Reggie Watts at First Parish Church

Harvard Book Store welcomes musician and comedian REGGIE WATTS—former bandleader on CBS’s The Late Late Show with James Corden and IFC’s Comedy Bang Bang! —for a discussion of his new memoir Great Falls, MT: Fast Times, Post-Punk Weirdos, and a Tale of Coming Home Again. He will be joined in conversation by actor and comedian EUGENE MIRMAN.

Ticketing

There are two ticket options for this event. Reggie Watts will sign attendees' books after the presentation.

Book-Included Ticket: Includes admission for one and one hardcover copy of Great Falls, MT: Fast Times, Post-Punk Weirdos, and a Tale of Coming Home Again signed by the author.

Admission-Only Ticket: Includes admission for one.

About Great Falls, MT

Reggie Watts is weird. But you knew that. Anyone who’s seen his multifaceted, entirely improvised comedy and music shows knows that. Reggie Watts is also from the town of Great Falls, MT.

These two facts are not unrelated.

Watts grew up in Montana in the ‘80s, half French, half American, half white, half Black, speaking a bunch of different languages and slipping between the orchestra geeks and the football jocks until he finally found a squad of fellow misfits with an affinity for trouble. It was a wide-open time and place that invited freedom and exploration—as well as car theft and the not infrequent use of recreational cough syrup. And it helped him become the uniquely strange creative voice he is today.

In Great Falls, MT, Watts takes us through his story, hitting on the culture shock he experienced after moving from Europe to the heart of America, where he was called racial slurs by neighbors but wasn’t Black enough for his father’s extended family. Where he fought with his authoritarian dad, built a new family of antiestablishment, post-punk oddballs—and ultimately knew he had to leave. But after Watts’s career exploded in Seattle and New York, ultimately scoring him a nightly place next to James Corden on The Late Late Show, he found himself drawn back to his hometown after the deaths of his parents. This is his love letter to the town that made him. But like love itself, it’s messy and complicated and dirty and beautiful—and as weird and wonderful as Watts himself.

Praise for Great Falls, MT

“It makes sense that one of our most original and surreal comedians would have an upbringing to match, having been forged in the crucible of Montana via Europe. Reggie’s telling of his story is a delight, exceeded only by my ability to use “crucible” in a sentence.” —Conan O’Brien

“Reggie Watts fits in no box. He is no type of person. Find out how this fascinating and fascinated dude came to be by reading the combination of words he put together on the pages in this book and maybe you will love him like I do.” —Sarah Silverman

“Great Falls, MT deepens my understanding of Reggie Watts while keeping the mysteriousness around his incredible art intact. How did this brilliant, wonderful person get here? This book makes his path seem like something more logical than improbable. Of course he became this person! It’s the same way I feel about Liverpool and The Beatles, or Minneapolis and Prince." —Fred Armisen

Mask Policy

Masks are encouraged but not required for this event.