Club Shay Shay - Damon Wayans Part 1

Summary

Club Shay Shay - Damon Wayans Part 1

Release Date: April 2, 2025

Introduction

In this captivating episode of Club Shay Shay, host Shannon Sharpe engages in a profound and heartfelt conversation with the legendary comedian and actor Damon Wayans. Known for his incisive humor and impactful contributions to the entertainment industry, Damon delves deep into his personal journey, exploring the triumphs and tribulations that have shaped his illustrious career.

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Early Life and Family

Damon Wayans begins by sharing poignant memories of his upbringing in Spotlight, LA, where he was one of ten children in a large, tight-knit family. Growing up in the projects, Damon discusses the challenges of poverty and the struggles of raising a large family with limited resources.

Notable Quote (06:04):

Damon Wayans: "When I was 10, I got caught stealing credit cards, and they released me into Keenan's custody. So I came out to California."

He speaks candidly about his parents' strict discipline, particularly his father's tough love approach, which Damon now recognizes as early forms of what is contemporary termed child abuse. Despite the harshness, Damon attributes much of his resilience and work ethic to these early experiences.

Notable Quote (06:20):

Damon Wayans: "My dad would beat you like he didn't know you. And we needed it. I needed it."

---

School and Early Struggles

Damon recounts his turbulent school years, marked by poor academic performance and frequent run-ins with authority. He shares a turning point from his troubled youth, emphasizing the influence of his older brother Keenan as a role model who encouraged him to steer clear of trouble.

Notable Quote (05:23):

Damon Wayans: "No, I had teachers tell me, 'You're gonna be either dead or in jail.' That's the guidance counselor telling me that."

His challenging childhood also included dealing with a brother diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, which added layers of complexity to his family dynamics. Damon reflects on how these experiences fostered a sense of protection within the family, particularly through his brother Dwayne, who played a pivotal role in safeguarding their household.

Notable Quote (08:38):

Damon Wayans: "Nobody wanted to fight this fool every day because of Dwayne."

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Entry into Comedy and Early Career

Despite these hardships, Damon's innate sense of humor emerged as a coping mechanism and a source of strength. He shares anecdotes about playing games with his siblings, such as the “Or Die” game, which not only kept the family entertained but also honed his comedic timing and creativity.

Notable Quote (14:47):

Damon Wayans: "But it made us funny. It helped make us funny."

Damon's journey into the professional world began with a job at American Express, where his knack for humor quickly earned him a promotion to mailroom supervisor. However, his true passion lay in making people laugh, leading him to pursue stand-up comedy more fervently.

Notable Quote (49:35):

Damon Wayans: "I got thrown out a few times, but that's part of my motivation. Damn."

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SNL Experiences

Damon’s tenure at Saturday Night Live (SNL) was both groundbreaking and challenging. As one of the early Black performers on the show, he faced cultural and creative limitations that stifled his unique comedic voice. Damon criticizes the lack of diversity in SNL’s writers' room, describing it as "the whitest show in America," which hindered the authentic representation of Black humor.

Notable Quote (72:35):

Damon Wayans: "It is the whitest show in America. They just come up with white people jokes, not our flavor."

His departure from SNL was a significant turning point, illustrating the broader struggles Black comedians faced in mainstream media. Damon emphasizes the importance of authenticity, refusing to conform to stereotypes that did not resonate with his audience or his personal comedic style.

Notable Quote (68:48):

Damon Wayans: "In Living Color was my vindication. It was my validation."

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Transition to In Living Color

After SNL, Damon co-created In Living Color, a groundbreaking sketch comedy show that embraced diversity and provided a platform for Black comedians to showcase their talent authentically. This transition was not just a career move but a mission to redefine the landscape of American comedy.

Notable Quote (75:14):

Damon Wayans: "In Living Color was my vindication. It had nothing to do with SNL. I buried that as soon as I left."

The show became a cultural phenomenon, celebrating Black culture and humor in ways that mainstream media had previously overlooked. Damon credits his success with In Living Color to the collective creativity and support among his fellow Wayans siblings and collaborators.

Notable Quote (86:09):

Damon Wayans: "It was so much fun. There's nothing like showing up to a set where it's a party and then you're filming."

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Collaborations and Friendships

Throughout the episode, Damon highlights the significant friendships and collaborations that have enriched his career. He speaks fondly of Eddie Murphy, whose mentorship and generosity had a profound impact on Damon’s growth as a comedian.

Notable Quote (60:17):

Damon Wayans: "Eddie put everybody on. He wanted me to play the Brunson Pinchot character, and he made sure I had opportunities to shine."

Damon also discusses his interactions with other comedy legends like Jim Carrey and Robert Downey Jr., illustrating the camaraderie and mutual respect within the comedy community that has fueled his enduring legacy.

Notable Quote (81:29):

Damon Wayans: "Jim Carrey is a master impressionist. We made a pact that we're going to push each other."

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Personal Reflections and Legacy

Reflecting on his journey, Damon emphasizes the importance of staying true to oneself and the value of supportive relationships. He attributes his enduring success to the lessons learned from his parents—resilience and unconditional love—and the unwavering support from his family.

Notable Quote (30:49):

Damon Wayans: "My dad taught us persistence and that you have to do whatever you have to do to feed your family."

Damon also touches on the influence of his mother's dreams and aspirations, lamenting that her potential was curtailed by the demands of raising a large family. He expresses a deep sense of gratitude for the love and lessons instilled by his parents, which continue to guide him both personally and professionally.

Notable Quote (32:48):

Damon Wayans: "Music was something we always had in the house. Those are some of the happiest times of our life."

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Conclusion

In this enlightening episode of Club Shay Shay, Damon Wayans offers an unfiltered look into his life, from the struggles of his early years to the triumphs of his career. His story is one of resilience, authenticity, and the unwavering pursuit of one’s passion despite formidable obstacles. Damon’s reflections serve as an inspiration, highlighting the transformative power of humor and the enduring strength of family bonds.

Listeners gain a deeper appreciation for Damon’s contributions to comedy and his role as a pioneer who paved the way for future generations of Black entertainers. This conversation not only celebrates Damon Wayans’ legacy but also underscores the broader narrative of perseverance and cultural significance within the entertainment industry.

Notable Quote (87:34):

Damon Wayans: "You gotta put on these hardships and pretend that you deserve it. Cause you don't."

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Closing Thoughts

Shannon Sharpe skillfully navigates through Damon’s rich tapestry of experiences, drawing out stories that shed light on the man behind the laughter. This episode is a must-listen for fans and anyone interested in the intricate dynamics of comedy, family, and personal growth.

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Note: All timestamps correspond to the moments in the provided transcript where the quotes occur.

Transcript

[Shannon Sharpe]

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[Jeff T]

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[Damon Wayans]

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Check.

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What happens is the more money you make, the less black people you see. So I love about like LeBron.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He got mad and he got Randy and he got rich. Yeah, he kept that group.

[Damon Wayans]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Around it.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah. And it's divide and conquer. You know, at a certain point, they sit you down. You know, Beyonce's father. All right, we got it from here. Venus is arena. We got him. All my life been grinding all my.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Life Sacrifice hustle, paid the price Want.

[Damon Wayans]

A slice, got to roll a dice.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That'S why all my life I've been.

[Damon Wayans]

Grinding all my life all my life Been grinding all my life Sacrifice hustle.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Paid the price Want a slice not.

[Damon Wayans]

To roll a dice that's why all my life I've been grinding all my life.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Hello. Welcome to another episode of Club Shay Shay. I am your host, Shannon Sharpe. I'm also the proprietor of Club Shay Shay. And today we're at Spotlight la, stopping by for conversation today. He's royalty, a true legend, a living icon, a comedic genius. He's been making us laugh for over 40 years. A pioneer innovator, trailblazer in the film and television industry. He's appeared in two films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. He's ranked as one of the greatest TV dads of all time. A New York Times bestselling author, a fearless artist, gifted writer, veteran actor, expert executive producer, seasoned standup comedian, and a great storyteller. He's mastered the art of creating characters. A member of the royal family, talented Wayans family dynasty that entertained the entertainment empire. They were just inducted until the NAACP Image Award hall of Fame. Marlon calls him the. The funniest Wayans. His influence has spanned generations. He changed the industry, kicked down doors, and built a blueprint that's sustainable. A creative visionary, a versatile entertainer, powerhouse performer, Hollywood heavyweight, a game changer, beloved father. Sometimes he goes by Papa or Papa. Damon Wayans.

[Damon Wayans]

Listen, that's a hell of a resume.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, it is. When I don't know how many times you had an opportunity to sit and listen to people explain what you've been able to do in this industry. When you hear people talking about you've been at this for 40 plus years, what do you think?

[Damon Wayans]

I think it's wonderful that I had some longevity. And I always think about what's next because if you sit back and think about what you've done, I can go on social media and I don't have to leave the house. Everybody love me on there, Homie the clown for life. But it's like that doesn't, like, satisfy me. So I'm driven and my whole family is driven, you know, hopefully for greatness. And, you know, it's. It's an honor that people like what.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I did, you know, what I know you don't drink anymore. But, bro, we gotta toast you. We celebrate people here on this platform.

[Damon Wayans]

Well, I don't like toast. Toast. Clink the glass.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But I will salute.

[Damon Wayans]

Thank you. Salute.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Man. How you doing?

[Damon Wayans]

I'm good. 65 and loving life.

[Shannon Sharpe]

65 and loving life.

[Damon Wayans]

Mm.

[Shannon Sharpe]

When you were 10, did you project out here? Like, you know what? I'm gonna do this X, Y and Z? Cause I'm interested. Cause I had Marlon on, and Marlon always had an idea. He's like, man, this is kind of what I wanna do. Did you always know you wanted to be in this?

[Damon Wayans]

No. I had teachers tell me, you gonna be either dead or in jail. That's the guidance counselor telling me that, you know? So, like, for me, it was just like, I, at a young age, started looking to Keenan because Kenan just did everything right. He was just like my role model. And I knew if I could do what he's doing, I'd be all right. You know, my mother used to tell me, you need to be more like Keenan. I get bad grades. I was getting arrested. I was doing all the wrong things right. And then in 82, I got caught stealing credit cards, and they released me into Keenan's custody. So I came out to California.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Damn. So you have a mom and dad, but they released you to the older brother?

[Damon Wayans]

I didn't want to go to my dad. I'd rather stay in jail than go to my dad. My dad would beat you like he didn't know you.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Damon Wayans]

You know what I mean? I love him. And we needed it. I needed it. But, you know, back then. Now they call it child abuse.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah. Back then, it was just, you know, I'm teaching this a lesson.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You have 10 brothers and sisters.

[Damon Wayans]

Nine.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Nine brothers and sisters under one roof.

[Damon Wayans]

Mm.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Bro. And I read that your father made, like, $12,000 a year sometimes. Sometimes. Okay. To feed that many kids. Put a roof over your head to make sure everything's okay. Did you realize, like, damn. I wonder if everybody else living like we L. Or we just the exception.

[Damon Wayans]

They were living like we were living. I mean, you know, probably less people, but, you know, I had a friend, Rob, Ned, and they were so poor. The oven door was off.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Damn. Out of the oven. Yeah.

[Damon Wayans]

I swear the oven door would be off. And when they cooked dinner, one of them would have to put their feet up on there until it got too hot, and then the other one would come in until the meat was done. So, you know, I was aware that everybody was going through it. We looked at a Project. There was no rich people in the projects.

[Shannon Sharpe]

How many bedrooms did the home have?

[Damon Wayans]

4. My mother got one, and then there was three of us to a room.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Damn. So there's a lot of feet in people's face, huh?

[Damon Wayans]

Butts feet. My brothers tortured me. My oldest brother, Dwayne used to hang me on the door on the hook where the coat is. That's how he babysit me, right? And I had to, like, put my foot on the doorknob so I didn't choke the day. So. And then every once in a while, he come check on me and punch me on my chest.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know what, Damon? You guys are like your mom. Them had a stretch there where for like an eight year period, they were ten year period. They were good. They had like eight. 56, 58, 60, 61, 63, 64, 65, 66. I was like, so were you all close? I mean, did you have sibling rivals? You fought like normal kids do? Or were you always, like. Because it seemed like Keenan was always the. The overseer. He was the peacemaker and what everybody looked to for guidance, even though he wasn't well.

[Damon Wayans]

My oldest brother was crazy. The one that used to hang me under the, like. No, no, listen. He got diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oh, okay.

[Damon Wayans]

So where we come from, everybody crazy. Everybody there's a crazy, you know, Ronald Walker, everybody know he crazy off. But we didn't know there was medication for it. It was just. He was off, and my brother was that guy.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Damon Wayans]

But he was so crazy that he kept people from messing with our family.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oh, okay.

[Damon Wayans]

Because nobody wanted Dwayne. Dwayne told a guy one time, he said. He said, we gonna fight every day until I beat you. White boy living in the building just, like, bullied Bobby Boyd. And every day, Dwayne would just walk up and punch this dude in his face. He'd get beat up every day, but he was relentless. He'd be riding on his bike, he see Bobby, and they scrap him to the point where Bobby had him with his. He was sitting on his chest and punching him in the face, going, all right, you won. You won. And he didn't want no parts of him because he had to. Like, he'd be outside with his back against the wall because he didn't know where this was coming from. But that told everybody else, don't mess with my family.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right. What's one of your proudest childhood memories that you can, like, share?

[Damon Wayans]

Keenan getting his first gig on. You know, he did the Tonight show first and Then he did a pilot with Irene Cara, who was like this. She was beautiful. Yeah, she passed, but she flash dance, right? Yeah, yeah. She fame, fame, fame. She was. And we just thought, man, this is great. He dreamed it. And then he did it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Damon Wayans]

And that was like, one of my favorite childhood moments, because I didn't even think about. I wasn't even thinking about doing standup back then.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know what? I think you and I are similar in this way, because my brother, I felt. Whatever I saw, I felt I can do. So if I saw him do it, I could do it. If I saw him go someplace, I felt I can do it. So that's seemingly how you looked at Kenny. You're like, well, damn. He doing all that? He out in California. He doing this. Hell, he could do it. He lived in the project just like I did. He ate what we ate. He got his ass tore from dad just like I got mine, so.

[Damon Wayans]

Well, he didn't get as many. He didn't really.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He was really. He was the good kid.

[Damon Wayans]

The good kid got straight A's. And, yeah, Keenan. The one thing he did that we got him for is, like, he got in trouble with school. And then the teacher called home, and Keenan said, I get it. He ran and got the phone. He's like, yeah. And then he hung up. And my mother came. My mother's like, who the hell was that? Cause we're not supposed to answer her phone. And Keenan was like, it was Sammy Williams. And they knew he was lying.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He got.

[Damon Wayans]

Sammy Williams called, and then he called back.

[Shannon Sharpe]

They called the number back, and he's.

[Damon Wayans]

Like, I get it. And it was the teacher. My mother said, no, I'll get it. And that was the only time Kenan really got his ass beat by my father.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Wow.

[Damon Wayans]

And then the jokes went on forever. Sammy Williams. Anytime the phone ring, Keenan, go get Sammy.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But I read that when you guys would fight, your mom would make you guys kiss.

[Damon Wayans]

Yep. In the mouth, huh? Mm. I learned how to tongue kiss with Marlon. Nah, but, like, once you kiss your brother in the mouth, you don't wanna do that.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You don't wanna fight. No.

[Damon Wayans]

Come on. Yeah, we'll take this. We'll find a place to finish this. But, like, we didn't like kissing each other, but to finish the kissing thing.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Damon Wayans]

Like, to this day, we all kiss.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I noticed that.

[Damon Wayans]

Hello and goodbye.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I noticed that.

[Damon Wayans]

Because you never know what's going to happen when they walk out the door. Even if I get into an argument. And we yelling and screaming. All right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And we I wonder, you know what? Because I saw. I noticed it when you guys were on Living Color, and I noticed that. I was like, well, you know, they can't do this all the time.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah, all the time.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And I saw you guys when you were at the naac, the Image Awards. Have you guys always been that close?

[Damon Wayans]

Yes. Yeah, we are our best friends. Like, the funny thing about being a Wayans is we don't. You know, Kim is very social. She has a lot of friends. Marlon has a lot of friends. Is she? Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I would never guess that.

[Damon Wayans]

But Kim has, like, old school friends. She's not out and about. Her friends are from college. She grew up Westland and from the project, you know, so she has still a lot of those friends. Marlon still has, you know, Omar and Mitchell and, you know, all his, like, childhood friends. And my friends are my brothers, and they're friends. You know, I'm cool with Omar. I'm cool. Cause as long as they love him, they vet them for me. Yeah, as long as they love him.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You cool with him? I'm cool with you.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But so were you guys. Cause it's a lot of you brothers. So you guys kind of ran the neighborhood, huh?

[Damon Wayans]

They didn't run the neighborhood because we lived in. We moved into the projects and it was predominantly white. And then it slowly got blacker and blacker and more dangerous, you know. But we were respected. And because of Dwayne, we were kind of protected. Nobody wanted to fight this fool every day.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Even a bully.

[Damon Wayans]

Need your brain. Like, I'm tired today. And then, you know, so. But my mother would always tell us, listen, if you get into a fight, it's 10 against one.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Wow.

[Damon Wayans]

So y'all should never lose a fight. And my mother make you go back downstairs.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Wow.

[Damon Wayans]

And fight.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So it wasn't no losing.

[Damon Wayans]

No losing. And my mother would fight for her kids.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Damn.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah. This woman slapped Kim once in the laundry. My mother went downstairs, hair all over her head, and lady, she was pregnant.

[Shannon Sharpe]

She beat the pregnant. Your mama was pregnant or the lady was pregnant?

[Damon Wayans]

My mother. My mother was always pregnant.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I said she had a 10 year stretch. She was on the road. She was on the road, Dave.

[Damon Wayans]

Every childhood memory of her. She got a baby here and a bump here. That didn't stop. My mother chased this woman from the laundromat to her house and then was gonna fight her husband.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Damn.

[Damon Wayans]

For her kids. So nobody, you know, she sent a message. You don't mess with my kids.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Damon Wayans]

They don't want that crazy pregnant woman.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Tell me about this game that you guys used to make me laugh. Or die.

[Damon Wayans]

Or die. That was a great game. Cause that was like commando comedy. Okay, so what happens is we'd be sitting. Cause we had to be upstairs at 6:00.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Damon Wayans]

Unless you had a full time job that demanded you to be out later.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right?

[Damon Wayans]

6:00. Okay. Not 6:00. One 6:00. My dad is going, you know, he gonna put hands on you. So what we would do is we would all sit around in the living room and then one would get up and have to make everybody laugh in unison. It couldn't be one. Like, no, you have to make everybody laugh. And if you didn't, then you had to die. And the die would be something like, go grab daddy's beer and drink it in front of him.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oh, no.

[Damon Wayans]

And we couldn't wait for you to not to be funny. So we had incentive. Not. We just sit there and just.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Even if it was funny, you weren't laughing.

[Damon Wayans]

Farted out. You wouldn't know what happened.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So did anybody actually drink his beer?

[Damon Wayans]

Oh, yeah. You had to do the dye or we beat you up. Yeah, there was dye or, you know, sometimes it was just like, nah, I ain't doing that. And then you gotta take punches, right? From Dwayne, the one that used to hang my brother hit you and make this sound.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Vroom.

[Damon Wayans]

That made it hurt even more. You don't want that.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And then I read that you guys have to pass gas in front of your mom. Yeah, come on, Damon.

[Damon Wayans]

That's the. Whatever that. Whatever we chose, you had to do. Go sit on my.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I ain't playing. I don't want to play. I don't want to play no more.

[Damon Wayans]

But it made us funny. It helped make us funny.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right?

[Damon Wayans]

You know what I mean? It's like there's this, like, you can kind of trace why, one, we were like, we are still best friends. And two, why we're funny because we made each other laugh and we weren't easy laughers. You know what I mean?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Where did that. Was your dad funny? Was your mom funny? Where do you think that came from?

[Damon Wayans]

My mother?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Your mom?

[Damon Wayans]

My mother was hands down the funniest woman. That's one of my only regrets in life that I never got my mom on stage. I wanted to have her go on stage.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Really?

[Damon Wayans]

Mm. And there's this little room in Burbank called the yoohoo rooms. Like 30 people have all of us in there give my mom the mic and then tell her, talk about Marlon and my Mother got not only stories, but she got punchlines. She know where all the bodies at.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right. Wow. Do you think had she not had a family, all these kids because she had to raise a family, do you think that'd be something that she would have been interested in?

[Damon Wayans]

My mother used to sing at the. At the. What was that? In Harlem? The Apollo.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Really?

[Damon Wayans]

You know, the Green sisters. Harlem. They beautiful. They won contests. They won, you know, prizes and stuff like that. So her dream was to be a singer. And then, you know, kid after kid.

[Shannon Sharpe]

After kid put that on hold, and.

[Damon Wayans]

Then before you know it, get it out.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So when you got. It's 12 people in a home. Your mom, dad, and the siblings. What are you guys eating?

[Damon Wayans]

My mother was a miracle worker. She'd feed all of us with $10 a day, 10. 3 meals. We get a bag of knuckles, pig knuckles. We get a box of rice. We get. They used to make this cereal called, like, Puffer Wheat.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Damon Wayans]

But this had no sugar on it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Damon Wayans]

This was just, like, a big bag. Styrofoam. We used to get that. We eat that. You know, if we had sugar, we put sugar on it, but that was it. We didn't. There was nothing special, you know what I mean, about our meals.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Did you ever complain, like, man, I don't want to eat this?

[Damon Wayans]

No. Because my father didn't play about food. One time, I hated peas, and I hated lima beans. And whenever I get it, we would try to, like, spit them out. And my father would make you eat it out the trash.

[Shannon Sharpe]

What?

[Damon Wayans]

Mm. I did one time. We would be in there, and what we would do is, like, sit around the table and we're eating this, and we'd fill up our cheeks, and then we'd get up and excuse ourselves and go to the bathroom, and we would try to make you choke on the bean before you go. Yeah, My father didn't play with food.

[Shannon Sharpe]

It seemed like your father was very, very disciplined, very strict. Do you think he was that way because he had boys and he knew what was going on? Because this is the 60s, and the way it was back then is a lot different than it is now. But some things change, and some things remain the same. You think he was away with you guys because he knew what you guys were gonna face?

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah. But it was that. And he didn't really have a dad, so he didn't really know.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Damon Wayans]

And then he read in the Bible that you should spare the rod, spoil the child. Spoil the child. But the rod of discipline ain't always your Hand.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, you can have a conversation.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

The old school, the bold guys weren't like that. They weren't.

[Damon Wayans]

And then, you know, I think we got extra spankings because he would go to work and come home and be unhappy and, you know, and it's just. It was just a lot.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Damon Wayans]

So I guess at a certain point, we were, you know, his little punching bag.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And plus, it's always noisy in the house.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah. But my mother hit him at the door, so what we had to do. If you got in trouble, you have to sit in front of the door when my dad come in. Uh.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oh, he saw y'all sitting there. He know something was up.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah. Yeah. I was so scared of my father, when I heard his keys jingling, I'd pee on myself. I ain't lying. That's because he. I knew he and my dad would beat you with stuff. Like the. The slap from under the bed. Just like.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Did he ever say, I got a belt. Wait, hold on.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah, take my belt.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Did he ever say. Did he. Did he. David, you take your belt off.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

To keep it from finding something else.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah, whatever he get, you know, the. The thing from the iron. Iron cord.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, my dad.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, I love him today because I knew he was protect. He taught us lessons. And, you know, you got 10 kids, so, you know, you gonna be the example. I'm gonna beat you so he don't do what you did.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Did he ever have a conversation with you guys? He got older, and you got older.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah. You know, you don't understand it till you have your own kids.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right?

[Damon Wayans]

You know what I mean? Like, I have my sons, right? And then I go, oh, wow. Because my son, we grew up. They was up in Beverly Hills, and they would hang out in the hood, right? Got jumped into gangs. I got a Crip and a Blood living in my house. I didn't even know.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I didn't know.

[Damon Wayans]

But that's like, you. You. You have to watch your kids. You know what I mean? It's like, you. You just have to just know that boys are different and they need. They need you to.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Hey.

[Damon Wayans]

You know?

[Shannon Sharpe]

But was it a situation, given how you was raised? Your dad was very strict, very hands on. Literally. Did it make you take a step back and not be that way towards your own kids?

[Damon Wayans]

Um, I chose the comedic route, okay. With my kids, I was like, my son, if he messed up his school, he's like, oh, you a clown? Okay? So if you're gonna be a clown, you're gonna look like one. And I shave all of this out his head and you just have the size. Now you go to school and you be a funny clown.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So you had little young homie, little young homies. That's right.

[Damon Wayans]

That's right. Then they, you know, I would make up. Cause they went to a private school crossroads where they could dress how they want. No, you're gonna put on a suit. You're gonna be a well dressed crown. That's how you wanna be. They go to school and they would have, you know, they think they can get slick and have, you know, some clothes in their locker. I show up at school, put your suit on, clown. I know the game. Why you ain't dressed up clown.

[Shannon Sharpe]

As a child, what would you say your favorite meal was?

[Damon Wayans]

Beans, Frank, Sauerkraut, mustard, rolls and. Yeah, beans, franks, Sauerkraut, mustard and rolls.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Sauerkraut.

[Damon Wayans]

Oh, man, when you pour sauerkraut, it's just something different.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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[Jeff T]

Yo, what's good? It's Jeff T from Club Five Twenty podcast here with my latest fresh take on 2025 NCAA tournament brought to you by Wendy's, the official hamburger of March Madness. What a weekend. Easily my two favorite games from the Elite eight were Duke beating Alabama, Florida beating Texas Tech, Duke beat Alabama with their defense being able to attack and transition and getting out on the open floor, finding Cooper flag and all their talented players, and Florida beating Texas Tech. What a win by them. Coming up big in the end. Now with my final four is set, I like Florida beating Auburn because of the way they play. They got a closer and Clayton Jr. And I got Duke playing Houston, and I got Houston being my championship in a 2025 NCAA tournament. It should be a good game, should be exciting weekend. I'm looking forward to it. We'll see if I'm right. But while you watching the games in the meantime, remember, the freshest deal in fast food's gotta be Wendy's. Right? Now you can get a junior bacon cheeseburger or a double stack for $1 with an in app offer and a purchase. Again, head to Wendy's app to grab a $1 junior bacon cheeseburger, a $1 double stack with an in app offer and a purchase for the freshest hamburgers around. Gotta be Wendy's, the official hamburger of March Madness.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So you eating beanie weenies?

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah. Yeah. Pork and beans with sugar on it. Oh, my God. Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I mean, your dad worked three jobs.

[Damon Wayans]

And he still wasn't making enough.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But he dogged he dog tired when he get home. David, how he had time to whip ass.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah. Oh, he found a way.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He worked overtime then.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah. He had some sauce. He had a look up for drinks.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Hold on. You got in trouble for stealing from your dad?

[Damon Wayans]

Mm. I stole 15 cent from my father, and he missed it. And I'm like, I don't ever want y'all that poor.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He missed 15 cents.

[Damon Wayans]

15 cent came downstairs, followed me down the stairs, and like a school bully, threw me against the wall with my money. And I'm like, I know I didn't take no do. So I'm just like, what? And I had it separated in my pocket. Right, right. Cause I didn't, you know, he had to change. And my father searched me.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He pat you down? He stopped and frisk.

[Damon Wayans]

Took my. That's my. That's my nickel. 1964. That's my nickel. And he beat me right there on the stairs like a dude off the street.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Damn.

[Damon Wayans]

And like I said, I don't ever want to be that poor that I missed 15 cents. But that's with me today. That's part of my motivation. Damn.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Did Your siblings see it when y'all got whippings? Did they make fun of y'all?

[Damon Wayans]

All the time. We mock you as soon as you get up. Yes, Daddy, Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That make it worse?

[Damon Wayans]

That make it worse? It was worse than the whooping.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But how important do you think having your dad in your household, given what you know now, how important do you think that is to have a black man in the household?

[Damon Wayans]

The greatest gift my father ever gave us was coming home.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Damn, that's deep.

[Damon Wayans]

Cause my mother didn't make it easy. He was a dumb mfer and all kind of stuff. Cause he didn't. He did. You know, she wanted stuff in life, like new underwear, like, stuff she couldn't just little stuff. Makeup and get her hair and couldn't do it. But he came home humble, you know, Sometimes he had to tell her, there ain't no food. What, Mr. Provider? You ain't got no food, and you trying to tell me what to do? Yeah. So. But that was the gift. That's like, you know, you come home, it doesn't feel good. But.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So he's working three jobs.

[Damon Wayans]

Mm.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He has to provide for this family. And when he gets home, your mother. Your mom doesn't make it easy.

[Damon Wayans]

Mm.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And I think Marlon said he could have. He could have easily understood if pop would have checked out. Cause it wasn't easy.

[Damon Wayans]

We used to say, hit her or something.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Damn, damn, damn.

[Damon Wayans]

I ain't lying. My father, he would never.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He.

[Damon Wayans]

He never would, like, cuss at her.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Really.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah. My father, when she died, he was ready to go. I miss her. I miss my gal. What, the one that used to cut you out, you miss? Yeah, every day.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You got peace now. You ain't got nobody cursing you.

[Damon Wayans]

I miss my gal. He was just ready to go. Check, please. But that's like, he taught us love, like, unconditional love, you know, he always saw her as the 16 year old he fell in love with. Ooh. You know, that's beautiful.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You mentioned your mom had sisters, and they would sing occasionally at the Apollo. Did your mom sing around the house?

[Damon Wayans]

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Music was like, you know, that's one thing we always had in the house. And to this day, I listen to music all the time because those are some of the happiest times in our life. You know, when Al Green was on, you know, there was going to be peace in the house. I remember I took my mother and father to see Motown Revue on Broadway. And we're watching the play, and my mother and father sitting together. And my father, he Just my mother. Nigga, shut up. He just starts sobbing as the soundtrack to my life. I was like, wow, it's powerful. What music. I guess all the memories of, you know, what they went through, it was just. But I. You know, there's always music in the house.

[Shannon Sharpe]

What are some of the best things your mom and dad taught you? And what would you want their legacy to be?

[Damon Wayans]

My dad taught us stick to it. Iveness. And that you have to. You do whatever you have to do to feed your family, you know? And you do what you can do until you can do what you want to do. Because my dad always had dreams of, like, being something like my dad. Listen, he was. He was Amazon before Amazon, my dad. So we lived in the projects. There was three buildings with 20 that was 25 stories tall. 10 families on each floor. So my dad would go to warehouses and get, like, Afro Picks. And then he would put them on. We put them on cardboards, and he'd send us door to door. That's 750 families. Somebody need an Afro pick. We go door to door. We have a pitch. You know, sometimes we get them beads that Serena Williams and them used to wear.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Damon Wayans]

And you're not gonna. Who is it? You wanna buy some beads? Nigga, what's beads?

[Shannon Sharpe]

I ain't got no beads.

[Damon Wayans]

We just hold them up. Beads. You want some beads? Get out of here with them beads. But, you know, you meet people who appreciate it. You get to know everybody in the neighborhood. Some people just give you money just because.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Just because.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah. And then some people throw the beads at you.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Get your ass out of your side. I ain't got no money.

[Damon Wayans]

Or just take your beads and close the door. You see him outside? That's them. He got my beads on his head.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You were. Your family was raised Jehovah Witness. And there are a lot of the Jacksons. Prince Biggie, Terrence Howe, Ja Rule, Naomi Campbell. What is. Explain to me. Cause I don't really hold. All I know is that we closed the door in a lot of them things.

[Damon Wayans]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Cause when they come right out, it.

[Damon Wayans]

Was one of them things. Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So what do you think your mom and dad was drawn to about this religion?

[Damon Wayans]

Well, my dad was drawn to it. My mother was not.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Damon Wayans]

My dad just knew it was the truth, you know? And so the kingdom we pray for. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be youe name. What is the name? It's not God. It's Jehovah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Damon Wayans]

Let yout kingdom come. What is that Kingdom? Who's the king, Right. Jesus, let yout will be done. What's the will as it is in heaven, on earth? That's the will, is that we live in unity and be God. So man has plans, God has a purpose. So, you know, we. I believe that. And you look at. All you got to do is read the news and then read second Timothy 3, 1 5. And you see, it's what it says how people will be in these days, the, you know, critical times, hard to deal with. Lovers of money, self assuming, haughty, blasphemous, having a form of godly devotion proven false to his power. This is where we are today, right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Are you still a practicing, Joseph? Yes.

[Damon Wayans]

Yes. And I love it. You know, I think it. The greatest feeling you'll have is to be at peace with God and peace with man, because that puts you at peace with yourself. Because my prayers aren't. God forgive me. No, thank you. Thank you for my family. Thank you for this journey. It's nothing but, like, gratitude because I ain't living a life that I gotta apologize for. There was a time I was wild. Couldn't even pray. God. Never mind. You don't want to hear this.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Um, do you do Jehovah Witness? Do they celebrate holidays? Do they celebrate things? Cause I'm trying to figure out, like, did birthdays. Were birthdays big in your family?

[Damon Wayans]

No, my mother celebrated everything. My mother would celebrate Christmas, birthdays, you know.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But how did that work? He doesn't. She does.

[Damon Wayans]

I mean, my father was just going to run.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Are you a serious dad?

[Damon Wayans]

My mother would save money up all year to get us something. And one of the greatest Christmases we ever had was my father took the money and tried to open a business that she was saving. So we didn't have no Christmas. My mother sat us down. Ain't gonna be no Christmas this year, y'all. What? No Christmas. That asshole in the room. And she would just told us what happened. My father wanted to have a business, right? And so we decided that we're going to write Santa Claus a letter. Oh, and all of us wrote Santa Claus a letter. And then we mailed it off to the North Pole. Nothing. Nothing till Christmas morning. U Haul truck pulls up to us. Our house bikes, all kinds of toys. It was just like, wow, that felt like Christmas.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Wow.

[Damon Wayans]

And then the next year, we tried to do it again. Stop. No. Tell your daddy.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah, but. But it's okay because we. You know what? Most of the stuff is, you know, based in paganism. You know, I said on toast because that's some. It's an old Greek pagan thing where they clink it and you. And chase the demons away. Okay, well, I. If they hear from when I'm drinking, you know, I mean, I don't. You know, it's like people don't know what they do. They're celebrating stuff they don't know.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Damon Wayans]

Easter.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Just tradition that's been handed down and you.

[Damon Wayans]

Right. It's once. With. With knowledge comes power. Right, Right. Once you know that Jesus. Death is more important than his birth. Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Damon Wayans]

Christmas, that's. That's something that corporate America figured out. How to get rid of all the inventory at the end of the year. Let's clean this out. We'll have a sale, call it Christmas.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Damon Wayans]

Because Jesus didn't celebrate his own birthday. Don't you think he threw a party if it was important?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right. Yeah.

[Damon Wayans]

Change everything to wine. Everything's wine. True. Right. So it's like, if it. Once. You know, then you. It makes it easier to. Oh, okay. I get why I don't celebrate this.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You mentioned something earlier about a few.

[Damon Wayans]

I never talked about my mother.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You didn't.

[Damon Wayans]

And what she. Because I poked jokes. Right. But you asked, what did she give us? Love. My mother was the heartbeat of this family.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's what Marlon said.

[Damon Wayans]

And taught us how to love and how to, you know. Even though she sometimes didn't practice what she preached. But how to. To get past grudges. That's your brother. That is your sister. You love them. They go. For the rest of your life, they gonna be your brother and sister. That's what my mother gave us. Love.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Did your mom ever discipline y'all?

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah, my mom. My mom would do this thing, was like, come here, let me slap your face. She wouldn't even chase you. Come here, let me slap you. Doing this.

[Shannon Sharpe]

No, I think I stay over here.

[Damon Wayans]

And then the trick was, she gets you like this. And then bam. Ears ringing. You'd be like, what the. Yeah, my mom. But she had to be really, really mad at you to hit you to pop your head.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Drunks.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's some old people. They believed in slapping. My grandmother slapped five at your mouth. Yeah, well, I mean, I'm like, what is that about?

[Damon Wayans]

Cause it's better than a punch. A slap is more of a humiliation.

[Shannon Sharpe]

It is.

[Damon Wayans]

Ask Chris Rock.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oh, Lord, have me. Lord have mercy.

[Damon Wayans]

No, that's all right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Marlon told us a story about the foot.

[Damon Wayans]

Mm.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So you had a club foot?

[Damon Wayans]

It looked like I have a club foot.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I mean, what, you got a size 11 and a half and a nine.

[Damon Wayans]

No. Well, no. This here's the thing. A club foot. Now, I don't have the same flexibility. I was born with my foot twisted all the way around. Okay, Right. So.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So you had to wear no iron braces at the bottom.

[Damon Wayans]

Yep, yep. Orthopedic shoe came up to here. You know, it was.

[Shannon Sharpe]

They had. It was high on one side, huh?

[Damon Wayans]

Thick. The Herman muscle.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Damon Wayans]

I walk with a limp. Yeah. But people thought it was cool because I perfected the limp, brother. Smooth. Because I wanted you to look up.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Damon Wayans]

You know what I mean? That was my whole thing in life when we played dozen. Get you to look up, don't look at the shoe. Because I'm vulnerable down here.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Damon Wayans]

So I hit you before you even.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Did. You did you. Were you insecure about it? Were you self confident about it?

[Damon Wayans]

Super.

[Shannon Sharpe]

No, I mean self conscious.

[Damon Wayans]

It's a very super.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Cause it was your family, your brothers and sisters killed you about that, didn't they?

[Damon Wayans]

I never felt like they had jokes, but there was so much love in my house. I never felt like them attacking me.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Damon Wayans]

I know they talk about my little foot, but it was okay. Cause I'm in on the joke. I'm laughing. They see me with, you know, my pants off and, you know me, and.

[Shannon Sharpe]

They saw a little baby foot.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah, yeah. But it's okay. It was in love. You put anything in love, it takes a sting out when you go outside. They were trying to.

[Shannon Sharpe]

They got you.

[Damon Wayans]

Oh, my God. But I got them.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Is it true? Kim? Kim would fight if people make fun of you all the time.

[Damon Wayans]

I'm a baby brother. I'm her older brother.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Older brother. And you got little sister kick they ass.

[Damon Wayans]

Like alley cat fight, you know, Kim is demure and, you know, yeah, she seemed real.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And that's what. When you told me she was social. She doesn't come off as social. She seems very quiet, very subdued. I'm here for a purpose. I'm gonna talk. When people need to talk to me, I'll talk to them. But I'm not, you know, she's shy.

[Damon Wayans]

She said, you know, she don't. None of my family like the limelight. That Marlon.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Marlon.

[Damon Wayans]

Marlon loves it. Me, Kenny, Sean, you know, we don't have to be seen. We'd rather Kim rather not be seen. Even juniors like that. Like, I don't need that.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Hold on. The doctors thought you were gonna be a little person. We can't use the M word. They thought you was gonna be a little person. Because of the foot?

[Damon Wayans]

No, they put me in the. In the special ed class. You? Yeah, because I'm in there with them, and my mother was like, no, it's like, there's nothing wrong with him. But I got to know all the kids, and, you know, so they figure.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Any abnormality and deformity that you had, you had. There had to be something wrong with you mentally or physically, emotionally. What?

[Damon Wayans]

I mean, I think it's just because I was black.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oh.

[Damon Wayans]

You know, and they just like, here, let's. Let's. Let's.

[Shannon Sharpe]

True. Because I remember those classes. I don't remember seeing a whole lot of white people in those classes.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah. And they put me in there with the. You know, back then, you call them retarded people, you know, And. And like I said, I made friends with some of them, you know, until I got one of my other friends. Then I disowned them. Get out of here, Corky. Crapping my style, man.

[Shannon Sharpe]

David, I know when the regular kids saw you going to those classrooms, bro.

[Damon Wayans]

Oh, they would come by and tease me. They'd be pointing at me and doing that. I'm like, oh, man.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I mean, did you have home. Did they give you homework? Did you have homework?

[Damon Wayans]

Or you. Yeah, easy homework. Fold this paper. That was the homework. Here. Fold this paper in half. Ooh.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You did good.

[Damon Wayans]

I was the smartest kid in class. But finally.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But you do realize. You do realize, David. Like, when you were doing classes, you stay in that class the whole day. You don't change classes.

[Damon Wayans]

No, my mother got me out. It was a quick stay.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Damon Wayans]

You know, probably for like a week, but you know that. Yeah, it was about a week.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Marlon said you were terrible in school. I mean, really bad.

[Damon Wayans]

No, here's. I was funny.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So you went to school to tell jokes?

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You ain't go to learn.

[Damon Wayans]

This is how my mind thought.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Damon Wayans]

When I went to high school, I took Chinese, Mandarin Chinese. Just because I knew it was so hard I could fail it. And nobody gonna say nothing. I'm telling you, I get to the class, and it's me, and everybody else is Asian. Because there's a proper way to speak Chinese.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Damon Wayans]

Right. Mandarin is not like.

[Shannon Sharpe]

It's not an easy language.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah. Each word has four different meanings. So, like, I'm like, hey, it's Chinese, Dad. I can't do it. But I was always like. I had one teacher, Mr. Freeman, who believed in me. In his seventh grade, I used to call him Mike. He would. I would get under his skin, but I would make him laugh, right? He was my science teacher, and he told me one day so I would do stuff to try to stump him. So we were talking about inertia, right? He's teaching about inertia. And I said, Mr. Freeman. Yo, Mike. Why is it that when you get on the train and the fly flies in and the train starts to move, the fly doesn't smash against the wall? He said, well, the fly goes this way. I said, no, the fly never touched the wall to go the same speed as the train.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Damon Wayans]

Why doesn't the fly when you take off?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Because if you take off and you're not holding on, you fall back. Why doesn't the fly move that part?

[Damon Wayans]

And he was like. He said, that's critical thinking. He said, and the thing about you is that you're brilliant. He said, you have a gift. He said, the problem is I need to control the room. Right now you are controlling my classroom. And that's not good for me. So here's what I'm gonna do. I'm going to give you five minutes on Friday to say or do whatever you want to do.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Wow.

[Damon Wayans]

If you just be quiet.

[Shannon Sharpe]

It was a trade off.

[Damon Wayans]

It was a trade off. And I would, you know, sometimes I would blurt out stuff. But, you know, for the most part, I honored that and he honored that. And I couldn't wait for my five minutes every Friday. But he was the only teacher that ever told me that what I do is special.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He's the only one that really believed in you. Everybody else thought you was an F up class clown.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You dropped out.

[Damon Wayans]

I got thrown out. Actually, I got thrown out of. I went to Murray Bertram High School for business careers. This is the first school, high school to teach computer science.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Damon Wayans]

And they had like, like computers as big as this room.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Wow.

[Damon Wayans]

And that's like the cobalt. And they're teaching us this. And my dumb behind. I. I had a teacher who I didn't like. And somebody gave me some Mace. And I'm in the class and I'm spraying Mace. She made me sit right like this. Cause I was such a, you know. Yeah, right. So I'm spraying Mace the whole time she's talking. I didn't know Mace was gonna affect me, too. Everybody in the class. And I got expelled from that school. Then I went to go. I had to go to another school. Charles Evans Hughes got thrown out of that one for turning off all the lights in the school.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Damn.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah. And then I went to one of them schools where all you gotta do is show Up.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You went to alternative school?

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah. All you gotta do is show up. I got thrown outta there.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Damn. So you realized school wasn't for you?

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah, yeah, I was. I just. I don't know, I was thinking funny. So I got thrown out of one school. Cause I threw a chair off the roof. I didn't wanna hurt nobody, but in my mind I thought like a cartoon. I wanted to see them go and their eyes bought out their head. And then run and say, you could have killed me. I didn't. I. Like, I had no concept of killing. This is in like fifth grade. I didn't. I didn't. I wasn't trying to kill nobody.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right. But when you come home, okay, let me this. You get thrown out of school, how do you go home and tell. Or do the. Do the school call and tell your mom and dad that we're expelling Damon? Or do you have to tell him?

[Damon Wayans]

No, I get on the train and just ride it all day long. That's what I do.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oh, so they didn't know you got expelled?

[Damon Wayans]

They didn't know? No.

[Shannon Sharpe]

When did you realize that? You know what? School ain't for me. The hell with this.

[Damon Wayans]

Once I started doing stand up. Well, like, no, I don't think it was stand up. It was just. I had to go to Job Corps.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay?

[Damon Wayans]

Because it was that or jail. And so I went down to Breckenridge, Kentucky, and it was the first time I ever saw a horse, like.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Like a real horse that wasn't on tv. You could actually touch it.

[Damon Wayans]

Oh, yeah. Like, not one of them Central park horses just foam out the mouth all day long. It was like a real horse. And it was the first time I flew on a plane. The first time I smelled fresh air, you know? And I got my GED down there. I got my driver's license and I went for. What did I go for? I ended up taking accounting. So I learned how to do you good with numbers. The numbers, right. And then I came back home and that was like the first time I went, okay, I did something. I achieved something.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You felt a sense of accomplishment?

[Damon Wayans]

Yes. The GED meant something. My parents are so proud. And then I got a job at American Express.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oh, Lord, I did.

[Damon Wayans]

I got a job at American Express in the mailroom. And then they promoted me to mailroom supervisor because I had a way of making people laugh. You know, building like. You know, like morale. Right. So I had the late shift. I worked from 7:00 to 7 in the morning.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Damon Wayans]

And we had to. I Always found a way, and I thank my dad for this, of making a job fund. So we had to, like, open up the mail. You get 550 envelopes. You got to take them out, open it up. Then you have to decide, is this a change of address? Is this a return of a credit card? Is this, you know, whatever it is you had, like, so you had to.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Manually do it, Right.

[Damon Wayans]

And the. The. The quota was to do five boxes. I used to do 15.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Wow.

[Damon Wayans]

And I'd have my music on, and I'd have my basket here, and I would just go. Because they had a machine that would open it for you, for you. Right. But I was that fast. And I remember the controller walked in one day. That was his position, like the manager. And he said, I never seen nothing like this. And I would make. The other people in the mailroom would say, man, slow down. You make us look bad.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Look bad.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah. But they made me the supervisor. And then I had everybody giving them ten boxes a night.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Wow. Now stand up. How do you go from being at American Express to the standup?

[Damon Wayans]

I always admired Kenan. And then so with Kenan, he would. I would go to the improv and watch him perform. And then sometimes I get keen, you should try this joke. Try this. And he would do it, and they would get laughs. And so that was the first time I ever thought. Well, I thought about that. He said it and got a laugh.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Maybe if I used it for myself.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah, maybe. I. Right. And then Robert Townsend. One day, I was still working at Smilers in the delicatessen, and Robert Townsend and Keenan were in, like, a little improv group, right? It was like Reggie Van Johnson and Melvin George. There's, like, four people. And they brought me in because Keenan told him Damon could do characters. So I'm just there, and I'm just, like, doing all this stuff that me and Kenan would do all the time. And I remember Robert's face like this. And he said, you got it. And I didn't. I had to go, you know, do the sandwiches. Tomorrow's Life. I didn't really, like, think about what he said, right. And then in 1982, I was so proud. This Keenan got his little sitcom. And I was telling my wife, you know, Lisa, I'm like, man, Keenan, Kenan, Keenan. You know what you need to go do? Stand up. Otherwise I'm gonna go sleep with Kenan, because you make. You make him sound wonderful. So I started doing standup, and the first time I went on stage, I fell in love with it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Damon Wayans]

And I didn't do good. I actually bombed. But I got one laugh. And. And comedy is like golf. All you remember is a good shot.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Damon Wayans]

You know what I mean? And that's what everybody said.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Everybody say you, you get. It's not the boo that you remember. It's that one. It's that one laugh that gets you hooked. And you're like, yeah, this is my calling.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah, I knew it. I knew it. Like, as. As I was doing it. Like, this feels good.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Is it a high?

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah, it's, it's. It's like a runner's high. Especially when you come off stage. You know, the thing is, when you're first starting out and you're doing it, you come off stage, you can enjoy the high. When you become, you know, famous or whatever, you, you know, people want to, and it just ruins the high, you know, I mean, like, you interact because you want to, like, enjoy that moment. You have, like, out of body experiences.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Wow.

[Damon Wayans]

You know, when you do, Stan, when you have a great show, it's like you just sit back going, watch this nigga work. Go. Go. You know, and you forget about the pain in your back and, you know, just everything, it just feels right. So, yeah, it's definitely a runner's high.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Wow. And so now you're doing stand up. You're like, okay, now you don't wanna do anything else but that, or did you have another job?

[Damon Wayans]

No, I had other jobs because I had to have, you know, I had kids.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know, stand up ain't. Wasn't paying like it is. They were paying back then, huh?

[Damon Wayans]

Right. Well, you know, stand up would pay you a burger. That's what you got. You got a free burger, maybe some fries.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Damon Wayans]

And a soda. That's what that was your pay. But, you know, then they had. They had a strike and they started giving you money for cabs or gas money, you know, so you can make $20 here. But you know, any real comedian, that's really about it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Damon Wayans]

Hits the stage five times a night. So you're not just making, you know, $20, you're making $120.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Damon Wayans]

You're making. Right, right. So you can live off of back then.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That was, that was. That was good money.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

How did you and Eddie meet?

[Damon Wayans]

Through Keenan. Okay. So Eddie would come see me do standup. He would bring Prince, Rick James. He just thought, like, the stuff I was doing was really innovative. And then I started hanging out with him and Keenan. The first thing Eddie would do when he came out During Saturday Night Live. And he would call Kenan and go, man, watch this buckwheat tonight. Watch Buckwheat. Buckwheat got shot. And I'm just like. So at the time, I was doing stand up before I met Eddie, I'm like, who is this Eddie Murphy, everybody? Because as far as I was concerned, I was the next. Right, right? And then I watched him do James Brown getting in a hot tub. And I was like this amazing, amazing. And I became, you know, in awe of Eddie and when. And the fact that him and Kenan were, like, friends, right? As soon as he came out, Keenan, come on. And they hang out to the wee hours of the morning and you tagging along, tagging along. Eddie was. Would actually bring me, my wife and my sons on boat rides. Like, he would rent a yacht and go around the marina and it'd be. I was the only family, just all these pretty women and Eddie and his boys.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You were like, yeah.

[Damon Wayans]

And Eddie would come over, always make time to come over and sit down with us and go, y'all got something special? This is what I want. And he goes, now I'm gonna get some. But, you know, that was so wonderful for. For me and to. To see that life.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right?

[Damon Wayans]

You know what I mean? Because I never had it on that level. You know what I mean? I was married from, you know, since 19, what, 84 or something like that. So I. I didn't.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Damn, you ain't get a chance to enjoy the single life of your standup.

[Damon Wayans]

I did. I broke up my marriage. Don't worry. I broke up my marriage.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Fan sick. Oh, I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it.

[Damon Wayans]

Oh, yeah. And I regret it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Really?

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah. Because, you know, in show business, you think that this chemistry you got with this person, this actress, is, like, special and pure. And then what you don't realize is she gonna go do that on the next role with somebody else. And you'd be like, but I left my wife for you. You know what? Tell her the stuff you told my character. She'll take you back.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You'd be like, damn. What?

