Katt Williams wins over Kevin Hart, and Netflix special ‘Woke Foke’ beats opening weekend Tom Brady Roast

We collected proceeds for the fight against burns and announced the winner. This week, Netflix brought two extraordinary live events to viewers’ living rooms as a part of the “Netflix Is a Joke” festival, and each debuted in the worldwide Netflix top ten movies.

The heavily promoted film “The Roast of Tom Brady” premiered on May 5 with Kevin Hart because the unlikely host, although at times the event felt a bit staged. Touted because the “greatest roast of all time”, Hart oversaw nearly two dozen well-known comedians, athletes and celebrities (including Kim Kardashian, who was booed) as they stabbed the previous NFL quarterback on the Kia Forum in Inglewood, Los Angeles.

This got here on the heels of one other live show that some thought would fade away, Katt Williams’ stand-up comedy special “Woke Foke,” which premiered on May 4.

The edgy prankster, known for his unfiltered humor, did not have any special guests or celebrities on his set, but he actually outdid just a few. From octogenarian Robert De Niro to Jamie Foxx, Donald Trump, Nick Cannon and Lizzo, nobody was spared. Williams even called out “uninfluenced influencers” and Hollywood’s newest absurd weight reduction drug, Ozempic.

There’s nothing higher than a seemingly underrated and unmatched comedian to make you root for him. In the battle of live comedy shows, Williams’ loose cannon style performed higher than Hart’s, and the numbers tell the story.

According to Netflix’s internal metrics, “Woke Foke” received 4 million views worldwide from April 29 to May 5, rating fourth. This doubled the Brady roast’s 2 million views, even though it had the advantage of being available longer after it aired on May 4. Brady Oast’s total viewing time was 6.2 million hours in comparison with 4.1 hours for “Woke Foke,” but its three-hour marathon length may explain that. Williams’ special was much shorter, lasting about an hour.

From blockbusters like “Jumanji” to comedy tours, Hart dominates the entertainment industry (other than Tom Brady). The comedian owns a production company called HartBeat Productions and even sells premium branded tequila.

But when it got here to who had the primary comedy special, Williams had him beat once more. The “Pimp Chronicles” comedian goes back to 2006, when “Katt Williams Live” was filmed in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. Three years later, Hart won the hearts of audiences in 2009 along with his first special live performance, “I’m a Grown Little Man.”

When it involves Netflix comedy specials, it looks like they each have three ties (though each have had more over the years). In addition to Netflix’s “Pimp Chronicles,” Williams’ stand-up specials “Great America” ​​(2018) and “World War III” (2022) established his “tell it like it is” style.

Hart played to a packed house during “Irresponsible” (2019) and “What Now?” (2016) and scores innovation points with “Zero F–cks Giver” (2020), which he hosted from his home with a live audience through the pandemic.

But the deciding consider any comedy special is the jokes. Williams rocked “Woke Foke” hard for an hour, and fans knew from the beginning to buckle up when Williams mentioned “Club Shay Shay” in his intro.

“I tried to be an incog-Negro, but thanks to Shannon Sharpe’s talking ass, the show was over,” Williams began. “Everyone knows I will say it. But I don’t report it! You know my work. In my spare time I infiltrate the Illuminati. Search for their secrets. Run back. Tell everyone. And they would kill me if they could, but I am too fast and the Lord continues to bless me.”

Williams later added political commentary to his show, saying society had “lowered the bar” for President Joe Biden. He called out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “appalling” policies and called for reparations.

Since Hart was Tom Brady’s “roastmaster,” he ceded the stage to a star-studded panel for the higher a part of three hours. Still, he hit just a few zingers within the eight-minute opener. Referring to Brady’s recent split from ex-wife Gisele Bündchen, which got here after Brady decided to come back out of retirement after winning Super Bowl LV, he said: “When you get the possibility to win 8-9 and all the pieces that it will cost you, it is your wife and your kids… you’ve got to do what the hell you’ve got to do.