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

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Best Of Full 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.
• 0:02
  Speaker 2: The Breakfast Club Morning.
• 0:04
  Speaker 3: Everybody is d j Envy Jess hilarious, Charlamagne, the gud
• 0:08
  Speaker 3: we are the Breakfast Club just is on maternity leave.
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: So long the Roses feeling in and we.
• 0:13
  Speaker 4: Got a special guest in the building.
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: Yes, indeed, Blakies and gentlemen, we have Damon Wayne's junior.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Welcome, Thank you, bos, thank you man. How you feeling, brother,
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: I'm feeling all right. All right? When did the when
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: did just have a baby?
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: Like three years ago?
• 0:27
  Speaker 4: About two months?
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: Tratulation leaves back, shorty.
• 0:33
  Speaker 4: I always went a wians, right, are you born into
• 0:35
  Speaker 4: the Illuminati or you have to earn your spot like
• 0:37
  Speaker 4: everybody Illuminati?
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: You definitely don't get here. They're definitely walking right in now.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: I don't know Illuminati. Yeah, man, how do you get there?
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: Illuminati?
• 0:53
  Speaker 4: But you know what I'm saying, y'all, y'all been successful
• 0:55
  Speaker 4: for so long?
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: Oh so SUCCESSI yeah, its 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 really with illuminatis.
• 1:12
  Speaker 5: I thought the conspiracy theory, the conspiracy theories did like
• 1:16
  Speaker 5: the whole illuminati.
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: Isn't that a conspiracy?
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: What illuminati? Illuminati is a conspiracy? I don't attach myself
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: to that, Like what the.
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: Conspiracy theories? I'm like that that's what you're.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: You know, I'll be on I'll be on YouTube.
• 1:32
  Speaker 4: I'll be looking at what is the conspiracies about the
• 1:34
  Speaker 4: Waynes brothers have the Wayne's family been so successful for
• 1:38
  Speaker 4: so long.
• 1:39
  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 2: Let's talk about the pressure.
• 1:58
  Speaker 4: Did you study every member of your family? Like, did
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: you watch everything Keenan was in? Did you watch everything
• 2:03
  Speaker 4: your dad was in? You watch everything Marlin 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 uff that I like, there
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: was ones I skipped. What did you skip? Glimmer Man?
• 2:21
  Speaker 4: I don't remember remember the glimmer Man.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: My dad, uncle Keen did a movie with Steven Sagne.
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: Glimmer Man is that what is called?
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: I remember that bla Man.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: No, I watched Black Man because I was in it.
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: We've got a picture of you in it.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: Oh my god, you crazy. No, that's so cool. Yeah,
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: he glimmer Man.
• 2:44
  Speaker 4: I don't even know what you're talking about. The glimmer
• 2:47
  Speaker 4: Man it was. I don't remember this.
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: I definitely remember Glimmer Many.
• 2:51
  Speaker 4: I missed that one.
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah man. Yeah. The comedy yeah, I like the comedies. Yeah.
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: I like Don't Be a Man's is one of my
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: favorite classic love major pain classics. I love uh the
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: movie with Jada Pinkett and Uncle keenan uh shame, So
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: I love tho. Those look like my top classics. Yeah,
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: and Black Man because I was so who.
• 3:17
  Speaker 4: The every day working class Wings, every day working any
• 3:20
  Speaker 4: everything where.
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: We got a bunch of working class Wings. We got
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: a big ass family. So there's like a lot of
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: people that are just as funny as everybody, but they
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: just don't feel like, you know, going through the Hollywood ship.
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: But do they just work? Do they work on the
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: set or do they have we have.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: Something that work on the set? You know, we got
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: I love it, yeah, we got we got uh. Uncle
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: Shawn's right.
• 3:38
  Speaker 4: The show. Kim the showrunner.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah, how you know, Oh yeah, because this guy he
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: lived here. You know, my I got my daughter works
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: on the set. She's ah, she's a standing for essence
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: Adkins character.
