In his stand-up special “Katt Williams: Priceless,” directed by Spike Lee and premiering Saturday on HBO, the comedian tells the crowd, “They arrested me five times in five cities in five days. What the f–k? I am not the International Man of Mystery.”
But with meltdowns and triumphs alternating in almost equal fashion, Katt Williams might just be the greatest mystery in comedy.
After appearing in the 2002 film “Friday After Next,” Williams’ stand-up career took off as he brought his raw truth-telling about politics and race relations to ever-growing audiences. The flashy comic, often seen in silk shirts and snakeskin boots, became a full-on star in the mid-aughts and has remained there since.
Along the way, though, Williams, 40, has found himself in legal trouble for everything from leading police on a chase on a three-wheeled motorcycle to pulling a gun on a fellow comedian.
Longtime friends and collaborators describe him as a well-mannered man, and are baffled by his storm of problems.
“He is a hilarious, witty, intelligent, well-read guy. He’s like a walking CNN,” says Luenell, a comedian who has been friends with him for close to 20 years.
Williams — real first name Micah — was born in Cincinnati, and his home life must not have been easy: He had himself emancipated at 13, and hitchhiked to Florida. As a teen, Williams traversed the country working for a carnival and did his first stand-up gig at a comedy club.
He moved to LA in 1999, working the clubs and eventually landing “Friday After Next.”
“When our casting director found Katt, I think he was living in his car,” says the film’s director, Marcus Raboy. “He had this shock of hair, like he had put his fingers in an electric outlet, and his front teeth were missing. He was like a wild character.”
But, Raboy adds, “In many ways, he stole the show. When Katt is focused, there’s nothing quite like him.”
Williams booked numerous TV spots, including a role on the short-lived “Tracy Morgan Show,” which aired on NBC in 2003 and 2004.
Luenell watched Williams become a megastar while opening for the comic on his 2006 tour. “We would walk through the airport and . . . everybody wanted to touch the hem of his garment. He got a lot of attention from women,” she says.
But Williams would soon find the road to fame littered with speed bumps of his own design, beginning with a charge of possession of a stolen gun at LAX in November 2006. (He received three years probation.)
In November 2008, he was arrested on gun charges hours before his Carnegie Hall debut. He made it barely on time, telling the crowd, “I just got out of jail about 35 minutes ago.” After the show, he announced his retirement — this would not stick — and gave most of his clothing and jewelry to the audience.
A week later, he tried checking into a hotel in a bathrobe, leading to a report that family members had Williams involuntarily committed for a psychiatric evaluation.
The next few years would find Williams arrested in a parking lot for possessing a gun, and allegedly punching a record producer and siccing his dog on that producer’s dog. He was also charged with “intimidating a witness” when a contractor at Williams’ home claimed he was attacked by three women wielding rocks and dirt.
Among his unlawful incidents in 2012: a child endangerment charge and more weapons charges — along with allegations that he hit an assistant, beat a young rapper over the head with a bottle and pulled a gun on comedian Faizon Love. He also reportedly slapped an employee at a Target, had a meltdown at a show in Oakland where he removed his clothes and threatened to fight the audience, and led police on a chase on his three-wheeled motorcycle.
Friends and collaborators still have trouble wrapping their heads around how this behavior fails to resemble the Katt they know.
“I continue to be surprised whenever I hear there’s another incident,” says Raboy. “He has a brilliant mind, and it is a blessing and a curse. If it’s not working 100 percent for you, then it’s working 100 percent against you.”
Williams, who did not respond to interview requests, is open about his marijuana use, but there’s no evidence of him using anything harder. “Aside from the occasional marijuana cigarette, I have never seen Katt partake of any illegal substance,” says Luenell.
In December 2012, celebrity blogger Necole Bitchie posted an anonymous e-mail from “someone claiming to be a former member of Katt Williams’ camp.” The e-mail said during his involuntary commitment in 2008, Williams was diagnosed as “bipolar/schizophrenic” and was going untreated.
After a subdued 2013 and first half of this year, July found him in trouble again, including a charge of pulling a gun on a fan in LA.
When it comes to comedy, however, “Priceless” shows that Williams is still on his game.
He told Ebony magazine in April 2013, “The only thing that keeps me afloat is that other than death, anything they bring toward me, I’m going to turn it into comedy.”