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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[Damon Wayans]

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[Shannon Sharpe]

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[Jeff T]

Yo, what's good? It's Jeff T from Club 520 podcast here with my latest fresh take on the 2025 NCAA tournament brought to you by Wendy's, the Official Hamburger of March Madness. What a weekend. Easily my two favorite games from the Elite 8 were Duke beating Alabama, Florida beating Texas Tech, Duke beat Alabama with their defense being able to attack and transition and getting out on the open floor, finding Cooper Flag and all their talented players and Florida beating Texas Tech. What a win by them coming up big in the end. Now with my Final Four is set. I like Florida beating Auburn because of the way they play. They got a closer and Clayton Jr. And I got Duke playing Houston and I got Houston being my championship in a 2025 NCAA tournament. It should be a good game, should be exciting weekend. I'm looking forward to it. We'll see if I'm right. But while you watching the games in the meantime, remember the freshest deal in fast food's gotta be Wendy's right now you can get a junior bacon cheeseburger or a double stack for $1 with an in app offer and a purchase. Again, head to Wendy's app to grab a $1 junior bacon cheeseburger, a $1 double stack with an in app offer and a purchase for the freshest hamburgers around. Gotta be Wendy's, the official hamburger of March Madness.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You got an Opportunity to do Eddie up close and personal. What is something about Eddie that you could share that people wouldn't realize about him, that wouldn't know about him?

[Damon Wayans]

The funniest guy of my generation, for sure. His mind is like a Rubik's Cube, the way he processes comedy. And he's one of the most giving people. Like, you know, Eddie can steal scenes. He doesn't have to steal scenes because he's the star. Right, right. But the thing I learned from Eddie was letting other people shine. You bring somebody in. When I did the Banana Man, I was still working in the mail room, and he's like. He told Marty Breast, the director, you gotta let him do it. You gotta. He wanted me to play the Brunson Pinchot character, right, who did a wonderful job. But the director was like, nah, he's unseasoning. He said, all right, then let him do this one little scene. And Eddie was like, laughing in the scene. You know, I'm with the biggest star in the world, and he's making me feel funny and encourage me go, no, no, no, seriously. He says, and the director was like, we got to move on Eddie. No, we're going to do this. And we got that take. And it was just like. Just the fact that he cared enough, you know, to make sure that I shined was beautiful. And then, you know, Eddie put on Robert Townsend, my brother. You know, all the people that he put on in this business, I don't think people really give him the credit. He does the credit. He does Arsenio. He put on Arsenio's show, you know, multiple times to support his friend. You know what I mean? Paul Mooney.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Damon Wayans]

Eddie put everybody on.

[Shannon Sharpe]

How did you get on? How did Beverly Hills cause happen?

[Damon Wayans]

Eddie would see me do stand up, and he saw that character. He's like, you got to do this. And he made them put me in the movie.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Eddie snl. A lot of people have gotten. Nobody's been bigger than Eddie. SNL and blew up. I mean, there have been other guys, but nobody like Eddie. You was on SNL for a minute, half a season. What did you think SNL was gonna be? As opposed to what you got once you got on snl?

[Damon Wayans]

Well, I grew up. You know, when we watch Richard Pryor on snl, you know, the famous sketch with Chevy Chase, and, you know him with Lily Tomlin playing the drunk, and, you know, it's like, wow, he's bringing our flavor to this show. Because before it was white, it was funny. You know, John Belushi Brilliant. And all those guys was brilliant, but it wasn't us. And then I was like, I was born to do this. And Eddie had just left. Eddie actually came to my, you know, celebration party before I went to New York, because I was living out here. And he told me, he said, look, man, learn to write your own sketches because they're going to put you in it and you're going to hate it. They're going to give you black stuff to do. You're going to hate it. And so when I went there, he was right, and I was writing sketches, right? But they would, they would shoot it down. This dude would, like, sit there and read my sketches in front of me and go, oh, yeah. I just don't get it. I just got tired of getting shot down. They would, you know, like. And I kept getting told, well, we're trying to protect you from the, the Eddie's, you know, aura, right? It's like, Eddie's gone. And what I. I knew that the characters that I wanted to do were nothing like Eddie. There would be no comparison, you know, because I didn't really do impressions. I didn't do the kind of stuff Eddie did. These are. You know, the funny thing is I did an interview for SNL and they showed me my audition tape. In the audition, it's a 12 minute tape of me doing Homie the Clown Men on Handyman. The seven characters that I did ultimately on In Living Color, that I showed them what I could do, and I was writing stuff for these characters kept getting shot down. So I just, I didn't care. I just changed characters on them during a live show. And I was like, yeah, give me the ball or let me go.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Let me ask you this. Were you becoming frustrated because you're like, I'm doing this and every time I try to do something, every turn you shoot it down, it's that.

[Damon Wayans]

And then the stuff they were giving me, there was one sketch, they wanted me to stand in a loincloth with a spear with no lines.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So what the hell were you gonna be doing just standing there?

[Damon Wayans]

I'm gonna be stabbing somebody with this spear if you think I'm doing this. And I told him, I said, I can't do this. My mother is gonna watch this show. I can't do this. And they're like, yeah, got it. You know, you gotta service the peace. That's what I was told, service the peace. I didn't do it. And then it was.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So how do you say, how did you. How did you tell. How did you Respectfully.

[Damon Wayans]

Tell them no, it wasn't respectful. I didn't. I just said, no. I don't care who you call. I'm not doing this. I didn't do it. Then we had a. This woman, Danitra Vance, who is this? She was very talented, but she did it. And I was like, danitra, don't. If we stand together, it means something. You make me look crazy.

[Shannon Sharpe]

She wanted that role. She wanted to be on Saturday Night Live that day.

[Damon Wayans]

There she is with the spear Abumelier, trying to improvise. Haboo Bier.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So what's the pay like on SNL?

[Damon Wayans]

Nothing. $1,500 a week.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So let me. Cause I'm always interested. So how does explain to people at home, how does SNL work? So how do you come in there? Like, okay, the show is gonna air Saturday night. Are you guys rehearsing during the course of the week?

[Damon Wayans]

You come in Monday.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Damon Wayans]

It's a writer's night.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Damon Wayans]

So you come in and you pitch ideas.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Damon Wayans]

Right. And then they say, yeah, go off and write them. So you start writing Tuesday. You write into Tuesday morning. And then we do the table read with all the collection of sketches you read.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's on a Wednesday.

[Damon Wayans]

45 sketches. Like on a. I forget if it was Tuesday or Wednesday. And then you start rehearsing. You start picking the sketches, and then you start rehearsing Friday and then till Saturday.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And you're writing sketches. Kind of like what's funny in today's. What's funny today? Because I remember I saw that when I had the Cat Williams, they ended up doing a spoof of Cat. So you guys are writing things or try to like what's happening in the real world and make them funny.

[Damon Wayans]

I was writing character driven stuff. I wasn't writing, like. Cause here's the problem. When you do kind of social, political stuff, there are no good Nixon jokes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right?

[Damon Wayans]

Right. It's dated. You date yourself because events happen and then something else happens and then people forget. What was that?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Damon Wayans]

So when you do characters, characters. Cheeseburger. Cheeseburger. Cheeseburger is always going to be funny.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He can have a real brown.

[Damon Wayans]

You know, all the stuff Eddie did pump you up. You know, there's a bunch of catchphrases that they. That. That are in the, you know, the zygote. Because of, you know, character driven comedy. That's what people relate to.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right. Let me ask you this. You were. You say you lasted half a season, but you were fired after one season.

[Damon Wayans]

I did. I got fired after no, after. In the middle of the season.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Are you the only one that's ever happened to. Has anybody that you know of.

[Damon Wayans]

I got fired live. I didn't even make the goodnights.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Damn. They ain't even let the curtain come down.

[Damon Wayans]

They didn't say goodnight. He said, get the hell out of here.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Who told you that?

[Damon Wayans]

Lorne Michaels. He was red in the face. John Belushi never did this to me.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You ad lib, didn't you?

[Damon Wayans]

I did more than that. I said, get me out of here. Everything I did was to go. But, see, God has plans, right? Right. So In Living Color was my vindication.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Did you know. Hold on. You said you did everything you could to get fired. Did you know Keenan was in the process of doing.

[Damon Wayans]

No, because this was in 86, and living color wasn't until 1990. Yeah, right. So I was like. I was so angry when I was there. I was walking around. I had these shades on, like, black. Like, I guess they're Ray Bans. And they go, why are you wearing glasses? It's too white in here. It hurts my eyes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Damn. What you thought they were.

[Damon Wayans]

I didn't want. Well, you know, you get shot down. The thing is, like, now, I was young. I didn't know. I didn't understand producing a show very, very. Because I felt like, you know, they were trying to. Garrett Morris me.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Damon Wayans]

Who? And Garrett Morris is a wonderful man. Love him. But back then, you know, they used him like a prop.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Damon Wayans]

You know what I mean? And that's not why I did stand up. I'm ready, guys. I'm locked and loaded. You seen the tape. You know what I can do. But it wasn't meant to be.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right. What did Keenan say when you told him, like, man, I ain't gonna be on SNL no more, bro.

