“Reggie Watts is an American comedian and musician. His improvised musical sets are created using only his voice, a keyboard, and a looping machine. Watts refers to himself as a “disinformationist” who aims to disorient his audience, often in a comedic fashion.”
Thecreativeindependent.com. (2020). On making whatever you want, whenever you want. [online] Available at: https://thecreativeindependent.com/people/musician-reggie-watts-on-making-whatever-you-want-whenever-you-want/ [Accessed 24 Feb. 2021].
Reggie Watts seems to toe this line between Avant Garde and mainstream, he does his own thing in a way that doesn’t worry about being too ‘weird’ but also leads the house band for The Late Late Show with James Corden. It’s this wonderful thing that is so accessible whilst seemingly not sacrificing, for want of a better word, his ‘weirdness’. The Improvisational nature really emphasises the slightly stream of consciousness feel similar to Maggie Nicols, it’s expression in its purest form, sometimes Reggie will emulate the modes and rhythms of a stand-up (without music) or ‘parody’ various genres, spouting completely made up nonsense as a stand in for lyrics. However, in some songs such as A Song About Apples (Always Love Yourself) he performs his thoughts on modern relationships in an incredibly powerful ballad that I still listen to and admire regularly and has totally made me rethink my own attitudes to my relationships.