January 11, 2024 âą 37 mins
Summary Marlon Wayans, accomplished actor, comedian, writer, and producer, discusses the meaning of culture and the importance of building family and community. He emphasizes the need for creating opportunities and the importance of brotherhood. Wayans also talks about fearlessness in comedy and the power of laughter in addressing social issues. He highlights the significance of ownership and offers advice for aspiring comedians. Wayans reflects on the influence of black culture and his desire to leave a lasting mark. He concludes by sharing three seeds for the stewards of culture: hard work, determination and creativity, and the seed of recreation and evolution. In this conversation, Marlon Wayans discusses his journey of continued evolution and growth. He emphasizes the importance of being in the conversation and striving for success. The conversation also highlights the gratitude and friendship between Marlon Wayans and the host, Culture Raises US. Chapters 00:00 Introduction 00:31 The Meaning of Culture 03:05 Building Family and Community 05:55 Creating Opportunities 08:20 The Importance of Brotherhood 10:34 Fearlessness in Comedy 13:30 Balancing Different Aspects of Entertainment 16:01 The Power of Laughter 19:51 The Importance of Ownership 21:38 Advice for Aspiring Comedians 23:29 The Influence of Black Culture 25:06 Leaving a Lasting Mark 28:21 The Marlon Wayans Life Documentary 31:29 Seeds for the Stewards of Culture 36:52 Continued Evolution and Growth 37:11 Gratitude and Friendship JOIN THE NEWSLETTER đ« Be the first to hear about behind the scenes, new episode drops and live shows near you! Sign up: https://tr.ee/QJ4c7FUWBj LISTEN TO THE SHOW iTunes: http://bit.ly/3XDA3sl Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3D33sCM JOIN OUR COMMUNITY đž Instagram: https://instagram.com/cultureraisesus đŠ Twitter: https://twitter.com/cultureraisesus đ” TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cultureraisesus
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
To who much is given, much is required. Part of
that requirement is sharing. Culture is the heartbeat within our
lives and it's at the core of so many things.
While we live in a time when we are starving
for wisdom, I welcome you to your wisdom retreat and
culture raises us. Marlon Wayns today's guest accomplished actor, comedian, writer, producer,
(00:26):
of whom many may know from some of the many
iconic films like Don't Be a Meta scary Movie, White
Chicks and His time when the Waynes Brothers sitcom with
other members from his super counter Family three. This is
just a really small small sample of what he's accomplished
to date, but definitely I think sets the tone for
what's to come from him. And before he gives us
(00:47):
a little more insight on that, we'd love to start
with our signature question. When you hear culture, bro, what
does that mean to you?
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Culture is? I think it's the importance put on the
sitt apps created by the past and the future. So
it's really what presently is relevant and how you can
affect the time facing energy of this moment. But you're
(01:21):
also affected by the past, and you're also affecting the future,
and that to me is the culture. And it doesn't
always it's not about to me, the culture and the
movements always start with the oppressed. Oh, because I think
(01:42):
they are the innovators. I think the oppressed that think,
the nerds that are forward thinking, that are bullied for
being strange, but really they're actually predicting the future because
they're well read. Won Rench Spider, who knew super movies
is going to take over our industry? We didn't. The
(02:04):
nerds did. Who knew? Right? Who reading that these books,
these Harry Potters and all these books that wound up
being huge movies and television shows was going to be
such a huge part of the culture. That's some futuristic
thinking because they did what they used to do back
in the day, which is read and so you know,
(02:26):
you think about black people who were able to take
their pain and turn it into art and create music
and create songs and and and and and and and
create great films and books and things based on oppression
(02:47):
that squeezed it out of us, which now more impression
felt made hip hop happen, you know, and the cultures
created through the pain of id the oppressors, that's what
makes for the culture that why it comes from such
a great place.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
I love where you say culture is made from the
pain is such a powerful statement in itself. And you know,
one of the things that I didn't mention in the
intros that we actually have the opportunity to attend the
same high school. The illustrious have wready a high school
form an arts but l agv for life. Where you
(03:30):
were drama major, I was ur major, and I can
honestly say that you've remained the same over the years
and when many would have thought that, given you know
your family background, it would be easy for you to
be the better than now asshole, right, And You've always
been the complete opposite and been someone who I think
is a great example of this culture of building family
(03:53):
and community. You know, given some of the things I've
witnessed from high school to date, talk about being a
member of the Way and his family, Manchip and the
building you're on lane within that with some of the
best mentors, and I think examples around a regular basis.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
You know, I grew up way too poor to not
be grounded. I was grounded the majority of my life.
Seventeen years of my life spent in the projects in
New York City. You know, before we as a famous family,
he was a bunch of niggas, And there's a bunch
of smart niggas that stayed out of trouble. And all
(04:31):
glory to first and foremost God, who gifted me with
my parents, who gifted us a great work ethic and
great sensibilities and just a sense of what really is
supposed to be prioritized in life, which is family, friendship, love.
(04:54):
All these other things that you know we aspire for
don't mean anything. You know, it doesn't mean anything if
you're a great actor and you're an asshole, if you're
a great producer and you're a dick, if you're a
great stand up comedian and people hate you and you're
off stage right before, I am any of those. I
(05:14):
am a son, i am a brother, I'm an uncle,
I'm a father, I'm a cousin, and I am fleeing.
Those roles in life really should dictate who you are
in terms of your business. And if you stay ground
and then that and just know that working toward the
(05:37):
betterment of those five areas in your life, you can't
help them. And remain grounded, that's all that's important to me.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Now look first, I see it in your walk, and
I look at your brother. You know, Keenan Ivory wayans
for me was probably the first real example of someone
who literally put his family on me, like literally and
in a position to thrive. Was this very intentional back
in the day or was this something that just kind
(06:08):
of happened with the blossoming of all your respective kind
of careers.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
I think Keenan had a vision. I think he saw something.
I think that he knew him being the second oldest
and all this brother was you know, getting into trouble,
and he knew that if he could just make it,
that we would all follow, and so he made it
(06:34):
a point to make it. And then he you know,
created this olive branch in which we all crawled on
and we just kind of learned the industry it's those
that want to do it, come do it. And me
and Sean Kim Damon w was on and Keenan always
had lessons for us. And I remember being a kid
(06:54):
and Keenan making us watch Kentucky Fried movie as he
went to the clubs in the eighties with no drawing.
Was because he knew he was gonna get some Vagina
and uh. We'd watch those movies at his house and
he'd come back and be like, who wants John? Why? What?
What's funny about it? How would you make it funnier?
And we would tell them, and I think he knew then.