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: Wow.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: And she'd be writing on the show too. She's great. Yeah,
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: she's Now we.
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: Got to talk about the pressures of being a wams.
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: I mean, because is impression of Pop's uncle family cousins, like, yeah,
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: 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
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: h an aliens when I went on stage, Kyle Green.
• 4:19
  Speaker 5: Really yeah, and no one guessed it.
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: You look you look like like the middle of my
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: punches back. You look just like your damn daddy, And
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: so I had to change it just to damon you know.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: But really I was just trying to get my bearings,
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: you know, trying to like get on stage, and I
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: be like coming to stage, Damon Wayne's son, you know, So.
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: Have you never got something because you a Wayne, Like
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: it was like a part of the family.
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: Now maybe I don't know, they don't you know. That's
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: all that behind the scenes stuff. But you know they
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: let you in. They'll let you in just because they
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: want to see you, you know, like Da Wayiams when
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: I first started. So I got into some rooms and
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: shout out to my family for make it easier for me.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: You know a lot of people, you know, they get
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: a they frowned on the NEPO baby thing. I think
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: it's great. I think it's like I don't either. I mean,
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: I feel like it's a business. This is a business,
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: just like any other business. If there's a you know,
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: a car manufacturer and then you pass it down to
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: his son, stuff like that, It's just that's what it is.
• 5:21
  Speaker 4: 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: started digital billboard for Papa's house and they got a
• 5:26
  Speaker 4: billboard out there. Yeah, but it was you and your pops.
• 5:28
  Speaker 4: And I was just like man number one, the og demon,
• 5:31
  Speaker 4: when has been getting it for a.
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: Long, long long man is 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. Like everybody, we
• 5:40
  Speaker 4: love what bron and Ronnie doing. I give it up
• 5:42
  Speaker 4: for y'all too.
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, man, I mean I'm happy.
• 5:45
  Speaker 4: Man.
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: We've had a really good time so far. We shot
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: like eleven already and you know, it finally came out
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: last night, and I'm just hoping, you know, people keep
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: watching and seeing because it gets funnier and funnier.
• 5:59
  Speaker 4: You know.
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: The pilot is a good It sets the stage, sets
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: the characters. But we had a lot of suits. You know,
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: they were like kind of like making sure that we
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: did with what they wanted us to do. And then
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: as time went on, they've let us spread our wings
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: and now we get to just be ridiculous and funny
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: and heartfelt, and you know, I love it. I love
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: seeing my dad every damn day.
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: Well what is Papa's House about?
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: For people that don't know, because yesterday, yeah, yeah, So
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: Papa's House is basically about a papa who's a popular
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: morning radio DJ and really yeah a little bit, a
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: little bit, and he is a He lives alone, he's
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: happily divorced. He basically lives his dream of solitude until
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: his son, who was like an immature, needy guy, moves
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: in next door to him with his wife and his
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: two kids and just kind of turns Papa's life upside down,
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: and that's basically the long and short of it. We
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: were toying with the idea of calling it raising Damon
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: because it's like, you know, you think it's him raising me,
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: but then it you kind of see that Papa needs
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: him raising too. You know. It's a lot of old
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: school versus new school views. I think it's really cool,
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: you know, I think it's I think my goal for
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: the show is to bring back black comedies. You know, Like,
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: had I known that, you know, the nineties, in the
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: early two thousands, like we're never going to be again,
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: you know, like there were so many options we had.
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: We had we had Fresh Prince of bel Air, living single,
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: we had so many options on so many different channels.
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: And had I known that we're going to have like
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: nothing for like, you know, over a decade, I would
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: 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: So what happened in Hollywood that they just flipped this
• 7:57
  Speaker 4: what you said, we don't want no more of this,
• 7:58
  Speaker 4: 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 upn Absolutely they use all them shows Jamie
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: Fox Show to Marlon Wayne Way, the Wayne's brothers. Come
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: on now. They had all these damn shows.
• 8:24
  Speaker 4: 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 that I love my wife and kids.
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: But like they had some We had so many shows,
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: and 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 4: Now? You know, there was a there was a resurgence,
• 8:50
  Speaker 4: but a lot of them grown. Oh yeah yeah growing insecure,
• 8:56
  Speaker 4: 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 5: You know how much of this show is just improv
• 9:25
  Speaker 5: off the script because I know it's based on like
• 9:27
  Speaker 5: you guys are really about to move next door to
• 9:29
  Speaker 5: each other or something.
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: At one point. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's a lot
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: of it's improv you know. But we we have a script,
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: but we definitely do whatever we want because you know,
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: it's my dad's show and he'll just let people play
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: and so we having fun. You know, I like, I
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: like to improvise, but you know there's certain characters that
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: like to just do the script, and they're fine doing
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: the script, but everybody's having fun.
• 9:51
  Speaker 4: Are you good at taking notes or both? Are you
• 9:53
  Speaker 4: 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. There was no content,
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: no nothing, no notes, no notes, just out do better.
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: You know, how do you feel with your dad doing
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: stand up?
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: And you know he would talk about you guys and
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: stand up and of course he talks about you, you know,
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: masturbating house at that time.
• 10:52
  Speaker 6: I wait that question, you lit up. Yeah, boys got louder.
• 11:00
  Speaker 6: How was that just for you as a kid when
• 11:01
  Speaker 6: your dad used to tell them stories?
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: It was? Uh. That one specifically was embarrassing because I
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: remember one time I was I was like hooking up
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: with this girl or about to hook up with there,
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: and she was like, wait a minute, are you the
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: guy that does the thing with spaghetti? And I was
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: just like what And then she plays me a clip
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: of the freaking video of him just you know, talking
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: about me going spaghetti again. I'll be right back, and
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: you know I didn't get any that day, so yeah,
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: it messed me up.
• 11:35
  Speaker 4: Did you not get any? Because she wanted you to
• 11:37
  Speaker 4: do the spaghetti trick right then and there and he
• 11:39
  Speaker 4: was like no.
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: I was like I'm not gonna. I'm like, you can
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: do this spaghetti trick. Yeah, no, she just she just
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: wanted to laugh at She just laughed. It was very embarrassing.
• 11:48
  Speaker 4: Yeah, y'all got a Gregory Ons on the set. Yeah, right,
• 11:52
  Speaker 4: the Legend album from the Coffee Show.
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: Gregory Jeffrey, Jeffrey his voice, and no, his name is
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: spelled weird, spelled g Yeah, yeah, geof.
• 12:03
  Speaker 4: And you don't want to call him Elvin because it's respectful.
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we got we got him.
• 12:08
  Speaker 4: Do you do you pick their brain? Like do you
• 12:09
  Speaker 4: sit around and have conversations with him about how you
• 12:12
  Speaker 4: 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? I mean, you're making your
• 12:53
  Speaker 4: own right, but you're always I mean your whole life.
• 12:56
  Speaker 4: I'm sure Eddie Murphy or Senior Hall, Robert town Than
• 12:59
  Speaker 4: who were just there, Like, so, do you have a
• 13:02
  Speaker 4: his appreciation sport? Because to bear with me, I couldn't
• 13:04
  Speaker 4: shut the fuck up. I'm 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 awe, 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: loking at my family, like see this is what I want.
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: I want this. I'm gonna go fu some bitches, and
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: like he'd leave and my dad would just be on
• 14:06
  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,
• 14:10
  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
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: that he said.
• 14:18
  Speaker 4: That that's what I want anything.
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: I want that, Yeah, that's what Dad. Definitely, he was
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: like I want that. But but Emmanuel Lewis, you know
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: manuelies Webster, he was you know Lewis. Yes, So he
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: was on the boat right one time, and uh and
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: he was like dress fly. He had a suit on,
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: had a watch and a little dude watch a little
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: dude and I and I as a baby, was confused
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: because I'm like, you thought he was a big baby.
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: I thought he was a big baby. I'm like, why
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: how do you know all them big words? Why? How
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: you who gave you a watch. You know, I'm like
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: following him around the whole the whole yacht, trying to,
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: you know, see what's up with him. You know, just
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: like you got a kid on the boat who gave
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: me them shoes, you know, well your die brat, you know,
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: always remember I was too no, he just told me
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: walking around following him everywhere. He was like, come on, man,
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: go he was like trying to shoot me away, mame
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: man his naptime. That's funny.
• 15:23
  Speaker 5: So what is the you guys always keep Essence Atkins books.
• 15:27
  Speaker 5: I know she's in Papa's house. She plays doctor Ivy Green.
• 15:30
  Speaker 5: What what's the chemistry with her in the Waynes family? Like,
• 15:33
  Speaker 5: can you talk a bit about that? And a decision
• 15:34
  Speaker 5: to bring her on this show?
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: Right, Well, first of all, Essence Adkins keeps herself booked
• 15:39
  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, like, no,
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: he she was on your show. I don't want to
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: have that on my show, like leave it alone. And
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: then finally he, you know, he was like come in
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: and read. And she went in and like from the
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: moment she walked in the door, she was killing us,
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: like just so funny, like before she even said a
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: word of the audition, she came in, killed it, killed it,
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: left and she was the first person up to so
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: everybody yet like she just sucked all the energy out
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: the room and there was just like no one was
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: gonna do or top that. So, you know, so Essence
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: keeps herself look like she's just phenomenal.
• 16:34
  Speaker 4: Now.
• 16:34
  Speaker 3: You also see the change of comedy, right because you've
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: seen everything your family has done right from blank Man
• 16:40
  Speaker 3: to Living Color, and you think comedy can go back
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: there without people getting insulted about getting offended taking things personal.
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: I mean, I don't think so.
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: I mean I feel like, but.
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: The blank Man offensive though, I feel like I feel
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: like blank Man was like pretty chill.
• 16:57
  Speaker 4: I don't remember. I have to go back and watch
• 16:58
  Speaker 4: it again because what I because what we didn't think
• 17:01
  Speaker 4: was offensive. Now when you back be like, oh yeah,
• 17:04
  Speaker 4: that would everybody?
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: How do you get away with all that, don't give
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: a fuck.
• 17:10
  Speaker 4: Like gotta keep going, yeah, you know, treating almost like comedians, right,
• 17:15
  Speaker 4: like I'm not a comedian, but you gotta treat it
• 17:16
  Speaker 4: like that. Like now you don't know you crashed that
• 17:19
  Speaker 4: you crash, that's true. I'm not trying to crash, but
• 17:22
  Speaker 4: 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 2: Missed those shows.
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: I missed colored shows and those shows that pushed the
• 17:34
  Speaker 3: line and pushed the.
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: You know, I don't know, I blame I blame Judd Appatitle.
• 17:44
  Speaker 4: I'm always down to blame the white man for something.
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: So I mean, this is a conspiracy theory, but I
• 17:50
  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 then and I feel like after that
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: it was just no more black stuff, no more black movies.
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: Like it was just like you know, they're like we
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: got it from here, niggers. And then they did all
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: their you know that it was like Jewish comedies like
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: 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 the 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. We like, there's a lot
• 18:42
  Speaker 4: of things that they do in their comedy that I
• 18:44
  Speaker 4: feel like some Black people wouldn't necessarily.
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: I disagree. I say, I'm saying the opportunities not there.
• 18:50
  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 5: But I think he's asking, would like some of our
• 19:02
  Speaker 5: big name black comedians, would they take those roles that
• 19:05
  Speaker 5: are going to push those boundaries because it.
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: Could offend what boundaries?
• 19:08
  Speaker 5: I mean, people are offended by everything nowadays, So it
• 19:10
  Speaker 5: depends on who you're talking about, what you're talking about.
• 19:12
  Speaker 4: Well, it's a lot like back in the day when
• 19:14
  Speaker 4: you look at the liver color and all of that
• 19:15
  Speaker 4: stuff like that, they weren't afraid to pretend to be gay.
• 19:17
  Speaker 4: They weren't afraid they will addresses. Yeah, I'm not saying
• 19:21
  Speaker 4: you gotta wait to jet, but they weren't afraid to
• 19:23
  Speaker 4: push the limits. Right, there's things that I feel like
• 19:25
  Speaker 4: 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: Downel 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 sure. Right,
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: Like these nerds, not even nerds, which is crazy.
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: Nerds is rape though, now when.
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: You I haven't, I haven't, I haven't.
• 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.
• 20:19
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: So I mean it's kind of like I feel like
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: people are just way too aware and and and way
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: too sensitive, you know what I mean, Like leave room
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: for comedy. I feel like comedy is experimental, it's not
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: it's not the entire truth. It's like grains of truth.
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: It's someone's truth potentially, but in the reality, the goal
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: is to make you laugh, you know. And I feel
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: like people shouldn't be watching stuff ready to be offended.
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: You should be watching stuff trying to laugh. If you're
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: watching a comedy, if you want to laugh.
• 20:51
  Speaker 4: By the way, it's not even just comedy though. I
• 20:52
  Speaker 4: think about back in the day, like why was Q
• 20:56
  Speaker 4: in high school fucking the nurse and juice? They even
• 21:00
  Speaker 4: give us the next name no reason. I think about that,
• 21:04
  Speaker 4: Why was this nerves just fucking?
• 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
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: probably had to cut it.
• 21:13
  Speaker 5: You know, are you guys gonna like cause I don't.
• 21:16
  Speaker 5: I feel like it's a lot of it. Like the
• 21:18
  Speaker 5: networks know that people will be offended, so they try
• 21:20
  Speaker 5: to stay away even if they want to try it right,
• 21:22
  Speaker 5: but in Papa's house, like you guys have Essence Atkins
• 21:25
  Speaker 5: who's kind of coming in and your dad is like
• 21:27
  Speaker 5: the old school person who he's like aware of the boundaries,
• 21:30
  Speaker 5: but it doesn't really care. And she's like, you're gonna
• 21:33
  Speaker 5: have to care. Are y'all going to kind of play
• 21:34
  Speaker 5: around with that a little bit more and take those risks?
• 21:36
  Speaker 5: Or is the network like we can be cute with it,
• 21:38
  Speaker 5: but like no, cause your dad be willing to go
• 21:41
  Speaker 5: all the way there.
• 21:41
  Speaker 4: I love it.
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: Oh he goes there all that time. Didn't he get
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: in trouble on your on your show years ago?
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: I watched that last night.
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: I watched it last night.
• 21:51
  Speaker 4: Resurfacing things for no reason.
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: Well, they put my picture during that whole contry.
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: I remember.
• 22:01
  Speaker 4: Everywhere. I was like, he didn't say, guess what of
• 22:06
  Speaker 4: his father?
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: That was crazy?
• 22:11
  Speaker 4: What you're gonna push 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 you know, and the characters are get more and
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: 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 copia, against network shows that go
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: for it. So it's like there's no time to really
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: just play it safe.
• 23:07
  Speaker 4: What are you teaching your father, because well, you know
• 23:09
  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 2: All you teaching him anything?
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: I don't know, you know, I don't I really maybe
• 23:23
  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
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: of spankings. 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
• 23:55
  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. Yeah, And so when
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: he was about to hit me, I was like, don't
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: get my thing dank and like help my stuff. And
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: then he just laughed because they would wrap around sometimes
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: and hit the tip. You know, he didn't hit us
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: a lot. That's when we did when he did wait, yeah,
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: but he was you know, he got he got his
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: as whip when he was little, so he didn't really know.
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: But he didn't hit us a lot. I can name.
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: I can you know kind of on one hand, how
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: many times I gotta.
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: Like if my dad said this, he's gonna be pissed.
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: The solda's the caffeine and 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
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: me you know ship. Yeah, I'm a problem with that coffee.
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: I don't even drink like that. I had two glasses
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: of wine yesterday and I'm messed up right now.
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: Jesus, she had about seven and she's still fine.
• 25:14
  Speaker 5: Not seven glasses of wine. Seven shots, like three glasses
• 25:18
  Speaker 5: of wine last night.
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but you were youngster, you could do that.
• 25:22
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 25:23
  Speaker 5: But what I do is I hydrate while I'm doing
• 25:25
  Speaker 5: it makes it easier.
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Do you like salt? Like little Celtic salt that
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: you put salt in the in the water is supposed
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: to really get into your bloodstreamers heard? I never heard
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: of that.
• 25:35
  Speaker 4: Are you ever afraid to work with your pops because
• 25:37
  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. Do
• 25:45
  Speaker 4: 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
• 26:03
  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 your aunt Kim
• 26:26
  Speaker 4: being a showrunner. Do y'all even look outside of the family.
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: Now, we have a lot of people that are from
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: our outside of the family too. Like there's like twelve
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: thirteen writers on the show.
• 26:37
  Speaker 5: You said they know you guys though, right, Like they're like, yeah,
• 26:38
  Speaker 5: we all.
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: Know their family friends. Like the showrunner. We the showrunner
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: wrote Major Pain with my dad. He wrote on my
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: wife and Kids with my dad. So the strangers get
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: a chance, strangers get a chance to I got some
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: strangers in there.
• 26:50
  Speaker 4: Sounds so crazy. We got some strangers in, man, y'all
• 26:54
  Speaker 4: are doing it. The way black people should 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 in people that
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: contribute to the project. They're not just being like they're
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: not just there because their name is Wayne's. They're actually
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: like contributing and being really good Keenan juniors in the
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: writer's room, which is he's so damn funny, My brother
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: Michael the writer's room. 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 generation,
• 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
• 27:39
  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
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: my dad's baby, but I get to contribute a lot,
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: and he's very collaborative. So damon gotta go.
• 28:00
  Speaker 4: Gus 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 Dami Wayne's son, that's
• 28:09
  Speaker 4: actually Damion Wayne.
• 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 that 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 right, I felt like
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: I was like, oh, I got there's something, you know,
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: I got something and uh, and then after that, I
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: just felt like I can do my own thing.
• 28:39
  Speaker 4: Are you gonna be part of the toy that they're doing?
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: They're doing the tour.
• 28:42
  Speaker 4: Ain't know about the comedy tour.
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: No together, I'll be telling me nothing. I'm second generation now.
• 28:48
  Speaker 4: They barely told us.
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: We just thought saw that clip. I think.
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: I saw that you coposed.
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: I know what I was gonna say, is I think
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: it's something else. I don't think it's a tour. I
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: think 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.
• 29:14
  Speaker 5: We know that, but like, like it just have to
• 29:17
  Speaker 5: be something immortalize the Wings.
• 29:19
  Speaker 4: I think like the Wings needed thirty for thirty. Like
• 29:21
  Speaker 4: you know what I'm saying, Like.
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: That'll be dope, But do they do that for I never? Yeah, first, 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.
• 29:44
  Speaker 4: You might 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.
• 29:50
  Speaker 3: But this is your time to shine this math what
• 29:52
  Speaker 3: they did you last time, it wasn't even here and
• 29:54
  Speaker 3: they put your picture on things.
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: You're strong. No, I can't say because I don't I
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: don't know if it's true. Because if I say something
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: is wrong true and I'm gonna look like an idiot.
• 30:05
  Speaker 4: 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've continuing to carry the torch.
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: The right way and command in salute to y'all man,
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: because like I came here, I forgot how money? How
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: many years ago?
• 30:21
  Speaker 4: 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 4: Appreciate you, brother.
• 30:28
  Speaker 3: Poppa's House Monday's eight thirty on CBS, make sure you
• 30:31
  Speaker 3: check it out.
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: You can stream it on Paramount Plus as well, and we.
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: Appreciate you for joining us, brother, Thank you man.
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: Damon Waynes Junior. It's the Breakfast Club.
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: Good morning, Wake that ass up in the morning. The
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: Breakfast Club