Katt Williams has released his third stand-up comedy special on Netflix following World War III and Great America, titled Woke Foke. The special comes on the heels of his surprise appearance on Shannon Sharpe’s podcast, Club Shay Shay, which has become notorious in the industry for Williams’ truth-telling and shot-calling. The full YouTube video alone has garnered 68 million views so far. Williams taps into the ‘spilling secrets’ format of that conversation in his new special, in which he pretends to share clandestine truths about people and the world, which are usually just hilarious or absurd thoughts.
Woke Foke is part of Netflix’s experimental venture into live-streaming, which is being incorporated into its yearly Netflix Is a Joke event. Woke Foke streamed live on Saturday night, the second exploration into live comedy following last year’s Chris Rock: Selective Outrage. The Williams special seems to be performing better than Rock’s so far, and has hit number one on Netflix’s Top 10 list for television.
And then tonight, May 5, Netflix is live-streaming The Roast of Tom Brady, hosted by Kevin Hart. Meanwhile, John Mulaney is working with Netflix on his own live-streaming event, John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in L.A.. The first of the six-part series aired on May 3, and additional episodes will air at 7 p.m. PT on May 6 through May 10.
What’s in Katt Williams’ New Special, Woke Foke?
Williams’ special has the comedian in firm control of his craft, spinning yarns with great pacing and knowing when to go soft and when to be very loud. He knows his audience and works any jubilant rowdiness into his performance. He has an impeccable way of making fun of anything and anyone while also illustrating tolerance and love. For instance, he makes a joke about a blind child playing football and says, “I hope none of my blind fans see this, and take it out of context.” It gets a good laugh, but he follows it up by saying, “Blind people should be able to do whatever the f*ck they want to do”
Williams does make the same tired joke about transgender people playing sports, which we’ve heard 100 times before, but again, he embraces love and community in Woke Foke, saying:
For the first time in history, you can love whoever the f*ck you want to love with no shame and no judgment. You should be proud of that […] For the first time in history, you just gotta claim your category.
Of course, there is still plenty of judgment and hate (along with legislation), so he’s not completely right there. It’s the same when he makes fun of Jamie Foxx’s “mystery illness” by saying, “Never in the history of medicine has there been a mystery illness. A mystery illness means your ass is fine.” Obviously, any illness in history was a mystery until it was understood and named. People used to think seizures were demonic possession, after all.
He goes into some unexpected territory with little care for transitions, at one point opening a section of the special by saying, “In the greatest country in the world, in one year, 50,000 people committed suicide,” balancing his love of America with some brutal reality. He gets a good laugh though, adding, “And think about it, none of them was the right one.” Another surprise is his extended closing bit on reparations, where he’s not only very funny, but makes a lot of thoughtful points. Ultimately, it’s clear why he’s topped Netflix. You can watch his special below:
