Latest / The Breakfast Club / INTERVIEW: Damon Wayans Jr. On Making His Own Name, Resurgence Of Black Sitcoms, Dad's Discipline + More

Transcript

INTERVIEW: Damon Wayans Jr. On Making His Own Name, Resurgence Of Black Sitcoms, Dad's Discipline + More · The Breakfast Club

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Wake that ass up in the morning. The Breakfast Club Morning.
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: Everybody is d j Envy Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne the gud
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: we are the Breakfast Club.
• 0:10
  Speaker 3: Justice on Maternity leaves along the Roses. Feeling in and
• 0:12
  Speaker 3: we got a special guest in the building.
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: Yes, indeed, thankies and gentlemen, we have Damon Wayne's junior.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Welcome, Thank you boss, Thank you man.
• 0:19
  Speaker 3: How you feeling, brother, I'm feeling all right.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: All right? When did the when did the just have
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: a baby?
• 0:24
  Speaker 3: Like three years ago?
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: About two months?
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Leaves back, shorty.
• 0:33
  Speaker 4: I always went as a wingians, right, are you born
• 0:35
  Speaker 4: into the Illuminati or you have to earn your spot
• 0:37
  Speaker 4: like everybody Illuminati?
• 0:41
  Speaker 5: You definitely don't get here. They definitely walking right in.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: Now. I don't know Illuminati.
• 0:48
  Speaker 6: Yeah, man, how you get there? Illuminati to earns? But
• 0:53
  Speaker 6: you know what I'm saying, y'all, y'all been successful for
• 0:55
  Speaker 6: so long.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: Oh so success, Yeah, it takes it, takes it, you know. Yeah,
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: you kind of just walk in at this point. Yeah.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: But you know, I'm a conspiracy theorist, so I don't
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: really with illuminatis.
• 1:12
  Speaker 7: Yeah, I thought the conspiracy theory, the conspiracy theories did
• 1:16
  Speaker 7: like the whole Illuminati.
• 1:17
  Speaker 5: Isn't that a conspiracy? What illuminati?
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: Illuminati is a conspiracy. I don't attach myself to that.
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: Like what the.
• 1:26
  Speaker 5: Conspiracy theories? I'm like that, that's what you'll.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: You know, I'll be on I'm be on YouTube. I'll
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: be looking at.
• 1:33
  Speaker 4: What is the conspiracies about the Wayne's brothers? How have
• 1:36
  Speaker 4: the Wayne's family been so successful for so long?
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: I don't know if there's a conspiracy. I think it's
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: just it's just family working together, you know. I feel
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: like that's what we all should be doing. Absolutely, you
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: know what I mean? Like, I feel like black people
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: learn best by example, and so you have a bunch
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: of examples and you just copy on.
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: Let's talk about the pressure.
• 1:57
  Speaker 4: Of did you study every member of your fan only?
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: Like did you watch everything Keenan was in? Did you
• 2:03
  Speaker 4: watch everything your dad was in? You watch everything.
• 2:04
  Speaker 6: Mallin was in?
• 2:05
  Speaker 4: Like I'm talking since you was a child, like study
• 2:07
  Speaker 4: everything that they did.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: I mean I watched this up that I like, there
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: was ones I skipped. What did you skip? Glimmer Man?
• 2:21
  Speaker 6: I don't remember remember the limmer Man?
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: My dad, my uncle Keen did a movie with Steven Sagne.
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: Glimmer Man.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Is that what is called?
• 2:29
  Speaker 6: Remember that black Man?
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: No, I watched black Man because I was in it.
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: We've got a picture of you in it.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: Oh my god, crazy, No, that's so cool. Yeah, glimmer Man.
• 2:44
  Speaker 6: I don't even know what you're talking about. The glimmer Man.
• 2:48
  Speaker 6: I don't remember this. I definitely remember glimmer Man. I
• 2:52
  Speaker 6: missed that one.
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah man. Yeah like the comedy, Yeah, I like the comedies. Yeah.
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: I like Don't Be a Man. That is one of
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: my favorite classic love major pain classic. I love uh
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: the movie with Jada Pinkett and Uncle keenan uh shame
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: so I love though. Those look like my top classics.
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: And Black Man because I was so.
• 3:16
  Speaker 6: Who the every day working class Wings.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: Every day working any everything where we got a bunch
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: of working class wings. Okay, we got a big ass family.
