Honoring a Visionary of the Arts

He is an internationally renowned, creative multi-hyphenate—musician, comedian, actor and writer who also happened to be the bandleader of The Late Late Show with James Corden. He is Reggie Watts, who will receive an honorary degree and be the keynote speaker at the Cornish College of the Arts at Seattle University commencement ceremony on May 11.

Known for his work on The Late Late Show, Watts blends and blurs the lines between music and comedy, wowing audiences with performances that are largely improvised. An accomplished author and writer, his recently released memoir Great Falls, MT: Fast Times, Post-Punk Weirdos and a tale of Coming Home Again and comedy specials such as Spatial, Never Mind, and Why Shit So Crazy? were met with critical acclaim.

His work has appeared across platforms, both on streaming and broadcast cable, including Netflix and Comedy Center and he has performed at music and comedy festivals around the world. In 2020, Watts released his own content app called, WattsApp, a techno-savvy look into his life, work, and techno junk drawer. 

"I’m thrilled to offer Reggie an honorary degree from Cornish because he's a perfect representative of what our students can achieve and what the arts can do,” says Cornish Dean Brian Harlan. “His unique performances of identity improvisation through rhythm and language have developed a completely new genre. Through smart humor, Reggie disorients us into a state of wonder and has us questioning—not only the ironies of daily life and absurdities of social norms—but even our common sense of logic and liner time."   

Born in Germany and raised in Montana, Watts currently resides in Los Angeles. 

The 2026 Cornish Commencement Ceremony begins at 2 p.m., Monday, May 11, at the Cornish Playhouse at Seattle Center. The ceremony will be livestreamed.