Photo courtesy of The Clarice
There’s no surprise the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center chose Reggie Watts — a musician, comedian, actor, performer and all-around enigmatic renaissance man — as this year’s NextNow Festival headliner.
“[This year we want] to provide opportunities to experience artists and artistic experiences in unusual, interesting and surprising ways,” said Martin Wollesen, the Clarice’s executive director. “When I think of interesting and surprising artists, Reggie Watts is certainly one of the first that comes to mind.”
For those unfamiliar with the entertainer, Watts is somewhat hard to define.
He’s the lead vocalist for Seattle band Maktub. He’s the bandleader for The Late Late Show with James Corden.
More famously, he’s a professional “disinformationist.”
An absurdist comedian, his performances elicit laughs borne of mostly confusion by combining an impressive array of voices, nonsensical mutterings, beatboxing and looping machine mastery. Watts puts on a live show that’s endlessly, wildly befuddling.
Watts popped up on Wollesen’s radar via his now-famous TED talk that “disorients you in the most entertaining way,” according to TED.com. Through a new partnership with the University of Maryland’s Student Entertainment Events, the Clarice was able to secure the funnyman, who will grace — or disgrace, depending how you look at it — Kay Theatre on Sept. 11 at 8 p.m.
“He is an artist that is complex, interesting, funny, wacky, weird, surprising,” Wollesen said. “He both helps us see the humor and absurdity in the world around us, and also the beauty in the world around us.”
But before Watts mystifies the audience with his improv, sophomore Elie Rizk will open.
“Both his music and his comedy is completely unorthodox,” said Rizk, who is enrolled in letters and sciences. “That’s what gets the listeners attention.”
Rizk is a “huge” Watts fan with a bit of an unorthodox talent of his own. Drawing heavily on Watts as inspiration, Rizk wanted to stand out musically from “any other dude with an acoustic guitar.”
So he added a bass drum and a high hat and a tambourine and some singing — all at the same time.
Rizk first brought his one-man-band stylings to a talent show held on the campus last year.
“I figured if I could learn how to do that, my act wouldn’t even need to be very good,” he said. “People would just be impressed anyway.”
Good or not, the act caught the attention of Philip Peker, a friend and SEE’s performing arts director, who recommended Rizk as a suitable opener.
“We want to make sure that we are working with students who help us curate and develop the festival,” Wollesen said. “We’re really committed to highlighting the talent of our students and alumni.”
Rizk will play four instruments and perform two original songs, as well as a few covers alongside Peker and fellow student Sarah Lee.
This is the first year that NextNow will partner with SEE — a “natural thing,” Wollesen said. The two entities approached each other to share expertise and curate the best possible festival.
“Reggie Watts was one of those folks that really resonated with both of us,” Wollesen said.
The show will be Sept. 11 at 8 p.m. in the Clarice Smith Performing Art Center’s Kay Theatre. Tickets are on sale now at theclarice.com.
