Turns out You Can Keep a Pimp Down

Tuesday in LA was one of those days I'd hoped to have when I moved here. It started on a music video set and ended at a free comedy show -- with barely a handful of other people present -- seeing some comedians I'd never heard of before ... and likely may not hear from again.

Then the host said, "Coming to the stage next, we got Katt Williams."

I looked around like, WTF did he say? Not even a grand introduction, just Katt Williams next. Listen, the entire audience was scared when he first came out. We had no idea what to expect.

Katt Williams is one of the few people I'd always wanted to see in person.

Then I heard he'd retired. Then I heard he'd led police on a high speed chase on a three-wheeled motorcycle. Then I saw him slap a cashier at Target. They said he had guns in the airport, they said he tried to fight a fan and got booed off stage. They said one of his kids got taken away. And so on ...

After watching him perform last night, I'm here to tell you I don't know what is true.  The hard press was gone. The neat goatee and suit were gone. This man had on a Captain America tee shirt, sweatbands, gold watches, a chunky beaded necklace and a beanie with the sensor on the back. His face. It was like seeing your favorite uncle after he'd been away for a long time and realizing he was not the same person you saw and loved before.

Katt denied most of these rumors, and he gave us the side we had not yet heard -- his. Katt Williams was honest, endearing, confusing and raw. I can't say that he "performed" a set. He wasn't exactly telling jokes. He was seeking refuge, maybe. Sometimes the stuff he said was funny. Sometimes it was reckless. But I do know that he bore his soul to us.

At times, he got down on his knee, looked you right in the face and said, "M'am" - then went on with the point. It was just that intimate.

He spent a lot of time talking about how much money he has, how much weed he smokes, how many women he sleeps with. He told us Jamie Foxx is gay and the man he slept with is Marcus Anthony, the singer on his record label. He said in Chapter 13 of his autobiography, Richard Pryor said he slept with Paul Mooney. Then it got real. He told us he was homeless, and the people he met there were once very successful men who lost everything because of drug use. "I never saw the happy, party side of cocaine," Katt said, so I would never want to use any drug like that. I believe him.

He said he proposed to a woman recently. She didn't say no, but she didn't say yes, either (which is the same as saying no.) "Because I loved her, I didn't make her say it. I just left her alone. But I think it's significant that I felt that way about her." We agreed.

He said was in prison and the Marine Corps. He said he's trained to kill people. I believe him. He said Kevin Hart has six writers, and he was sad that we were laughing at Kev now cuz he thought we loved him. Above all, that was the theme of the night.

Katt Williams thought we loved him. Then he read our comments on the blogs. He realized that fame and love are not the same thing. He realized that "fans are fickle," and we don't really care about the details of his life, about his kids and things like that.

He seemed surprised to find this out.

Katt Williams seems insecure and lonely. He has all the money he could ever need and sees no value in it. He does not know who to trust. And he thought we loved him.

At the end of the night, as I walked back to my car, a man ran past us and said, "Good evening ladies, thank you for coming." I said, "Good night, Katt Williams."

Then it hit me. I turned around. I yelled, "Katt Williams!"

He turned around. I said, "Thank you."  I held open my arms, and I said, "Thank you."

He got down on one knee and bowed deeply -- in the middle of the intersection.

And I hoped that a genuine show of appreciation might from a fan might mean something to him again.