(07:15):
We was like ten, eight seven years old, my brother
Damon taking us to comedy clubs to watch them create
great stand up right it some things are you can't
write brand God wrots that story and you know, and
and if you think about it, well, my brother taught
me and Sean. Now I have their kids under my belt,
(07:42):
and then niggas got a lot of kids, you know,
Damon's kids and Keenness kids and Deidrious kids and my
kids and Sean's kids, like I have to be an
example for them, and I got to create that next
wave and that next generation, which to me is going
to even be even as bigger than the generation we
(08:05):
came from because looing five of us, there's literally seventeen
kids in my family that's gonna be doing so I
love it.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
You know, you talk about this next generation and you
talk about the evolution. I think one of the most
beautiful things for me, and looking at your journey was
the family that I literally witnessed you build outside of
your wings family in the hallways Libuaia with Omar Mitch right,
and for anyone what to school with us, I mean,
they can attest to the fact that you three were
(08:34):
always tight then and Han moved into adulthood right with
really excelling in your respective areas of excellence while still
kind of working together and supporting each other. Was there
a bit of your brother's blueprint that you kind of
took in shaping this type of bond and brotherhood.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Well, I think, See, my brothers had younger brothers and
sisters and siblings, and by the time I came along
at an empty house, all my brothers was grown. I
had a nephew, Craig, who is like mentioned Omar, what
put you know there? He works with me closely, Like now,
he's a producer on my my special I got coming
(09:13):
out called Good Grief, and he's written and produced us
before and on the road with me and we're writing
a few movies and you know, so, yeah, I my
brother's always had lessons for me, and I just told
my other brothers, Omar Mitchell, what we need to do.
And so I was like the older brother, the three
(09:34):
of us, and so I just applied that to them,
and I was just like, you know, we all got
to dream together, and we all got to come up together,
and it was important to me. I mean, Omar was
going to do his thing. You know, he was a
you know, actor like myself, and he was you know,
(09:55):
he was he was the dark skinned leading man and
I was the funny, skinny comedy relief. And so we
just came up together like that, like differently. We never
really competed for roles because we just did things different.
And then Mitch was like our best friend who was
a good astor as well, but you know, he wasn't
(10:18):
getting as many roles, and you know, making him a
writer was important to me, and so to see him
do well and to see him thriving. Now he works
outside of me, without me. You know, he's the writer's community.
He's on Mike ap Show and you know, all the
bet Awards and it works. And nothing warms my heart
(10:40):
more than to see that man be able to feed
his family. And you know, so I think it. Yeah,
it was a mission of line, but you know, we
all had the talent. We just had to do the work.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
This rad and speaking of talent, I think your comedy
has always been known for kind of pushing boundaries, kind
of what's inspired you to be so fearless in your
humor in particular.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
I don't know. It's just I think instincts, just knowing God, like, oh,
that's funny, say it like. I don't worry about what
trouble because my intention isn't to hurt people's feelings. My
intentions not to punch down. My intentions to make you
laugh and feel relief with all the mess that's going
(11:32):
on with the world. When you leave my show, I
spend more time talking about me than I do you.
I'm not there to shit on people. I'm there to
relieve you. I, like I said, like jokes on me.
Most of the show you come to, this is gonna
be a model show less you screaming and begging for
(11:52):
me to bash your ass off, which I'll do. Right.
If you're begging for attention, you're gonna get it and
you're gonna like it. Right. Well, for the most part,
I just want to do my show, Come enjoy, come
laugh jokes on me.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
Well, you're sharing your gift. I think when you started
this answer, you talked about I'm just doing what God
put in me, and you're doing it from a You're
doing it from a place of sharing the gift that
He's put in you. And I'm so glad that you're
tapping into it, especially from that lens on how you
then distribute it, because then it's a truly unfiltered expression, right,
because it's yet, it's a gift.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
I'm trusted because God, I'm not writing it. Inspiration is
writing it, and inspiration is only God. That's my close
relationship with God. I hear him say this, son, Okay,
I'm gonna say that it works, and that sounds crazy,
but I'm just aligning like that, like I trust that
when it comes out of my mouth. I trust my goodness,
(12:48):
I trust my instincts, and I trust the math of
what I'm putting together. And I'm gonna make people laugh
and I do hard to cancel. Somebody has been here
for thirty something years, right, I know what I'm doing.
I know how to tell a joke. I'll get how
sensitive y'all get. And even if you ever cancel me,
(13:09):
that's gonna be probably like a couple of thousand people.
Everybody else is gonna come to the show like, I'm
sorry those called sensitive ass people. I know how to
tell a joke. I know how to do it. When
you do White Chicks, we know what we're doing right.
When we do a movie White Chicks, that could have
been all kinds of mess, don't be a menace. We
(13:29):
do lampooning to make fun of ourselves and others. You know,
that's just what we do. We do it well.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Yeah, and you know your career has seen I think
success in so many different forms of entertainment from stand
up as we're talking about acting and producing in somebody cells.
How do you balance these kind of different aspects and
how does each kind of contribute to your overall artistic expression.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
I think it's not that to balance it, I just
work hard. Yeah, every day, like right tonight, normally every weekend,
I'm gonna doing stand up. Yeah, just so I'm the special.
So now I got to think about what my next
set is. I go back on the road and ten
(14:20):
days with a brand new hour. We're attempting a brand
new hour because I retired of material out there and
do it special. But in the meantime, I'm a negotiation
for a movie. Once that movie happens. I'll spend two
three months on that movie, and then on the weekends
I'll be doing stand up. But then there's movies done,
and I got three or four TV projects I'm working on.
(14:43):
It's just when it comes up, right, that's what gets
the attention. You're like a chef in the in the
kitchen cooking different meals. Taste that soup, suit's ready, Oh,
this gospacho's almost done. What about the salad. Let's wait
for a little while for the salad. What's the the
roast doing? I put that in the oven. Let me
taste that chicken over there. You just shot cooking several
(15:08):
things at one time, and then once it's done, you
put you plate that and you make room for dessert.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Right, So, so what's the process of once we go
through that filter of taste and everything? So, like your
roast be is real dry?
Speaker 2 (15:22):
What's breakfast? What was your saying? What you mean? What's
I don't believe in nothing dry? I taste. I cook
it to perfection. Now you get asked them if you
want to I cooked my into perfection. I don't nothing.
You ain't gonna get my soux fleet with a raw middle.
It's gonna be perfectly done. I know what I'm doing.
I know what I'm doing now. Thank you for the notes,
(15:44):
but I'm gonna do this this way. I want you
to receive it, enjoy that, and then you go. But
now to eight. What's next? Breakfast?
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Got another meal for you?
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Got me it? Don't stop yo.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
And And you know, I look at comedy and often
it's so nerves as a means I think to address
a lot of social issues. I think the medians like yourself,
with some of the smartest people in the world, especially
with dealing with some of the topics and challenging stereotypes
and provoking thought. How do you see your comedy contributing
though to the important conversations and making a difference in society.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
It's just I think laughter eases tension. If you can
laugh about it, we may not be on the same team.
I got a room full of Democrats and a room
full of Republicans, and I cracked the right joke, and
the Republicans laughed, and the Democrats laugh. What we did
(16:42):
was we took that divide and we eliminated it, aliliated
and now we're all laughing collectively. We found we because
we found the commonality. Even if we disagree, we both
agree on the point of view. And what was funny
about it? Right, bunch of black people, a bunch of
white people. I find the right joke. I'll give it's
about black people. Everybody's laughing, including the black people and
(17:04):
the white people. I found the right joke. I just right,
white joke. White people are laughing, Black people laughing. Now.
I talked about race, and I brought everybody together with
a laugh. And I think we were able to do
that with society, right. I think if you look at like,
don't be a mens. We took good movies and took
the violence out of them and took the danger out
(17:26):
of them, and was like, what's funny about them? Right?
Because there's things to laugh about, not just cry about.
When that comes with poverty, that comes with violence, that
comes everything, you know, there's always something funny, you know.
I think if you look at like, if you look
(17:47):
at men on films on the lemon color, the first
time we had gazed in our living room that part,
and those two guys we probably knew at work, we
probably knew in the streets. We've probably had friends of
our family that was like that. But it wasn't until
they were inside of our home and they were doing
(18:09):
hated it did you start laughing and welcomed them into
your living room, which made you feel good when you've
seen them outside of your house, like, hey, what's up man,
it's rang things. So laughter deserves a lot more credit
than it gets, and I think that's what's wrong with
today's generation. Then I laughed in the Hollywood's stopped making comedies.
(18:31):
Everybody thinks people are sensitive, and what's happening is there's
a false narrative being constructed and it's making our society depressed.
It's making us crazy, and we got to get back
to learning to laugh.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
No, you have important on stability. You have such a responsibility.
I'm so glad that you put it in that context.
And your gift is needed for so many reasons, but
on a big level, like it can be a big
part of the change of our dynamic ratually laughter bro.
So wow, it's a heavier burden on your shoulder. And
I even thought before, and I'm so glad that you
(19:08):
are aware and you're accepting this. I don't want to
call it challenge, but this responsibility that God's put you
in position to be one of the people that we
need bro to continue.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
And the thing is they got to let the studios,
the people with the checks, the people that are in
charge of distributing the comedy. We have to let them
know how desperate we are for it. Themedies at those theatters,
y'all gotta go support when they come on TV. You
(19:40):
gotta watch them because they're convinced that comedy is not needed.
And I'm always going to be an advocate for others
advocate for comedy period.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
Yeah no, And you know you're you're talking about something
around you know that the powers that be and you
talk about I feel like you had an early understanding
of the importance of black ownership with all that your
family was doing with creating programs and platforms in there.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
We honestly, I'll be honestly, haven't owned enough. We've own pieces, though,
we haven't owned enough. I'm really on this kick of
ownership right now. Like I look at what Tyler Perry
has done, and I applaud that brother for that. You know,
I mean, that's tough to do. It's just basically got
to bet on yourself. And I'm at this point now
(20:31):
where I'm betting on myself. You know, my last two
to three specials, I own them at the amount of
pocket I own my specials. Why because I'm gonna build
a catalog and then I'll own a half of three
of my movies. Right, So I'm gonna start. That's important
to me that I believe in myself and at the
end of the day, I'm creating a library. I'm not
(20:55):
just doing movies and giving away my life. And you know,
you have me smart about your business and construct it.
Some movies is for them. They pay you enough. You're like, oh,
we could have that, they don't you go No, I
need more ownership. I believe in this.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
Ownership and equity is your new big set, absolutely for sure.
So Lemon, what advice would you give, you know, aspiring
comedians or entertainers who are looking to kind of break
in to this industry, right and not only just break in,
but make a lasting cultural impact, which I think you
have a history of.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
You have to log your hours, man, It's about the
hard work. If you have twenty four hours in a
day and you ain't spending eighteen of them trying to
break through in this industry, whether that's five hours on
the stage, five hours writing and five hours doing research
and one hour rest before you sleep through six hours,
(21:54):
Then you ain't trying to do this right, right, put
it harder to do it dedication. I don't sleep much,
but what I do, I'm dreaming about what I'm gonna
write when I wake up. Like you're talking to somebody
that does stand up, that writes his own stand up.
All right, writers, I write my own stand up. I
write my own movies. I work with write to some writers,
but I'm developing my own movies, write my TV shows.
(22:17):
I'm producing like I've work all the time, and take
me as business meetings and work out and get my
body in shape. When I have to do a movie,
there's no excuses. Get your ass on the stage. Stop
telling me about your obstacles, get it done. Writ and
learn how to do something. Read how do I write
a script? There's one hundreds of books on writing a
(22:38):
script real and then sit your ass down and write
a script.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
It's right, do the work. Said, Well, you talked about
the power of laughter, and like I said, you'd even
enlighten me on just how impactful it is. I think
within all the areas of entertainment that you've excelled and
worked in within over the years. And was there ever
a potent moment though, when you realize just how big
and instrumental black culture was to kind of shaping and
(23:06):
influencing the global landscape as we know it. Like so,
in addition to that laughterpiece, was there a moment where
you saw, hold up, we really changed, We really shipped
some things, or we can ship some things.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
I think it was. It happens repeatedly. It's not one
time repeatedly, especially in our career. It happened with I'm
Gonna Get Your Sucker. It happened with Living Color, happened
again with Don't Be a Menace, happened again with Scary Movie,
happen again with White Chicks. It's happening again with my
(23:43):
stand up. It always influences the culture. The culture is
what grabs on to it, and the culture informs everybody else, Like, Yo,
this shit is hot, y'all do this because the culture
is the taste makers. They love our comedy, love our stuff.
Because we we're always consistent with our messages and we're
(24:09):
consistent with the caliber of comedy that we bring. The
culture loves it.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
What do you want to be recognized for what when
you look back at your career in the mark you
intend to leave on the world.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
I don't know. Marriage too busy working to think about, well,
what people then taking me with. I want people to
see a comedy. I want them laugh, they asshole, they
see some stand up light laughed, ass off. Hope some
of my stand up heels some of the problems that
they're going through. If not, if it didn't change their life,
(24:45):
I hope it changes their mood. I hope that if
I did a drama. I do characters. Whatever I do,
I'm believable and biable as that. I want to be
as starter stuff I been seen. I want to be
as accepted comedically as I am dramatically. And I just
want the audience to be like, Yo, whatever he does,
(25:06):
I'm in because I'm an artist. I'm not just a comedian.
I'm a writer, producer, actor, comedian, stand up comedian, great
dramatic actor. I do characters. I do it all. I
just want people to be like Yo, that dude, whatever
he did, I always believed him, and I always I always,
(25:35):
I always bought into it. He was that good now drama, comedy,
He's just that good whatever he wants in our studios,
be like, whatever I want to do, just trust what
I want to do. I'm gonna make you money. I'm
an artist. I know what I'm doing.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
No, I think you know one of the many proud
moments that I've already spoken to regarding you, But I
think there was a couple win to your point. You
took some dramatic roles. I think was it was bel Air,
which is one where you the father with bella dog.
I gotta tell you. I was like, I don't know
how this is gonna go over be this is comedian,
this is and I was like, yo, he really embodied
(26:12):
this Germanic character.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
It's you more. Because I learned dramatic skills before I
started doing comedy. I was a dramatic action I've been
doing dramatic acting since the third grade their grade, Like
you know what I mean. It's like I was always
doing the plays. I was an Oliver Twist. I was
Peter Pan and Peter Pan. I was mister Bumble and
(26:36):
all twists because I turned Oliver Twist down because I
felt it was degrading as a black man to play
Oliver Twist. In the fourth grade, I was like, no,
I'll play mister mister bumbles. I'll play it. I'll play
the villain. I'm not gonna And they begged me. I
was like, no, I don't want to be begging and
I don't want to be wearing tattered clothes. I turned
down the fourth grade right. And then when I got
(26:58):
to high school, the high school that we went to,
I learned the art of dramatic, the art of dramatic arts.
That's what I did. Comedy was just something I was
born into, but drama is something that I trained in.
And then I trained in how to be a writer.
Then I trained it now to be a producer. Then
I trained it now to be a stand up and
(27:19):
now I have these five different skill sets all about
having to do with one skill set. I'm gonna kill
these people. They don't even know what's going on. I'm
they say, you lost ten thousand hours to be great
at something. I've lost fifty thousand hours.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
That part, you know, as I think about it, I
look back to even the high school days, Like dog,
you were doing stand up in the hallways, with the
clowning that you did on a dearly passes. Absolutely listen,
you had a joke for everyone at every point.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
Yeah. So now it's just the way I see the world.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
No, it is, and it's a beautiful thing. It's a
lightness that you bring. It's a necessary joy that you bring.
Like literally, anytime I see you, it's always like this
joy of just light, fun, comedic, keeping it one hundred,
like it's always been that case and you and you
take that with you into these projects and I feel
(28:16):
it and I see it falls. But but listen, the
opening scene to your life documentary is about to begin, right.
What's the song that's playing?
Speaker 2 (28:27):
And why? Probably firs not your my way? Okay? Why?
Because I'm doing it every which way I can only
to get to do it to my way. And eventually,
over time, even though I'm going through all these different things,
(28:47):
it all winds up that I'm doing it my way.
Whatever God has written for me. I'm gonna do the work.
I'm gonna enjoy every experience I've ever gotten into, even
the bad one, and I'm gonna do things my way
because it's gonna be earned, because I'm a respect from
(29:09):
my comrades, people in the industry, investors to know that
my intention and know that I have a very interesting
skill set. And if you bet and we all bet together,
don't have your bet. We're gonna make some money together
because I know what I'm doing. My audience loves me,
(29:32):
and I love them, and we connect the ways that
y'all will never understand. And I don't care if it's
a movie. I don't care if it's TV. I don't
care if it's brands, because that's the next level. There's
letting these brands know. Hey, man, give me a dishwashing liquid,
give me your motion, give me your cell phone. I'm
gonna sell the hell on it.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
When I was at Niety, I think you get reached
out to me. It was like, yo, no, what can
I do? How can we make some happen? And over
there and I was a different situations.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
Yeah, but one day they gonna call me or there'll
be another sneaker on the market that they don't wish that.
They was like, damn, I should have invested in that.
Whether you they want to or not, they were smart.
They've come find me. I'm telling you it's only a
matter of time. I'm staying young for a reason. I'm
fifty one. I still look in my thirties, that's right.
(30:28):
And when I'm shaving down, I could possibly touch twenty nine,
like for real. And I'm staying young because I feel
like I have so much more to do and God's
not aging me. This person wants me to stay right
where I'm at because I got a nice twenty year
run to be the dopest superstar that's been created. And
(30:49):
so I'm staying young because I'm gonna get these brands.
I'm gonna get all this stuff. Everything's everything, everything I
want and I know how much I want. I know
what I'm gonna do, and if God has me living
and breathing, it's gonna happen. I love it.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
So, you know, we end this conversation with the analogy
of what three seeds would you want to leave with
the stewards of culture moving forward? Still, it's to that of,
you know, the farming culture, planning a seed, nurturing and
watering it. What are three things that you would say, Look,
here are the things that I would share with this
next generation so that they can continue to shape and
(31:27):
mold this thing that we've created with great intention and care.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
The seed of hard work that knowing that that is
your greatest asset. Hard work is the greatest talent you
could ever have, because those that aren't talented in something,
if you do the hard work, you can become masterful
and something you was terrible at. I don't care if
it's piano. I don't care if it's football. I don't
(31:54):
care if it's basket. But whatever you put your energy into,
you're willing to work your ass on for it. You're
gonna make it happen. So hard work is the necessity.
And and and also I would say determination and creativity
(32:14):
plant that seed because determination takes you too. Not do
things in a conventional way that determine people learn to
create their opportunities. That you don't wait on opportunities. And
(32:36):
I laugh what I hear about actors waiting on auditions, Nigga,
I could wrote six movies while you're waiting on these auditions. Gad. Meanwhile,
when those auditions come to me, I go off. What
if I like it? But if not, I on a stage.
If not, I'm writing something. Why am I gonna sit
there and wait on Hollywood to open up a door
for me when I could put a detonator on that door,
(32:58):
flow it wide open and put me and my family
on and bring us through I create opportunities, give me
a I will kick a hole in the wall before
I wait for a door to the open. And the
last one I would say, uh, the other seed is
(33:24):
the scene of creating opportunities that create opportunities for those
that's willing to do the work. Yep, you don't put
every family member on. No, it's right.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
You can't take everybody with me.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
Put the family members on that's willing to do the work.
You can't take everybody with you. And when they start
getting heavy and they start dragging you down, you gotta
cut some people off because you need helium balloons too.
You can't make it to the heavens with a bunch
of helium, with a bunch of stas bags on you.
(34:01):
So surround yourself with people that inspire you to reach
new levels and lighthearted people that are like minded and
have the same goal or very bigger goals than.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
Your Yeah, well, you're obviously an example of these three things.
I'm glad you share the ones that you did, because
though essential for all of us, I think to grow
into the spaces that we need to grow and take
this culture to where it needs to go.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
How did you one last one last seed, please, it's
the scene of recreation.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
Recreation.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
You have to evolve as an artist, if they evolve
as a person. You have to break yourself down in
order to build yourself up. When you learn and you
master someth find something you're ignorant, ignorant in and don't
know anything, and work your way back up to mastery
on that level. In order to be great, you gotta
(35:11):
be a force of nature. Michael Jordan was a force
of nature. He got better every year he was in
the league, and even when his body gave out, he
was still footing up crazy numbers because he started out
as a guy that could help with great athletic abilities.
And then he learned the art of shooting the set shot,
(35:36):
and then from there they started double team and triple
team and him, he started trusting his players and his
assists got up, and then he started winning more. And
then they started crowding him, and they was like, we're
not gonna We're gonna give him a three point and
he started starting shooting, you know, crazy numbers at the
(35:57):
three point line. Shot eight in one game. Now he's
a three point threat. Then he's all defensive, he's stealing
he's running those pass lanes. Now he can dunk, he's stealing,
he could pass. How do I stop this guy? What
do I do? I foul him? And now you found me.
I was a seventy percent free throw shooter, and now
(36:18):
I become an eighty five percent free throw shooter. So
now I'm scoring more points because you're scared of me.
And then once you do that, how do I stop him?
How do I get him out the league? I get
him on. I go to the Wizards. I make ten
million dollars. They snatch my ownership away. And what do
I do? I go Bob the Bobcats. Michael Jordan is
(36:42):
the epitome of evolution, and that's what I want to
be when it comes to my artistry, all of it.
To Michael Jordan, of this thing we call comedy.
Speaker 1 (36:54):
Well, listen, I'm gonna be praying for you on that
that God continue and use to fuel you in a
way of continued evolution.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
And if you don't and I wind up being Scottie Pippen,
I'll be fine. All abroad, Kobe, I'm in the conversation.
That's all right. I love it, Bro.
Speaker 1 (37:15):
I can't thank you enough for this time I can't
thank you enough for your energy, your friendship always, brother,
your advocacy. I'm so proud of you again. I'm proud
the human that you are. Forget about the success. The
human that you are who's always been welcoming open doors
for my daughter. Have done many things, and I thank
you and I love.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
You, bro Bro keep killing them all right.
Speaker 1 (37:37):
We truly appreciate your support because it helps us fulfill
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click the subscribe button below to help ensure and solidify
our mission
To who much is given, much is required. Part of
that requirement is sharing. Culture is the heartbeat within our
lives and it's at the core of so many things.
While we live in a time when we are starving
for wisdom, I welcome you to your wisdom retreat and
culture raises us. Marlon Wayns today's guest accomplished actor, comedian, writer, producer,
(00:26):
of whom many may know from some of the many
iconic films like Don't Be a Meta scary Movie, White
Chicks and His time when the Waynes Brothers sitcom with
other members from his super counter Family three. This is
just a really small small sample of what he's accomplished
to date, but definitely I think sets the tone for
what's to come from him. And before he gives us
(00:47):
a little more insight on that, we'd love to start
with our signature question. When you hear culture, bro, what
does that mean to you?
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Culture is? I think it's the importance put on the
sitt apps created by the past and the future. So
it's really what presently is relevant and how you can
affect the time facing energy of this moment. But you're
(01:21):
also affected by the past, and you're also affecting the future,
and that to me is the culture. And it doesn't
always it's not about to me, the culture and the
movements always start with the oppressed. Oh, because I think
(01:42):
they are the innovators. I think the oppressed that think,
the nerds that are forward thinking, that are bullied for
being strange, but really they're actually predicting the future because
they're well read. Won Rench Spider, who knew super movies
is going to take over our industry? We didn't. The
(02:04):
nerds did. Who knew? Right? Who reading that these books,
these Harry Potters and all these books that wound up
being huge movies and television shows was going to be
such a huge part of the culture. That's some futuristic
thinking because they did what they used to do back
in the day, which is read and so you know,
(02:26):
you think about black people who were able to take
their pain and turn it into art and create music
and create songs and and and and and and and
create great films and books and things based on oppression
(02:47):
that squeezed it out of us, which now more impression
felt made hip hop happen, you know, and the cultures
created through the pain of id the oppressors, that's what
makes for the culture that why it comes from such
a great place.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
I love where you say culture is made from the
pain is such a powerful statement in itself. And you know,
one of the things that I didn't mention in the
intros that we actually have the opportunity to attend the
same high school. The illustrious have wready a high school
form an arts but l agv for life. Where you
(03:30):
were drama major, I was ur major, and I can
honestly say that you've remained the same over the years
and when many would have thought that, given you know
your family background, it would be easy for you to
be the better than now asshole, right, And You've always
been the complete opposite and been someone who I think
is a great example of this culture of building family
(03:53):
and community. You know, given some of the things I've
witnessed from high school to date, talk about being a
member of the Way and his family, Manchip and the
building you're on lane within that with some of the
best mentors, and I think examples around a regular basis.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
You know, I grew up way too poor to not
be grounded. I was grounded the majority of my life.
Seventeen years of my life spent in the projects in
New York City. You know, before we as a famous family,
he was a bunch of niggas, And there's a bunch
of smart niggas that stayed out of trouble. And all
(04:31):
glory to first and foremost God, who gifted me with
my parents, who gifted us a great work ethic and
great sensibilities and just a sense of what really is
supposed to be prioritized in life, which is family, friendship, love.
(04:54):
All these other things that you know we aspire for
don't mean anything. You know, it doesn't mean anything if
you're a great actor and you're an asshole, if you're
a great producer and you're a dick, if you're a
great stand up comedian and people hate you and you're
off stage right before, I am any of those. I
(05:14):
am a son, i am a brother, I'm an uncle,
I'm a father, I'm a cousin, and I am fleeing.
Those roles in life really should dictate who you are
in terms of your business. And if you stay ground
and then that and just know that working toward the
(05:37):
betterment of those five areas in your life, you can't
help them. And remain grounded, that's all that's important to me.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Now look first, I see it in your walk, and
I look at your brother. You know, Keenan Ivory wayans
for me was probably the first real example of someone
who literally put his family on me, like literally and
in a position to thrive. Was this very intentional back
in the day or was this something that just kind
(06:08):
of happened with the blossoming of all your respective kind
of careers.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
I think Keenan had a vision. I think he saw something.
I think that he knew him being the second oldest
and all this brother was you know, getting into trouble,
and he knew that if he could just make it,
that we would all follow, and so he made it
(06:34):
a point to make it. And then he you know,
created this olive branch in which we all crawled on
and we just kind of learned the industry it's those
that want to do it, come do it. And me
and Sean Kim Damon w was on and Keenan always
had lessons for us. And I remember being a kid
(06:54):
and Keenan making us watch Kentucky Fried movie as he
went to the clubs in the eighties with no drawing.
Was because he knew he was gonna get some Vagina
and uh. We'd watch those movies at his house and
he'd come back and be like, who wants John? Why? What?
What's funny about it? How would you make it funnier?
And we would tell them, and I think he knew then.
(07:15):
We was like ten, eight seven years old, my brother
Damon taking us to comedy clubs to watch them create
great stand up right it some things are you can't
write brand God wrots that story and you know, and
and if you think about it, well, my brother taught
me and Sean. Now I have their kids under my belt,
(07:42):
and then niggas got a lot of kids, you know,
Damon's kids and Keenness kids and Deidrious kids and my
kids and Sean's kids, like I have to be an
example for them, and I got to create that next
wave and that next generation, which to me is going
to even be even as bigger than the generation we
(08:05):
came from because looing five of us, there's literally seventeen
kids in my family that's gonna be doing so I
love it.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
You know, you talk about this next generation and you
talk about the evolution. I think one of the most
beautiful things for me, and looking at your journey was
the family that I literally witnessed you build outside of
your wings family in the hallways Libuaia with Omar Mitch right,
and for anyone what to school with us, I mean,
they can attest to the fact that you three were
(08:34):
always tight then and Han moved into adulthood right with
really excelling in your respective areas of excellence while still
kind of working together and supporting each other. Was there
a bit of your brother's blueprint that you kind of
took in shaping this type of bond and brotherhood.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Well, I think, See, my brothers had younger brothers and
sisters and siblings, and by the time I came along
at an empty house, all my brothers was grown. I
had a nephew, Craig, who is like mentioned Omar, what
put you know there? He works with me closely, Like now,
he's a producer on my my special I got coming
(09:13):
out called Good Grief, and he's written and produced us
before and on the road with me and we're writing
a few movies and you know, so, yeah, I my
brother's always had lessons for me, and I just told
my other brothers, Omar Mitchell, what we need to do.
And so I was like the older brother, the three
(09:34):
of us, and so I just applied that to them,
and I was just like, you know, we all got
to dream together, and we all got to come up together,
and it was important to me. I mean, Omar was
going to do his thing. You know, he was a
you know, actor like myself, and he was you know,
(09:55):
he was he was the dark skinned leading man and
I was the funny, skinny comedy relief. And so we
just came up together like that, like differently. We never
really competed for roles because we just did things different.
And then Mitch was like our best friend who was
a good astor as well, but you know, he wasn't
(10:18):
getting as many roles, and you know, making him a
writer was important to me, and so to see him
do well and to see him thriving. Now he works
outside of me, without me. You know, he's the writer's community.
He's on Mike ap Show and you know, all the
bet Awards and it works. And nothing warms my heart
(10:40):
more than to see that man be able to feed
his family. And you know, so I think it. Yeah,
it was a mission of line, but you know, we
all had the talent. We just had to do the work.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
This rad and speaking of talent, I think your comedy
has always been known for kind of pushing boundaries, kind
of what's inspired you to be so fearless in your
humor in particular.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
I don't know. It's just I think instincts, just knowing God, like, oh,
that's funny, say it like. I don't worry about what
trouble because my intention isn't to hurt people's feelings. My
intentions not to punch down. My intentions to make you
laugh and feel relief with all the mess that's going
(11:32):
on with the world. When you leave my show, I
spend more time talking about me than I do you.
I'm not there to shit on people. I'm there to
relieve you. I, like I said, like jokes on me.
Most of the show you come to, this is gonna
be a model show less you screaming and begging for
(11:52):
me to bash your ass off, which I'll do. Right.
If you're begging for attention, you're gonna get it and
you're gonna like it. Right. Well, for the most part,
I just want to do my show, Come enjoy, come
laugh jokes on me.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
Well, you're sharing your gift. I think when you started
this answer, you talked about I'm just doing what God
put in me, and you're doing it from a You're
doing it from a place of sharing the gift that
He's put in you. And I'm so glad that you're
tapping into it, especially from that lens on how you
then distribute it, because then it's a truly unfiltered expression, right,
because it's yet, it's a gift.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
I'm trusted because God, I'm not writing it. Inspiration is
writing it, and inspiration is only God. That's my close
relationship with God. I hear him say this, son, Okay,
I'm gonna say that it works, and that sounds crazy,
but I'm just aligning like that, like I trust that
when it comes out of my mouth. I trust my goodness,
(12:48):
I trust my instincts, and I trust the math of
what I'm putting together. And I'm gonna make people laugh
and I do hard to cancel. Somebody has been here
for thirty something years, right, I know what I'm doing.
I know how to tell a joke. I'll get how
sensitive y'all get. And even if you ever cancel me,
(13:09):
that's gonna be probably like a couple of thousand people.
Everybody else is gonna come to the show like, I'm
sorry those called sensitive ass people. I know how to
tell a joke. I know how to do it. When
you do White Chicks, we know what we're doing right.
When we do a movie White Chicks, that could have
been all kinds of mess, don't be a menace. We
(13:29):
do lampooning to make fun of ourselves and others. You know,
that's just what we do. We do it well.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Yeah, and you know your career has seen I think
success in so many different forms of entertainment from stand
up as we're talking about acting and producing in somebody cells.
How do you balance these kind of different aspects and
how does each kind of contribute to your overall artistic expression.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
I think it's not that to balance it, I just
work hard. Yeah, every day, like right tonight, normally every weekend,
I'm gonna doing stand up. Yeah, just so I'm the special.
So now I got to think about what my next
set is. I go back on the road and ten
(14:20):
days with a brand new hour. We're attempting a brand
new hour because I retired of material out there and
do it special. But in the meantime, I'm a negotiation
for a movie. Once that movie happens. I'll spend two
three months on that movie, and then on the weekends
I'll be doing stand up. But then there's movies done,
and I got three or four TV projects I'm working on.
(14:43):
It's just when it comes up, right, that's what gets
the attention. You're like a chef in the in the
kitchen cooking different meals. Taste that soup, suit's ready, Oh,
this gospacho's almost done. What about the salad. Let's wait
for a little while for the salad. What's the the
roast doing? I put that in the oven. Let me
taste that chicken over there. You just shot cooking several
(15:08):
things at one time, and then once it's done, you
put you plate that and you make room for dessert.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Right, So, so what's the process of once we go
through that filter of taste and everything? So, like your
roast be is real dry?
Speaker 2 (15:22):
What's breakfast? What was your saying? What you mean? What's
I don't believe in nothing dry? I taste. I cook
it to perfection. Now you get asked them if you
want to I cooked my into perfection. I don't nothing.
You ain't gonna get my soux fleet with a raw middle.
It's gonna be perfectly done. I know what I'm doing.
I know what I'm doing now. Thank you for the notes,
(15:44):
but I'm gonna do this this way. I want you
to receive it, enjoy that, and then you go. But
now to eight. What's next? Breakfast?
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Got another meal for you?
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Got me it? Don't stop yo.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
And And you know, I look at comedy and often
it's so nerves as a means I think to address
a lot of social issues. I think the medians like yourself,
with some of the smartest people in the world, especially
with dealing with some of the topics and challenging stereotypes
and provoking thought. How do you see your comedy contributing
though to the important conversations and making a difference in society.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
It's just I think laughter eases tension. If you can
laugh about it, we may not be on the same team.
I got a room full of Democrats and a room
full of Republicans, and I cracked the right joke, and
the Republicans laughed, and the Democrats laugh. What we did
(16:42):
was we took that divide and we eliminated it, aliliated
and now we're all laughing collectively. We found we because
we found the commonality. Even if we disagree, we both
agree on the point of view. And what was funny
about it? Right, bunch of black people, a bunch of
white people. I find the right joke. I'll give it's
about black people. Everybody's laughing, including the black people and
(17:04):
the white people. I found the right joke. I just right,
white joke. White people are laughing, Black people laughing. Now.
I talked about race, and I brought everybody together with
a laugh. And I think we were able to do
that with society, right. I think if you look at like,
don't be a mens. We took good movies and took
the violence out of them and took the danger out
(17:26):
of them, and was like, what's funny about them? Right?
Because there's things to laugh about, not just cry about.
When that comes with poverty, that comes with violence, that
comes everything, you know, there's always something funny, you know.
I think if you look at like, if you look
(17:47):
at men on films on the lemon color, the first
time we had gazed in our living room that part,
and those two guys we probably knew at work, we
probably knew in the streets. We've probably had friends of
our family that was like that. But it wasn't until
they were inside of our home and they were doing
(18:09):
hated it did you start laughing and welcomed them into
your living room, which made you feel good when you've
seen them outside of your house, like, hey, what's up man,
it's rang things. So laughter deserves a lot more credit
than it gets, and I think that's what's wrong with
today's generation. Then I laughed in the Hollywood's stopped making comedies.