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: So there's like a lot of people that are just
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: as funny as everybody, but they just don't feel like,
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: you know, going through the Hollywood ship.
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: But do they just work? Do they work on the
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: set or do they have like we have.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: Something that work on the set. You know, we gotta
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: love it. Yeah, we got we got uh Uncle Shawn's
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: right the show.
• 3:39
  Speaker 6: Kim the showrunner, yea, how you know?
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah, because this guy he lived here. You know,
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: my I got my daughter works on the set. She's uh,
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: she's a standing for essence Adkins character.
• 3:56
  Speaker 4: Wow.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: And she'd be writing on the show too. She's great.
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah, she's Now we got to talk about the pressures
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: of being a WANs I mean, because is im pressure
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: of Pop's uncle family cousins, Like, yeah, is there any pressure?
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: No, I don't feel like I don't feel like there's pressure.
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: I mean maybe in the beginning. In the beginning, it
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: was like I used to I used to have a
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: h an alias when I went on stage Kyle Green.
• 4:19
  Speaker 5: Really yeah, and no one guessed it. You look you
• 4:23
  Speaker 5: look like.
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: Like the middle of my punchlines back. You look just
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: like your damn deady And so I had to change
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: it just to damon you know. But really I was
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: just trying to get my bearings, you know, trying to
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: get on stage, and I be like, coming to stage,
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: Damon Wayne's son, you know, so have you never got
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: something because you a Wayne, Like it was like a
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: part of the family. Now maybe I don't know, they don't,
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: you know. That's all that behind the scenes stuff. But
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: you know they let you in. They'll let you in
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: just because they want to see you, you know, like
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: Da Wayiams when I first started. So I got in
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: some rooms and shout out to my family for making
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: it easier for me. You know a lot of people,
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: you know, they get a they frowned on the NEPO
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: baby thing. I think it's great. I think it's like
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: I don't either. I mean, I feel like it's a business.
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: This is a business, just like any other business. If
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: it's a you know, a car manufacturer and then you
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: pass it down to his son stuff like that. It's
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: just that's what it is.
• 5:21
  Speaker 6: I think what y'all done a phenomenal. I was phenomenal.
• 5:23
  Speaker 4: I was driving on the West Side yesterday and I
• 5:24
  Speaker 4: saw the digital billboard for Papa's house and.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: They got a billboard out there.
• 5:27
  Speaker 6: Yeah, but it was you and your pops. And I
• 5:28
  Speaker 6: was just like man number one, the og demon when
• 5:31
  Speaker 6: has been getting it for.
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: A long, long long that man, that man is a killer.
• 5:34
  Speaker 4: And it's nothing cooler than being able to do what
• 5:37
  Speaker 4: you love to do with your son.
• 5:39
  Speaker 6: Like everybody, we love what bron and Ronnie doing. I
• 5:42
  Speaker 6: give it up for y'all too.
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: Yeahn man, I mean I'm happy, man. We've had a
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: really good time so far. We shot like eleven already
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: and you know, it finally came out last night, and
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: I'm just hoping, you know, people keep watching and seeing
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: because it gets funnier and funnier. Know. The pilot is
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: a good It sets the stage, sets the characters. But
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: we had a lot of suits. You know, they were
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: like kind of like making sure that we did with
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: what they wanted us to do. And then as time
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: went on, they've let us spread our wings and now
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: we get to just be ridiculous and funny and heartfelt,
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: and you know, I love it. I love seeing my
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: dad every damn day.
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: Well what is Papa's House about? For people that don't know,
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: because yesterday, yeah, yah.
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: So Papa's House is basically about a papa who's a
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: popular morning radio DJ and really yeah a little bit
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: a little bit, and he is a He lives alone,
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: he's happily divorced. He basically lives his dream of solitude
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: until his son, who was like an immature needy guy,
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: moves in next door to him with his wife and
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: his two kids and just kind of turns Papa's life
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: upside down, and that's basically the long and short of it.
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: We were toying with the idea of calling it raising
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: Damon because it's like, you know, you think it's him
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: raising me, but then it you kind of see that
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: Papa needs him raising too. You know. It's a lot
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: of old school versus new school views. I think it's
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: really cool, you know, I think it's I think my
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: goal for the show is to bring back black comedies.
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: You know, Like, had I known that, you know, the nineties,
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: in the early two thousands, like we're never going to
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: be again, you know, like there were so many options
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: we had. We had we had Fresh Prince of bel Air,
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: living single, we had so many options on so many
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: different channels. And had I known that we're gonna have
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: like nothing for like, you know, over a decade, I
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: would have appreciated it more, you know, family matters.
• 7:50
  Speaker 4: Nobody can explain to me why that went away, because
• 7:52
  Speaker 4: it's not like all all those shows were super successful
• 7:55
  Speaker 4: with this. So what happened in Hollywood that they just
• 7:57
  Speaker 4: flipped this what you said, we don't want no more
• 7:58
  Speaker 4: of this, Let's do reality television.
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: I don't know, I feel like they always use they
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: always use black people to kind of build up the
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: platforms and then just do away with them. You know,
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: you're you know the living single friends thing, the u
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: PN remember up n They use all them shows Jamie
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: Fox Show to Marlon Wayne Wayne, the Wayne's brothers. Now,
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: they had all these damn shows.
• 8:24
  Speaker 6: Your Pop, Your pop show to my wife and kids.
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: My wife and kids. I didn't want to say that
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: because that was I love my wife and kids. But
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: like they had some We had so many shows, and
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: I feel like now what we have, we have Abbot,
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: we have the neighborhood. Is there anything else?
• 8:48
  Speaker 6: Now? You know, there was a there was a resurgence,
• 8:50
  Speaker 6: but a lot of them grown.
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah black yeah growing.
• 8:55
  Speaker 6: Insecure right Atlanta?
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: Insecure was great. I'm talking about to come now like
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: they don't ever. Yeah, like the sitcoms like Network TV,
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: I feel like it's you know, it's far and few between,
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: and I just hope that, you know, maybe the show
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: gets popular enough to be like, oh, let's bring more
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: of those, you know what I mean? I love it
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: because I feel like people need to see black people
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: enjoying themselves, black people making each other laugh, Black people
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: making the world laugh.
• 9:23
  Speaker 7: You know how much of this show is just improv
• 9:26
  Speaker 7: off the script because I know it's based on like
• 9:27
  Speaker 7: you guys are really about to move next door to
• 9:29
  Speaker 7: each other or something at one point.
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's a lot of it's improv
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: you know. But we we have a script, but we
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: definitely do whatever we want because you know, it's my
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: dad's show and he'll just let people play and so
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: we having fun. You know, I like, I like to improvise,
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: but you know there's certain characters that like to just
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: do the script, and they're fine doing the script, but
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: everybody's having fun.
• 9:51
  Speaker 6: Are you good at taking notes or both? Are you
• 9:53
  Speaker 6: and your dad good at taking notes?
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: Me? Yeah, yeah, I'll take notes. I mean I take
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: I like constructive criticism, right, I mean my dad that's
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: how he raised me. You know, this dude is the
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: most brutal critic of all time. I did I did
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: years ago. I did what was it called Deaf Comedy Jam.
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: They did Deaf Comedy Jam. I was like twenty five,
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: twenty six, and I got standing ovation. Like I was
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: nervous as hell. I got standing ovation. I did really well.
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: I get off stage. He comes up to me. He
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: goes any think it did son? And I go, uh,
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: I don't know, like eight nine, he's like seven and
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: a half. And he just walks off.
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: There was no content, no nothing, no notes.
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: No notes, just get out, do better.
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: You know, how do you feel with your dad doing
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: stand up?
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: And you know, you would talk about you guys and
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: stand up and of course he talks about you, you know,
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: masturbating off the house at that time.
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: I wait that question, you lit up.
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah, boys got louder.
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: How was that just for you as a kid when
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: your dad used to tell them stories?
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: It was that one specifically was embarrassing because I remember
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: one time I was I was like hooking up with
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: this girl or about to hook up with there, and
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: she was like, wait a minute, are you the guy
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: that does the thing with spaghetti? And I was just
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: like what And then she plays me a clip of
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: the freaking video of him just you know, talking about
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: me going spaghetti again. I'll be right back, and you
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: know I didn't get any that day, so yeah, it
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: messed me up.
• 11:35
  Speaker 6: Did you not get any?
• 11:36
  Speaker 4: Because she wanted you to do the spaghetti trick right
• 11:38
  Speaker 4: then and there, and he was like, no, I was.
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: Like, I'm not gonna I'm like, you can do this
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: spaghetti trick. Yeah, no, she just she just wanted to
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: laugh at She just laughed. It was very embarrassing.
• 11:48
  Speaker 6: Yeah, y'all got a Gregory Owans on the set.
• 11:51
  Speaker 4: Yeah, right, the Legend album from The Coffee Show, Gregory Jeffrey,
• 11:55
  Speaker 4: Jeffrey his voice.
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: You know, his name is spelled weird, spelled g Yeah, yeah, geography.
• 12:03
  Speaker 6: And you don't want to call him Elvin because this
• 12:04
  Speaker 6: is special.
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we got we got him.
• 12:08
  Speaker 6: Do you do you pick their brain?
• 12:09
  Speaker 4: Like do you sit around and have conversations with him
• 12:11
  Speaker 4: about how you know things work back then?
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: Not really, but he's He and I have a lot
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: of scenes together. We just shot an episode together. It
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: was just kind of he and I and my wife
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: on the show, and we just have so much fun together.
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: He's so ready to play, he's so you know, just
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: happy to be there and I'm happy to have him there.
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: And it's just very like he's just such a he's
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: a Shakespearean actor. So it's like really cool to see
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: him in his element. Like we did something in this
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: in that episode specifically for him to shine, and and
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: he really did. It's really funny.
• 12:46
  Speaker 4: Do you think you have an appreciation for history being
• 12:50
  Speaker 4: that you're surrounded by it?
• 12:52
  Speaker 6: I mean, you're making your own right, but you're always
• 12:55
  Speaker 6: I mean your whole life.
• 12:56
  Speaker 4: I'm sure Eddie Murphy or Senior Hall, Robert Townland who
• 12:59
  Speaker 4: were there, Like, so, do you have a his appreciation sport?
• 13:03
  Speaker 4: Because to bear with me, I couldn't shut the fuck up.
• 13:05
  Speaker 4: I'm be asking a million questions.
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, my dad kind of instilled in me
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: not bothering famous people. Like I I see them, and
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: I give them a respect, but I'm also like, you know,
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: you do your thing. You know, I don't want to.
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: I don't want to ask you the question that I
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: know thousands of people ask you, Like I see Eddie
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: and I just like I'm in awe. But I'm also
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: not gonna like show him that I'm in all. You know,
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: So I don't really I don't like bothering famous people.
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: But we did used to have a lot of fun,
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: you know. We My dad said that, you know, when
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: when I was a kid, that he used to invite
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: that Eddie used to invite him and his family on
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: their little yacht parties, right, and my dad would have
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: to go on there with his you know, his wife,
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: and and me as a kid, I was like two
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: years old, maybe three, and and Eddie would be sitting
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: there like, man, this is this is nice? Man like
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: looking at my family like see this is what I want.
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: I want this. I'm gonna go fo some bitches and
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: like he'd leave and my dad would just be on
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: the boat by himself with his family, and there'd be
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: like a bunch of girls there and stuff like that,
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: a bunch of celebrities, and it was really cool, you know.
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: And I remember one time, well, my dad told me that.
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: He said that that's what I want anything.
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: I want that, Yeah, that's what Dad.
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: Definitely, he was like I want that. But but Emmanuel Lewis,
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: you know manuali Es a webster, he was you know Lewis. Yes,
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: so he was on the boat right one time, and
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: uh and he was like dress fly. He had a
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: suit on, had a watch and a little dude watch
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: a little dude and I and I as a baby,
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: was confused because I'm like a baby. I thought he
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: was a big baby. I'm like, why how do you
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: know all them big words? Why? How you who gave
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: you a watch? You know? I'm like following him around
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: the whole, the whole, Yeah, trying to you know, see
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: what's up with him. You know, just like the kid
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: on the boat who gave me them shoes. You know,
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: well your dip brat, you know, always remember I was too, No,
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: he just told me, told me walking around following them everywhere.
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: He was like, come on, man, go he was like
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: trying to shoot me away. Man, it's naptime. That's funny.
• 15:23
  Speaker 7: So what is the you guys always keep Essence Atkins books.
• 15:27
  Speaker 7: I know she's in Papa's house. She plays doctor Ivy Green.
• 15:30
  Speaker 7: What what's the chemistry with her in the Wayne's family? Like,
• 15:33
  Speaker 7: can you talk a bit about that? And a decision
• 15:34
  Speaker 7: to bring her on this show?
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: Right, Well, first of all, Essence Adkins keeps herself booked
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: like that woman is a phenomenal comedic actress, phenomenal actress period.
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: But she's also like really funny. And initially my dad
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: didn't want her to be on the show because Uncle
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: MoMA was like, yo, you gotta put it home. You know,
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: she's really funny. I don't know what you're doing, you know,
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: and and my dad was like kind of you know,
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: like no, he was she was on your show. I
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: don't want to have that on my show, like leave
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: it alone. And finally he, you know, he was like
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: come in and read, and she went in and like
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: from the moment she walked in the door, she was
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: killing us, like just so funny. Before she even said
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: a word of the audition, she came in, killed it,
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: killed it, left and she was the first person up
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: to so everybody yet like she just sucked all the
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: energy out the room and there was just like no
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: one was gonna do or top that. So, you know,
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: so Essence keeps herself look like she's just phenomenal. Now.
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: You also see the change of comedy, right because you've
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: seen everything your family gets done right from blank Man
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: to Living Color, and you think comedy can go back
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: there without people getting insulted about getting offended taking things personal.
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: I mean I don't think so. I mean, I feel
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: like show but this blank Man offensive though I feel
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: like I feel like blank Man was like pretty chill.
• 16:57
  Speaker 6: I don't remember. I have to go back and watch
• 16:59
  Speaker 6: it again.
• 16:59
  Speaker 4: Because what I because what we didn't think was offensive.
• 17:02
  Speaker 4: Now when you back be like, oh yeah, that would everybody.
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: How do you get away with all that.
• 17:09
  Speaker 6: Don't give a.
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: Keep going.
• 17:11
  Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, treat it almost like comedians, right, Like
• 17:15
  Speaker 4: I'm not a comedian, but you gotta treat it like that,
• 17:17
  Speaker 4: like now you don't know you crashed, that you crash.
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: That's true.
• 17:21
  Speaker 6: I'm not trying to crash, but you know.
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: That's true, and that's what like, you know, like that's
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: what got you to where you are. You know the
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: same with you like you guys, Like I really I.
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: Missed those shows.
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: I missed the colored shows and those shows that pushed
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: the line and pushed as.
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: You know, I don't know I blame I blame jud Appatile.
• 17:44
  Speaker 6: I'm always down to blame the white man.
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: So I mean, this is a conspiracy theory, but I
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: don't think he did it intentionally. But I feel like
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: it started with super Bad, Like super Bad came out classic,
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: super funny, and and I feel like after that it
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: was just no more black stuff, no more black movies.
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: Like it was just like you know, they were like
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: we got it from here, niggers, and then they did
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: all their you know that it was like Jewish comedies
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: like starring Jewish people, Jewish young guys, which were really funny,
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: Like I love forty year old version. I love Bridesmaids,
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: I love super Bad, but I feel like it like
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: just went that way and then there was no more
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: black comedies, Like they don't make them anymore. Have you
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: noticed that.
• 18:30
  Speaker 4: I wonder if it's because because I think about what
• 18:32
  Speaker 4: you're saying all the time, because I love the tone
• 18:34
  Speaker 4: of all those movies. I even put get them to
• 18:36
  Speaker 4: the Greek in Neck. I wonder if it's because they're
• 18:39
  Speaker 4: willing to take more risks. Well, they like there's a
• 18:42
  Speaker 4: lot of things that they do in their comedy that
• 18:44
  Speaker 4: I feel like some black people wouldn't necessarily.
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: I disagree. I say, I'm saying the opportunities not there.
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: I'm sure you know there's like a bunch of black
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: comedies being written. They're just not being shot. They're not
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: they're not being given to black comedians.
• 19:00
  Speaker 7: But I think he's asking, would like some of our
• 19:02
  Speaker 7: big name black comedians, would they take those roles that
• 19:05
  Speaker 7: are going to push those boundaries because it could offend boundaries.
• 19:08
  Speaker 7: I mean, people are offended by everything nowadays, So it
• 19:10
  Speaker 7: depends on who you talking about.
• 19:12
  Speaker 4: What you're talking about, Well, it's a lot like back
• 19:13
  Speaker 4: in the day when you look at the Liver Color
• 19:14
  Speaker 4: and all of that stuff like that, they weren't afraid
• 19:16
  Speaker 4: to pretend to be gay.
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: They weren't afraid to they will addresses.
• 19:20
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm not saying you gotta wait to jet, but
• 19:22
  Speaker 4: they weren't afraid to push the limits. Right, there's things
• 19:24
  Speaker 4: that I feel like there's black people wouldn't do.
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, now you just get critiques for everything.
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: But I think if it's funny enough, like they'll let
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: you do it, you know, like like we let Robert
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: Downey Junior get away with black face because it was funny, right,
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: And but I don't think he could do that now.
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: I don't feel like I don't feel like anything is
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: I don't feel like I don't even know if super
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: Bad could get away with being super bad. Now. Maybe
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: super Bad, but like forty year old version, I'm not
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: sure right, like these not even nerds, not even nerds,
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: which is crazy.
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: Nerves is rapid though. Now when I haven't, I haven't,
• 20:03
  Speaker 3: I haven't back.
• 20:05
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean it seems like you know the guy
• 20:07
  Speaker 4: when the guy uh dressed up the girl thought it
• 20:10
  Speaker 4: was her boyfriend, but it was a whole other guy.
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, that's rape. Yeah, So
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: I mean it's kind of like I feel like people
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: are just way too aware and and and way too sensitive,
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: you know what I mean, Like leave room for comedy.
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: I feel like comedy is experimental. It's not it's not
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: the entire truth. It's like grains of truth. It's someone's
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: truth potentially, but in the reality, the goal is to
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: make you laugh, you know. And I feel like people
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: shouldn't be watching stuff ready to be offended. You should
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: be watching stuff trying to laugh. If you're watching a comedy,
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: if you want to laugh.
• 20:51
  Speaker 6: By the way, it's not even just comedy though.
• 20:52
  Speaker 4: I think about back in the day, like why was
• 20:56
  Speaker 4: Q in high school sucking the nurse and Juice.
• 21:00
  Speaker 6: Ain't even give us an next name?
• 21:01
  Speaker 3: There was no reason I think about that.
• 21:04
  Speaker 6: Why was this nurse just fucking high school?
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: I bet you, I bet you there was like a
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: storyline that they just didn't have time to explore. They
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: probably had to cut it. You know, are you.
• 21:14
  Speaker 5: Guys gonna like cause I don't.
• 21:16
  Speaker 7: I feel like it's a lot of it, Like the
• 21:18
  Speaker 7: networks know that people will be offended, so they try
• 21:20
  Speaker 7: to stay away even if they want to try it,
• 21:21
  Speaker 7: right but in Papa's house, like you guys have essence
• 21:25
  Speaker 7: Akins who's kind of coming in and your dad is
• 21:27
  Speaker 7: like the old school person who he's like aware of
• 21:30
  Speaker 7: the boundaries, but he doesn't really care. And she's like,
• 21:32
  Speaker 7: you're going to have to care. Are y'all going to
• 21:34
  Speaker 7: kind of play around with that a little bit more
• 21:35
  Speaker 7: and take those risks? Or is the network like we
• 21:38
  Speaker 7: can be cute with it, but like, no, cauld your
• 21:40
  Speaker 7: dad be willing to go all the way there?
• 21:42
  Speaker 6: I love it.
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: Oh, he goes there all the time. Didn't he get
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: in trouble on your on your show years ago?
• 21:46
  Speaker 5: I watched that last night.
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: I watched it last night.
• 21:51
  Speaker 6: Resurfacing things for no reason.
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: Well, they put my picture during that whole contrumy, I
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: remember everywhere.
• 22:01
  Speaker 6: I was like, he didn't say guess what his father?
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: That was crazy?
• 22:12
  Speaker 5: What you're gonna put those boundaries on the show.
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: Yes, we are, we we have and I think that
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: you know, once the the the suits the CBS saw
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: that we know what we're doing, they kind of like,
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: let us play, you know what I mean? Like and
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: you'll see each episode gets funnier and funnier and funnier,
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: and uh, you know, and the characters are get more
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: and more well rounded. We deal with like real issues too,
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: which is kind of weird to have like serious scenes
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: and stuff like that, but we we do that too,
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: which just makes the comedy funnier. And I love what
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: we're doing right now. Man, It's it's it's very unique,
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: especially on CBS. Like we're definitely making CBS uncomfortable with
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: the choices we're making, which I think is great because
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: we're pushing the envelope. It's like we got we were
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: competing against streaming now against network shows that go for it.
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: So it's like there's no time to really just play
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: it safe.
• 23:08
  Speaker 4: What are you teaching your father, because well, you know
• 23:10
  Speaker 4: we all with my father, you gotta be teaching him
• 23:12
  Speaker 4: something like because you know, your experience is totally different
• 23:15
  Speaker 4: than his experience.
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: All you teaching him anything?
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: I don't know, you know, I don't I really maybe
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: be a little nicer, I don't know, I don't know,
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: is he nicer? I feel like he's getting nicer. He's
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: getting he's getting nicer. You know, he's uh, you know,
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: he's cranky sometimes, but that's just how he's always been,
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: you know. But then he you know he has uh
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: you know has he has really high highs. Like if
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: you make him laugh, you can get him out of
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: a bad move. That's how we used to get out spankins.
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: Make him laugh.
• 23:50
  Speaker 4: Yeah, tell me the close encounter, like what's the club Like,
• 23:54
  Speaker 4: I'm talking about the belt, the ass about to be
• 23:56
  Speaker 4: and you come with that fire joke that made him
• 23:58
  Speaker 4: put the belt down.
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: So he used to swing the belt with you know,
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: like some people like fold the belt. He used to
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: fold the belts. It would just be like long right,
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: like a whip, like a whip.
• 24:09
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: And so when he was about to hit me, I
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: was like, don't get my ding, ding, and like help
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: my stuff. And then he just laughed because they would
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: wrap around sometimes and hit the tip. You know, he
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: didn't hit us a lot. That's when we did when
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: he did. Wait, Yeah, but he was you know, he
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: got he got his ass whip when he was little,
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: so he didn't really know. But he didn't hit us
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: a lot.
• 24:30
  Speaker 6: I can name.
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: I can you know kind of on one hand, how
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: many times I.
• 24:34
  Speaker 3: Gotta ask you're drinking soda and water? This morning?
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: I had to I had a long day yesterday. Yesterday
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: was long so I don't even drink soda like that. Like,
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: if my dad said this, he's gonna be pissed.
• 24:46
  Speaker 3: The sodas the caffeine and the water is the healthy.
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: Water is to flush it out. Caffeine used to wake
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: me up, you know what. I don't like. Coffee makes me.
• 24:56
  Speaker 6: You know ship?
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah, already I'm a problem with that, don't. I don't
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: even drink like that. I had two glasses of wine
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: yesterday and I'm messed up right now.
• 25:11
  Speaker 3: Jesus, she had about seven and she's still fine.
• 25:14
  Speaker 7: Not seven glasses of wine shots, like three glasses of
• 25:18
  Speaker 7: wine last night.
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but you were youngster, you could do that.
• 25:22
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 25:23
  Speaker 7: But what I do is I hydrate while I'm doing
• 25:25
  Speaker 7: it makes it easier.
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Do you like salt? Like a little Celtic salt
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: that you put salt in the in the water is
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: supposed to really get into your bloodstreams heard?
• 25:34
  Speaker 5: I never heard of that.
• 25:35
  Speaker 4: Are you ever afraid to work with your pops because
• 25:38
  Speaker 4: you know that he just like sabotaged his SNL situation
• 25:41
  Speaker 4: and just walked purposely did things to get fired.
• 25:45
  Speaker 6: Do you ever think that he might do that again?
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: And I don't I think he's I think he's more
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: patient now. I think he's I think he just wants
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: to make a good show and spend time with his
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: family doing it. Like I feel like this is like
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: what he likes doing, and so I don't think he's
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: going to jeopardize that. Yeah, I mean that, you know,
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: maybe ten years ago maybe, but like now, I feel
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: like he's just like chill and and just having fun.
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: Like we just be laughing the whole day. It's just
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: I love it.
• 26:21
  Speaker 4: And when you know you talked about you know, Sean
• 26:23
  Speaker 4: writing on the show, and you know, you aunt Kim
• 26:26
  Speaker 4: being a showrunner.
• 26:27
  Speaker 6: Do y'all even look outside of the family now.
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: We have a lot of people that are from our
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: outside of the family too. Like there's like twelve thirteen
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: writers on the show.
• 26:37
  Speaker 5: You said they know you guys though, right, Like.
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we all know their family friends. Like the showrunner.
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: We the showrunner wrote Major Pain with my dad. He
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: wrote on my wife and kids with my dad. So
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: the strangers get a chance, strangers get a chance. To you,
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: I got some strangers in there.
• 26:50
  Speaker 6: Sounds so crazy.
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: We got some strangers.
• 26:53
  Speaker 4: Man, y'all are doing it the way black people should
• 26:57
  Speaker 4: do it.
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: I agree, and I think that, you know, and we're
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: not bringing in stragglers, like we're bringing people that contribute
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: to the project. They're not just being like they're not
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: just there because their name is Wayne's. They're actually like
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: contributing and being really good Keenan juniors in the writer's room,
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: which is he's so damn funny, My brother Michael the
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: writer's room. It's it's just great, man. I don't know.
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: This is the closest thing I've come to being on
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: a show that I have control over, right, Like I
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: always kind of envy my family because like the first iteration,
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: because they got to come in as themselves, like this
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: is who we are within living color, Like this is
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: who we are, take it or leave it. This is
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: funny to us. Like I've been an actor for hire
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: my entire career, so I've been funny in spots. But
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: you can only be as funny as they allow you
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: to be. And so I love that this is kind
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: of like the next best thing. You know, it's still
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: my dad's baby, but I get to contribute a lot
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: and he's very collaborative.
• 27:59
  Speaker 3: So damon gotta go.
• 28:00
  Speaker 4: Gush with two more questions, When did you feel like
• 28:03
  Speaker 4: you started to make your own name for yourself and
• 28:07
  Speaker 4: people started saying that that's not Damian Wayne's son, that's
• 28:09
  Speaker 4: actually Damon Wayne's.
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: I feel like when I had the Happy Ending show
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: and then I booked the New Girl show at the
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: same time, right, and so there was like a whole
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: uproar about that, and I thought that was pretty cool
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: because Happy Endings was my first the first show I
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: ever auditioned for, and then New gro was the second
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: show I ever auditioned for. So I felt like I
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: was like, oh, I got there's something, you know, I
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: got something and uh, and then after that, I just
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: felt like I can do my own thing.
• 28:39
  Speaker 6: Are you gonna be part of the toy that they're doing.
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: They're doing a tour.
• 28:42
  Speaker 5: They're not about the comedy tour.
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: No, together, I'll be telling me nothing. I'm second generation now.
• 28:48
  Speaker 5: They barely told us. We just thought.
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: Saw that clip. I think I saw that you are composed.
• 29:00
  Speaker 7: No.
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: No, What I was gonna say is I think it's
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: something else. I don't think it's a tour. I think
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: it's I can't say but what I think it is.
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: But if it is what I think it is, it's
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: gonna be fire.
• 29:15
  Speaker 5: You know that, but like like just mortalize the wings.
• 29:19
  Speaker 4: I think like the wings needed thirty for thirty or
• 29:21
  Speaker 4: like you know what I'm saying, like that.
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: He'll be dope. But do they do that for Yeah,
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: I mean it'll be dope, but no, it's gonna be
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: it's a what it's uh, it's either like it's like
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: something on TV or film. I think I think what's
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: it called? I don't know. I can't say that. You
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: want to say too much.
• 29:45
  Speaker 5: As soon as it drop, he's gonna be the whole
• 29:46
  Speaker 5: and he's gonna be like he.
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: Was in here like he but I gave more than
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: he did.
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: But it's your time to shine this matter what they
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: did you last time, it wasn't even here and they
• 29:54
  Speaker 2: put your picture on things.
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: You're strong. I can't say because I don't I don't
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: know if it's true. Because if I say something is
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: wrong true and I'm gonna look like idiot.
• 30:05
  Speaker 6: I get it.
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: So they don't even tell me that much. I hear
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: like whispers, my family is just gossiping ass family man.
• 30:12
  Speaker 4: Well, saluthor you for continuing to carry the torch the
• 30:15
  Speaker 4: right way.
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: Thanking mand in salute to y'all man, because like I
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: came here, I forgot how money? How many years ago?
• 30:21
  Speaker 6: At least over a decade?
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, and then to see what you guys became
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: is just fucking phenomenal.
• 30:27
  Speaker 6: Appreciate you, brother.
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: Papa's House Monday's eight thirty on CBS, make sure you
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: check it out. You can stream it on Paramount Plus
• 30:33
  Speaker 2: as well, and we appreciate you for.
• 30:35
  Speaker 3: Joining us, brother.
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: Thank you man.
• 30:36
  Speaker 3: Damon Waynes Junior. It's the Breakfast Club. Good morning, wake
• 30:40
  Speaker 3: that ass up in the morning.
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: Breakfast Club.