By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Actor and comedian Damon Wayans has built a career making people laugh. He comes from a family with a lot of talent and funny individuals. The Wayans family is comedy royalty.
The 66-year-old is still working. He loves performing comedy. Wayans is a master at the craft. During an interview on Pix 11, Wayans talked about his career in show business and projects that he’s currently working on. One thing to know about him is that he loves taking naps.
For Wayans, taking at least one nap a day is necessary for him because it gives him more energy for a few more hours. Naps are essential. A human being can feel brand new after a 30-minute or an hour-long nap.
Damon grew up in New York. He still loves coming to the city and catching some Broadway shows. He began stand-up in 1982 and still does it today.
“When life gets complicated, go up on stage to kind of talk about it,” Wayans said, referring to stress and other things. “There’s something about comedy where you can take the worst thing in the world and make it funny. It’s a great release.”
Comedy comes out of pain. Most, if not all, comedians will agree and say the same thing. Certain things might not feel funny at the moment, but when you think about those moments in the next few days, weeks, months, or years later, it will bring some laughter.
“The funniest thing you’ll ever see is a comedian’s funeral,” Wayans said.
It’s not easy to get on stage and perform live for the audience. Comedy has gotten way too safe. There are certain nuances and boundaries a comedian has to be careful about. It’s like walking on eggshells. In Damon’s mind, it’s all about presentation when it comes to telling a joke on stage.
“Comedy and any kind of performance is basically energy,” Wayans said. “You walk into a room, and this energy, gas; sometimes it’s just there for you. Your job is to get it all collected together.”
The classic sketch comedy show In Living Color should have been an institution. So many big names came out of that show. Damon was there for two and a half seasons. It was a magical time for him and his career.
Wayans reunited with In Living Color castmate Tommy Davidson on his show, The Varnell Hill Show.
“It was great,” Wayans said. “It was so much fun to work with Tommy. I jumped on the opportunity to be on the Varnell Show.”
Wayans also revealed that Martin Lawrence appeared in the same episode with him. Damon and Martin never worked together before that show.
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
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