(18:31):
Everybody thinks people are sensitive, and what's happening is there's
a false narrative being constructed and it's making our society depressed.
It's making us crazy, and we got to get back
to learning to laugh.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
No, you have important on stability. You have such a responsibility.
I'm so glad that you put it in that context.
And your gift is needed for so many reasons, but
on a big level, like it can be a big
part of the change of our dynamic ratually laughter bro.
So wow, it's a heavier burden on your shoulder. And
I even thought before, and I'm so glad that you
(19:08):
are aware and you're accepting this. I don't want to
call it challenge, but this responsibility that God's put you
in position to be one of the people that we
need bro to continue.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
And the thing is they got to let the studios,
the people with the checks, the people that are in
charge of distributing the comedy. We have to let them
know how desperate we are for it. Themedies at those theatters,
y'all gotta go support when they come on TV. You
(19:40):
gotta watch them because they're convinced that comedy is not needed.
And I'm always going to be an advocate for others
advocate for comedy period.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
Yeah no, And you know you're you're talking about something
around you know that the powers that be and you
talk about I feel like you had an early understanding
of the importance of black ownership with all that your
family was doing with creating programs and platforms in there.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
We honestly, I'll be honestly, haven't owned enough. We've own pieces, though,
we haven't owned enough. I'm really on this kick of
ownership right now. Like I look at what Tyler Perry
has done, and I applaud that brother for that. You know,
I mean, that's tough to do. It's just basically got
to bet on yourself. And I'm at this point now
(20:31):
where I'm betting on myself. You know, my last two
to three specials, I own them at the amount of
pocket I own my specials. Why because I'm gonna build
a catalog and then I'll own a half of three
of my movies. Right, So I'm gonna start. That's important
to me that I believe in myself and at the
end of the day, I'm creating a library. I'm not
(20:55):
just doing movies and giving away my life. And you know,
you have me smart about your business and construct it.
Some movies is for them. They pay you enough. You're like, oh,
we could have that, they don't you go No, I
need more ownership. I believe in this.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
Ownership and equity is your new big set, absolutely for sure.
So Lemon, what advice would you give, you know, aspiring
comedians or entertainers who are looking to kind of break
in to this industry, right and not only just break in,
but make a lasting cultural impact, which I think you
have a history of.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
You have to log your hours, man, It's about the
hard work. If you have twenty four hours in a
day and you ain't spending eighteen of them trying to
break through in this industry, whether that's five hours on
the stage, five hours writing and five hours doing research
and one hour rest before you sleep through six hours,
(21:54):
Then you ain't trying to do this right, right, put
it harder to do it dedication. I don't sleep much,
but what I do, I'm dreaming about what I'm gonna
write when I wake up. Like you're talking to somebody
that does stand up, that writes his own stand up.
All right, writers, I write my own stand up. I
write my own movies. I work with write to some writers,
but I'm developing my own movies, write my TV shows.
(22:17):
I'm producing like I've work all the time, and take
me as business meetings and work out and get my
body in shape. When I have to do a movie,
there's no excuses. Get your ass on the stage. Stop
telling me about your obstacles, get it done. Writ and
learn how to do something. Read how do I write
a script? There's one hundreds of books on writing a
(22:38):
script real and then sit your ass down and write
a script.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
It's right, do the work. Said, Well, you talked about
the power of laughter, and like I said, you'd even
enlighten me on just how impactful it is. I think
within all the areas of entertainment that you've excelled and
worked in within over the years. And was there ever
a potent moment though, when you realize just how big
and instrumental black culture was to kind of shaping and
(23:06):
influencing the global landscape as we know it. Like so,
in addition to that laughterpiece, was there a moment where
you saw, hold up, we really changed, We really shipped
some things, or we can ship some things.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
I think it was. It happens repeatedly. It's not one
time repeatedly, especially in our career. It happened with I'm
Gonna Get Your Sucker. It happened with Living Color, happened
again with Don't Be a Menace, happened again with Scary Movie,
happen again with White Chicks. It's happening again with my
(23:43):
stand up. It always influences the culture. The culture is
what grabs on to it, and the culture informs everybody else, Like, Yo,
this shit is hot, y'all do this because the culture
is the taste makers. They love our comedy, love our stuff.
Because we we're always consistent with our messages and we're
(24:09):
consistent with the caliber of comedy that we bring. The
culture loves it.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
What do you want to be recognized for what when
you look back at your career in the mark you
intend to leave on the world.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
I don't know. Marriage too busy working to think about, well,
what people then taking me with. I want people to
see a comedy. I want them laugh, they asshole, they
see some stand up light laughed, ass off. Hope some
of my stand up heels some of the problems that
they're going through. If not, if it didn't change their life,
(24:45):
I hope it changes their mood. I hope that if
I did a drama. I do characters. Whatever I do,
I'm believable and biable as that. I want to be
as starter stuff I been seen. I want to be
as accepted comedically as I am dramatically. And I just
want the audience to be like, Yo, whatever he does,
(25:06):
I'm in because I'm an artist. I'm not just a comedian.
I'm a writer, producer, actor, comedian, stand up comedian, great
dramatic actor. I do characters. I do it all. I
just want people to be like Yo, that dude, whatever
he did, I always believed him, and I always I always,
(25:35):
I always bought into it. He was that good now drama, comedy,
He's just that good whatever he wants in our studios,
be like, whatever I want to do, just trust what
I want to do. I'm gonna make you money. I'm
an artist. I know what I'm doing.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
No, I think you know one of the many proud
moments that I've already spoken to regarding you, But I
think there was a couple win to your point. You
took some dramatic roles. I think was it was bel Air,
which is one where you the father with bella dog.
I gotta tell you. I was like, I don't know
how this is gonna go over be this is comedian,
this is and I was like, yo, he really embodied
(26:12):
this Germanic character.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
It's you more. Because I learned dramatic skills before I
started doing comedy. I was a dramatic action I've been
doing dramatic acting since the third grade their grade, Like
you know what I mean. It's like I was always
doing the plays. I was an Oliver Twist. I was
Peter Pan and Peter Pan. I was mister Bumble and
(26:36):
all twists because I turned Oliver Twist down because I
felt it was degrading as a black man to play
Oliver Twist. In the fourth grade, I was like, no,
I'll play mister mister bumbles. I'll play it. I'll play
the villain. I'm not gonna And they begged me. I
was like, no, I don't want to be begging and
I don't want to be wearing tattered clothes. I turned
down the fourth grade right. And then when I got
(26:58):
to high school, the high school that we went to,
I learned the art of dramatic, the art of dramatic arts.
That's what I did. Comedy was just something I was
born into, but drama is something that I trained in.
And then I trained in how to be a writer.
Then I trained it now to be a producer. Then
I trained it now to be a stand up and
(27:19):
now I have these five different skill sets all about
having to do with one skill set. I'm gonna kill
these people. They don't even know what's going on. I'm
they say, you lost ten thousand hours to be great
at something. I've lost fifty thousand hours.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
That part, you know, as I think about it, I
look back to even the high school days, Like dog,
you were doing stand up in the hallways, with the
clowning that you did on a dearly passes. Absolutely listen,
you had a joke for everyone at every point.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
Yeah. So now it's just the way I see the world.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
No, it is, and it's a beautiful thing. It's a
lightness that you bring. It's a necessary joy that you bring.
