Nestled squarely between Park Slope and Carroll Gardens at 149 7th St. in Brooklyn, The Bell House is a performance space and lounge crafted out of a 1920’s printing factory. Greenlight Bookstore partners with The Bell House to present great discussions and interactive events with authors, from comedy writing to cookbooks and everything in between. Past authors featured at the Bell House have include Michael Ian Black, Selma Blair, Sean Brock, Harvey Fierstein, Kenji Lopez-Alt, Will Oldham, Phoebe Robinson, and many others. See below for what's coming up next at The Bell House!
OFF-SITE: Live at The Bell House!
Wednesday, October 18, 7:30 PM
Book launch: Reggie Watts presents Great Falls, MT: Fast Times, Post-Punk Weirdos, and a Tale of Coming Home Again
Tickets $45 (book sold separately)
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.
Each book bundled ticket includes a signed copy of Great Falls, MT to be picked up at the event. Mask-wearing is recommended to attend this event. Ages 21+. This event will be mixed seated/standing. Arrive early for best seat selection.
Click here to purchase tickets for this off-site event!
