photos by Dakota Fine

words by Justin Cousson

…

Reggie Watts (of Bentzen Ball fame!) rolled into town last week for a special performance at UMD. In case you missed it, we had the special privilege of putting Reggie in a giant fountain on the UMD mall and letting him do what he does best. Along with Reggie, some of the student-performers who opened for him (Justin Cousson, Kevin Klenkel and Lou Applebaum) jumped in the fountain with him as well. (-DF)

We’re onto something big when it comes to Reggie Watts. My fellow Bentzen Ball veteran is on the verge of becoming the next big name in comedy, and the D.C. area will have the honor of being in on the secret before the world knows what hit them.

With barely a month before his debut Comedy Central special, “Why Shit So Crazy?!” to air and hit the shelves as a CD/DVD combo, and weeks before he heads out on tour as Conan O’Brien’s opening act, Reggie, with his gravity-defying afro adding between three and six feet to his height, touched down in
College Park, to headline University of Maryland stand-up troupe Off the Wall’s Big Deal Comedy Show.

Hours before dazzling the 250 in attendance at the university’s Hoff Theater with his stream-of-consciousness infused, multi-character musical comedy that saw him transform from a mumbling “women be crazy, always using doors and shit” comic parody to an erudite Brit to reminiscing of a youth in Montana, sorely lacking in drugs, Reggie hit the state’s largest academic mall to exhibit formidable frisbee skills, frolic in a 250-foot long fountain, and display Quixote-like courage in a duel with a prominent sundial.

And here are some video clips from the performance:

Justin Cousson:

Lou Applebaum: