Katt Williams on His First Stand-Up Set: About 14, the Comedian Line, and a 12-Seat Room

On Listen & Laugh with Ice Cube and Mike Epps, Katt Williams, born Micah Sierra Williams, says he was probably 14 when the comedian line got him on stage.

Quick answer: On Listen & Laugh, Katt Williams tells Ice Cube and Mike Epps that "the first time I did stand up, it was a little competition and I won that," then won a second one. "One happened in Florida and one happened um outside of Oklahoma City." Asked whether he went in knowing he would get on stage, he says, "The first time I was just trying to get into a club with no ID." He "had no ID" and "was probably 14." People were getting in by telling the door guy they were comedians, so he "got in the comedian line," planning to "just disappear." The room "probably seated 12 people," and "there was nowhere to hide." Unprepared, he "only talked about one thing": "what it felt like to um to be a black guy in a town" "where there was no other black people like at all." "It went over well."

Clip: Viral Podcast Shorts YouTube Short from the full source linked below.

The official YouTube title of the November 13, 2026, episode is Katt Williams Talks About His Nine Lives. This article stays with the first-stand-up account used in the Viral Podcast Shorts clip and does not take up the "nine lives" material in that title. RealNameOf's biography identifies his birth name as Micah Sierra Williams, also reported by the Associated Press and The Hollywood Reporter; that name is not spoken in the clip. In a November 9 Diary of a CEO companion, he placed a similar first night at 16, in a room he estimated at about 30 seats, and did not, in that segment, say whether he won. This telling is later, and the details differ. This article does not choose between the two accounts.

"I was probably 14"

A host asks when he knew he was "funny enough to actually go on stage and do this." Williams starts with the two competitions, then, asked whether he went to "that spot" already planning to perform, goes back to the door. "The first time I was just trying to get into a club with no ID," he says. They were checking IDs further up the line, and he could not show one. "I had no ID. I was probably 14." He does not name the club, the city, or the year.

The comedian line, and nowhere to hide

Then he noticed another way in. "There was people that were going by and they were telling the guy I'm a comedian and he was letting them right in. No ID, nothing." So he joined them. "I got in the comedian line, but I'm thinking when I get in there, I'll just disappear."

The room ended that plan. "When I got in there, the place probably seated 12 people." "There was nowhere to hide." He compares it to "a stand up closet." The clip does not make clear whether that 12-seat night is one of the two competitions he says he won, or a separate first time on stage.

One subject, and it "went over well"

Did he know what he was going to say? "I hadn't had any chance to uh prepare," he says. "I only talked about one thing." A host notes that someone might expect "five jokes." Williams stays with the one subject: "what it felt like to um to be a black guy in a town" "where there was no other black people like at all." He does not name the town. "Right. But yeah, it went over well."

The Short ends there. After the used window, he starts talking about carrying a point of view into later work; that continuation is outside this piece. The Florida and "outside of Oklahoma City" wins are his account of those two shows. The clip does not say which city the 12-seat room was in.

FAQ

### How old does Katt Williams say he was the first time he got on stage?

In this interview, he says, "I had no ID. I was probably 14." In a Diary of a CEO interview covered in an earlier RealNameOf article, he placed a similar first-contest story at 16. Both figures are his, from different interviews.

How did he say he got into the club?

He says people were telling the door guy they were comedians and being let in with "no ID, nothing," so he "got in the comedian line," thinking he would "just disappear" once he was inside.

How big was the room, in this telling?

"The place probably seated 12 people," he says, and "there was nowhere to hide." In the earlier Diary of a CEO telling, he estimated about 30 seats.

What did he say he talked about, and how did it go?

He "only talked about one thing": "what it felt like to um to be a black guy in a town" with "no other black people like at all." "It went over well." He also says he won his first two stand-up competitions, one in Florida and one outside Oklahoma City.