”) and Ludacris (“Stand Up” & “Number One Spot”) to E-40 (“One Night Stand”) and Lil’ Kim (“Shut Up/Lighter’s Up”), in addition to landing roles on the small and big screen.

Some of his appearances include UPN’s “Girlfriends” and “Cuts,” “The Tracy Morgan Show”, “Wanted”, “My Wife and Kids”, Russell Simmon’s HBO “Def Comedy Jam” alongside Dave Chappelle and Mike Epps and an animated character (“A Pimp Named Slickback”) on the popular adult cartoon “The Boondocks.”

As if those artistic ventures weren’t enough in September 2006 HBO aired “Katt Williams: Pimp Chronicles Pt.1,” 60 minutes of stand-up from the entertaining comedian taped live in Atlanta

Katt‘s new Netflix comedy special, will stream live on May 4thfrom Los Angeles’ YouTube Theater as part of Netflix Is a Joke Fest, and will be his 12th comedy special.

2024 started out explosive, thanks to Katt Williams and his interview with Shannon Sharpe.

However before Katt was a house-hold name, he was a new comedian and actor when we spoke to him in February 2004, 20 Years ago this month.

What’s even more amazing about this interview, is Aries from our then-brand T M H Entertainment was asked by Katt Williams during this interview to design his official website.

Aries spoke to Katt about his debut in film and TV, “The Tracy Morgan Show,” and his love for the late great Robin Williams. Katt also shares if he was worried about being typecast after “Friday After Next” and more.

Aries (T M H): Did you audition for the Tracy Morgan show or were you approached to play the part?
Katt Williams: I did have to audition for it. As a new actor you are willing to play any character, it just got lucky that this was one I really wanted to play. Only the elite actors can turn roles down, as a new actor you want to take all of the roles you can get.

Aries (T M H): What can we expect from the first season of the Tracy Morgan show?
Katt Williams: A lot of different things. Expect Freddie’s character to grow. Freddie is not going to work a 9-5, he is all about his hustle, so he enjoys coming to the garage to hang with the fellas. Freddie always has a hustle and he is the type of character that I enjoy playing, a lot of Katt is in Freddie.

Aries (T M H): Will you ever cut your hair to play a part for a movie if it requires so?
Katt Williams: Yes I would.

Aries (T M H): What actors/actresses inspire you?
Katt Williams: Robin Williams inspires me, he started from the bottom and went all the way up to the A list. Robin went from stand-up to Mark & Mindy, which had to be the most corn ball show ever! He went on to dramatic, comedic, you name it. Robin is incredible. We’ve been jaded by the Denzel’s. All of the actors in Lord of The Rings (laughs), I don’t know if they inspire me, but they’re incredible. Anytime you can play a dwarf and play it believable, you’re a great actor. I don’t want to admire people by who they are per say, but more of by what they’re doing.

Aries (T M H): How did the role of Money Mike from “Friday After Next” come about & how did you make it your own?
Katt Williams: It was a situation similar to Freddie, I had to audition for it. I didn’t know anybody due to un contrary belief, not Cube or Michael Epps. As an actor you have to find something in each character to latch onto. That’s how I handle all my auditions. You have to identify with the character and make it your own. What people don’t know is there is 400 people all reading for these roles, they have the same script you get, so it’s pretty fair. You have to bring something to it, sometimes it’s the look or something else you never know.

Aries (T M H): Are you afraid of being typecast because of the Money Mike role and Nick Cannon video?
Katt Williams: No, I am what I am. There is more to me so I can play more then a pimp role. I do have a pimp mentality, but I wouldn’t allow myself to be typecast. I have a lot of range, but in the end, it is what it is. To be completely honest 90% of actors are typecast one way or the other.

Aries (T M H): I hear you’re working on an album, what kind of album and when will it drop?
Katt Williams: We’re working on the album now, we’re at the slowest point at the moment. This is going to be the first album of it’s kind. A new type of album with music, comedy and rap. We might end up going platinum by mistake, but that’s not my focus. This is a project that I have always wanted to do and we’re having fun with it. It’s going to surprise a lot of people, but it’s going to be great. It’s a new side to Hip-Hop. It will drop later this year.

Aries (T M H): Tell us what’s else is coming up for you this year?
Katt Williams: We got a few roles we’re looking at. We haven’t did a lot and I don’t have a long resume’ but the roles I have done have been successful. I’ve only did one movie (“Friday After Next”) so far and one TV show (“The Tracy Morgan Show”) so far. I’ll be trying something different and end up cutting my hair in the future – I might have to shake that. I have a few things coming up, some stand-up, an HBO special. I’m going to be the next king of comedy! We’re doing a lot of cities this year, a clothing line, just a lot of stuff. When you’re broke and you finally do come up you don’t need any sleep. You can work on a lot of stuff and try it all. Everything I wanted through the years I was writing it down and eventually I got it.

Aries (T M H): Any last words for your fans?
Katt Williams: Like what? (laughs) Tell them to be looking out for the Secret Pimps Society clothing line & to check out my website which will be up and running soon by T M H Entertainment, www.kattwilliams.com.