Like literally, anytime I see you, it's always like this
joy of just light, fun, comedic, keeping it one hundred,
like it's always been that case and you and you
take that with you into these projects and I feel
(28:16):
it and I see it falls. But but listen, the
opening scene to your life documentary is about to begin, right.
What's the song that's playing?
Speaker 2 (28:27):
And why? Probably firs not your my way? Okay? Why?
Because I'm doing it every which way I can only
to get to do it to my way. And eventually,
over time, even though I'm going through all these different things,
(28:47):
it all winds up that I'm doing it my way.
Whatever God has written for me. I'm gonna do the work.
I'm gonna enjoy every experience I've ever gotten into, even
the bad one, and I'm gonna do things my way
because it's gonna be earned, because I'm a respect from
(29:09):
my comrades, people in the industry, investors to know that
my intention and know that I have a very interesting
skill set. And if you bet and we all bet together,
don't have your bet. We're gonna make some money together
because I know what I'm doing. My audience loves me,
(29:32):
and I love them, and we connect the ways that
y'all will never understand. And I don't care if it's
a movie. I don't care if it's TV. I don't
care if it's brands, because that's the next level. There's
letting these brands know. Hey, man, give me a dishwashing liquid,
give me your motion, give me your cell phone. I'm
gonna sell the hell on it.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
When I was at Niety, I think you get reached
out to me. It was like, yo, no, what can
I do? How can we make some happen? And over
there and I was a different situations.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
Yeah, but one day they gonna call me or there'll
be another sneaker on the market that they don't wish that.
They was like, damn, I should have invested in that.
Whether you they want to or not, they were smart.
They've come find me. I'm telling you it's only a
matter of time. I'm staying young for a reason. I'm
fifty one. I still look in my thirties, that's right.
(30:28):
And when I'm shaving down, I could possibly touch twenty nine,
like for real. And I'm staying young because I feel
like I have so much more to do and God's
not aging me. This person wants me to stay right
where I'm at because I got a nice twenty year
run to be the dopest superstar that's been created. And
(30:49):
so I'm staying young because I'm gonna get these brands.
I'm gonna get all this stuff. Everything's everything, everything I
want and I know how much I want. I know
what I'm gonna do, and if God has me living
and breathing, it's gonna happen. I love it.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
So, you know, we end this conversation with the analogy
of what three seeds would you want to leave with
the stewards of culture moving forward? Still, it's to that of,
you know, the farming culture, planning a seed, nurturing and
watering it. What are three things that you would say, Look,
here are the things that I would share with this
next generation so that they can continue to shape and
(31:27):
mold this thing that we've created with great intention and care.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
The seed of hard work that knowing that that is
your greatest asset. Hard work is the greatest talent you
could ever have, because those that aren't talented in something,
if you do the hard work, you can become masterful
and something you was terrible at. I don't care if
it's piano. I don't care if it's football. I don't
(31:54):
care if it's basket. But whatever you put your energy into,
you're willing to work your ass on for it. You're
gonna make it happen. So hard work is the necessity.
And and and also I would say determination and creativity
(32:14):
plant that seed because determination takes you too. Not do
things in a conventional way that determine people learn to
create their opportunities. That you don't wait on opportunities. And
(32:36):
I laugh what I hear about actors waiting on auditions, Nigga,
I could wrote six movies while you're waiting on these auditions. Gad. Meanwhile,
when those auditions come to me, I go off. What
if I like it? But if not, I on a stage.
If not, I'm writing something. Why am I gonna sit
there and wait on Hollywood to open up a door
for me when I could put a detonator on that door,
(32:58):
flow it wide open and put me and my family
on and bring us through I create opportunities, give me
a I will kick a hole in the wall before
I wait for a door to the open. And the
last one I would say, uh, the other seed is
(33:24):
the scene of creating opportunities that create opportunities for those
that's willing to do the work. Yep, you don't put
every family member on. No, it's right.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
You can't take everybody with me.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
Put the family members on that's willing to do the work.
You can't take everybody with you. And when they start
getting heavy and they start dragging you down, you gotta
cut some people off because you need helium balloons too.
You can't make it to the heavens with a bunch
of helium, with a bunch of stas bags on you.
(34:01):
So surround yourself with people that inspire you to reach
new levels and lighthearted people that are like minded and
have the same goal or very bigger goals than.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
Your Yeah, well, you're obviously an example of these three things.
I'm glad you share the ones that you did, because
though essential for all of us, I think to grow
into the spaces that we need to grow and take
this culture to where it needs to go.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
How did you one last one last seed, please, it's
the scene of recreation.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
Recreation.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
You have to evolve as an artist, if they evolve
as a person. You have to break yourself down in
order to build yourself up. When you learn and you
master someth find something you're ignorant, ignorant in and don't
know anything, and work your way back up to mastery
on that level. In order to be great, you gotta
(35:11):
be a force of nature. Michael Jordan was a force
of nature. He got better every year he was in
the league, and even when his body gave out, he
was still footing up crazy numbers because he started out
as a guy that could help with great athletic abilities.
And then he learned the art of shooting the set shot,
(35:36):
and then from there they started double team and triple
team and him, he started trusting his players and his
assists got up, and then he started winning more. And
then they started crowding him, and they was like, we're
not gonna We're gonna give him a three point and
he started starting shooting, you know, crazy numbers at the
(35:57):
three point line. Shot eight in one game. Now he's
a three point threat. Then he's all defensive, he's stealing
he's running those pass lanes. Now he can dunk, he's stealing,
he could pass. How do I stop this guy? What
do I do? I foul him? And now you found me.
I was a seventy percent free throw shooter, and now
(36:18):
I become an eighty five percent free throw shooter. So
now I'm scoring more points because you're scared of me.
And then once you do that, how do I stop him?
How do I get him out the league? I get
him on. I go to the Wizards. I make ten
million dollars. They snatch my ownership away. And what do
I do? I go Bob the Bobcats. Michael Jordan is
(36:42):
the epitome of evolution, and that's what I want to
be when it comes to my artistry, all of it.
To Michael Jordan, of this thing we call comedy.
Speaker 1 (36:54):
Well, listen, I'm gonna be praying for you on that
that God continue and use to fuel you in a
way of continued evolution.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
And if you don't and I wind up being Scottie Pippen,
I'll be fine. All abroad, Kobe, I'm in the conversation.
That's all right. I love it, Bro.
Speaker 1 (37:15):
I can't thank you enough for this time I can't
thank you enough for your energy, your friendship always, brother,
your advocacy. I'm so proud of you again. I'm proud
the human that you are. Forget about the success. The
human that you are who's always been welcoming open doors
for my daughter. Have done many things, and I thank
you and I love.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
You, bro Bro keep killing them all right.
Speaker 1 (37:37):
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Host
Astor Chamber
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