[Damon Wayans]

Good, good. If they're not gonna let you do what you do. Right, then, you know, it doesn't make no sense to be there. Something else will happen. And the great thing about doing standup is, you know, after I did Saturday Night Live, I could get booked in comedy clubs and make good money because I'm, you know, featuring the guy who got fired from Saturday Night Live. I can. I can use that. Right, Right. And so I was making, you know, stand up allows you, back then, $10,000 a weekend. Damn, that's good money.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Hell, yeah, good money. What you mean was, good money is right.

[Damon Wayans]

More than I was making on snl, right? So it's like. Yeah, okay. So I started doing stand up, and it's Been a very.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Lucrative.

[Damon Wayans]

Lucrative.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But feeling it's.

[Damon Wayans]

It's always good to know what? That you don't have to do something. Because I can make money. I can feed my family. My dad ringing in my ear. As long as I could feed my family, you can't touch me.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Do you fell into the situation because you came on so soon after Eddie left, and many people believe Eddie had gotten too big for SNL and they didn't want to run that same risk with you.

[Damon Wayans]

That might have been some of it, you know, But, I mean, whatever it was, don't hire me if you don't want me.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Damon Wayans]

You know, I mean, don't hire me if you're not gonna let me do. Because I can. I can do what Eddie did. I can do. You know how many people watched the show when Eddie was doing it?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Damon Wayans]

Why don't you want them? Because they negate our audience. The audience that Eddie brought there. I was coming in thinking I would service them. You know what I mean? Black people would give me a shot to be funny.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Damon Wayans]

Before they start comparing me, they ain't he trying to be Eddie. Cause I got a different flavor.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right. Robert Downey Jr. Was also in your cast. He got fired after a year, too. Damn. Y'all were homeboys.

[Damon Wayans]

Are. Yeah. So Robert Downey and Michael Anthony hall, we called them the kids. And they were the ones that, you know, thought I was funny. So we would connect, and they knew that it wasn't funny what we were doing. So we had all these, like, inside jokes about that sketch is not gonna work. And they knew how bad it was. So, yeah, we became good friends. I love Robert.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah. Tracy Morgan said he felt culturally isolated on SNL's called it the whitest show in America.

[Damon Wayans]

It is. It is. Because, you know, I mean, I love Lorne Michaels to do anything for 50.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Years, that's a long time.

[Damon Wayans]

You deserve your flowers, you know, but the. When you go up and look at the. The. The. The people who run the show, the writers room, it's all white. And it's not like, you know, it's not like.

[Shannon Sharpe]

It's not diverse like the people in.

[Damon Wayans]

Right. It's not. You know, Neil Brennan is funny. The guy who wrote with Chappelle, you know, he's funny. But you got all these guys that come out of Harvard who write for, like, magazine. Magazine. Funny Ain't Funny.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Damon Wayans]

They would do sketches like Tornado Ville.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Damon Wayans]

So you go to this town where there's a tornado and people walk around with hangers in their Head. All right. But I'm like, well, who are the people? And what's the character with the hanger in his head? What does he do? What's funny about him? You know, they didn't want to hear that, right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Have you. Have you talked to Traci? I know he had an incident a couple of last week on the sideline. He had food poisoning, and he. At the Knicks game.

[Damon Wayans]

I want to talk to him. With a sick stomach. Get away. I can give him some Pepto Bismol now. I love Tracy. I met Tracy in New York in a. In a club in the middle of the winter. And I remember this because he didn't have no shirt on, and he was sweating. I'm like, it is four degrees outside. I'm gonna get these girls pregnant. I'm here to get somebody pregnant. And he had a little big belly. I'm like, you look pregnant.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Chris Rock. Damn. Everybody getting fired from snl. Chris Rock. And then he tried out for In Living Color. I think Martin also tried out for.

[Damon Wayans]

In Living Color, probably, but we were gone.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You go then.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah, we weren't there.

[Shannon Sharpe]

How did. So when Kenan pitches In Living Color to you, what are you thinking? And you like, this is it. This is our chance. This is my chance to show my comedic genius.

[Damon Wayans]

Whatever Keenan want to do. You know what I mean? We did before. We did In Living Color. He had done Imma get yout Sucker.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Damon Wayans]

So. And then we had done the Robert Townsend, partner in crimes. He had written, you know, sketches for that. And, you know, the funny thing is, they told Kenan asked Robert if he could direct some sketches. And Robert's like, nah, man. You too lazy. All you want to do is chase girls. And he said, you gotta be disciplined to do this. And Keenan was hurt. He's like, what, bro?

[Shannon Sharpe]

We done hung out. We were chasing girls together, bro. And now you, right?

[Damon Wayans]

And so Kenan locked himself in his room for two weeks and wrote, I'm gonna get you, sucker.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Wow.

[Damon Wayans]

And then he direct. But that was his fuel, Right? You know what I mean? It's exactly what he needed to hear.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right?

[Damon Wayans]

And then when we did I'm Gonna get yout Sucker, it was so much fun. There's nothing like showing up to a set where it's a party and then you're filming. You know what I mean? You're filming, too. But the environment is just so fun and creative. And that's what In Living Color was. That's what Imma get you, sucker. And the Robert Townsend, partner in crime and Then they paid you too, you know, but it was just the fun that we had is what you take away from it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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[Damon Wayans]

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[Shannon Sharpe]

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[Damon Wayans]

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[Shannon Sharpe]

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[Damon Wayans]

I wish he may. You know how heavy that mic stand is? I'm busting it to the white me. No, I've not. You know, you get into situations where people heckle, you know, but a man ain't gonna try you if he think.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He can get you.

[Damon Wayans]

Exactly. If you stand your ground. And, you know, I learned this from my brother. It's like not everybody. A lot of people talk. But I'm gonna hit you first if I feel threatened.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Tension, you gotta get off.

[Damon Wayans]

Chop right in the throat. You ever been chopped in your throat? I wish you would try to fight after somebody pop, right? It's quick. I don't want to fight. I'm 65 years old.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, but I ain't got that kind of win.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We. I ain't wrestling. You ain't gonna build your rep off me.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But you were in Bamboozle with Jada.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah. Love Jada. We had a great time. Spike Lee was so generous and just like this awesome. His awesome experience, because this is the first time he actually used 10 cameras at one time. And Spike would go, all right, Damon, you come in. All I need you to do is not put your hand down because there's a camera here. So that's the kind of direction he would give, but because he believed in what I was doing in the rehearsal. And so it was really about, wow, we were doing like 200 setups in a day. That's like ridiculous, you know, but he was, like, really brilliant with that. And Jada, we had so much fun on that and just taking chances. And, you know, what happens is show business changes you.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Really?

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah, because you know, you and I don't. I'm not speaking on Jada. I'm talking about in general. Only God should be famous. And you see how he do it. He stay invisible because he know people stupid. You know, because it's a psychological. These guys are all messed up and they out there partying and it's never enough because it's not. What. You don't deserve this. You don't deserve to have a threesome. Go back to the ghetto where you came from, get you one, and then you deserve. It ain't never happened. And the thing is, when you look yourself in the mirror, you know, you gotta put on these errors and pretend that you deserve it. Cause you don't.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Wow. I'm looking at some of the people that was only living color. You became even bigger. David Allen Grierson, Jamie Foxx, Jim Carrey and I had Marlon. And Marlon said, jlo. What'd you call him?

[Damon Wayans]

J. Lo.

[Shannon Sharpe]

J. Lo.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And he said he knew. Did you know Jim Carrey was gonna be that?

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah, I'm the one that brought Jim to Kenan. So me and Jim used to be in the comedy club. Jim Carrey is a master impressionist.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Damon Wayans]

Like, he does like. Like Sean Penn.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Damon Wayans]

Like we're like. Like Michael Landon. Like he would get standing ovations in a comedy club doing a 20 minute set. Now, any comedian will tell you that's damn near impossible. There's few and far between that can do that. That's how good he was. But he hated doing the impressions because people thought that's all he did.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Damon Wayans]

So me and him After Sam Kenison made it, like, we. We made a pact that we're going to push each other. So he would go on stage, he couldn't do his impressions, and we just yell out stuff to him, and then he would do the same thing for me, and we would just challenge each other on stage. We had nothing to lose.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Damon Wayans]

You know, but Jim, I truly knew he was special. Special. And it didn't take Keenan long to go. He's the guy. Because they saw every white boy in Hollywood for that role.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right? And when he came in with Fire March.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah, he did that on stage at the Comedy Store. He's messing around with a match on stage, Let me tell you something.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But the one thing he's always. He's given your family and Kenan and yourself, your flowers. He says, when Hollywood turned their back on me and didn't believe in me, this black family did, and they gave me a platform.

[Damon Wayans]

He's Eminem.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Y'all did for him what Dr. Dre did for them, huh?

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah. But listen, when I see Jim, it's all love. It's like, that's how you know your family. It's like when you see your old teammates, you just pick up like it was yesterday. You don't see them like, man, why you ain't call? It's none of that. It's just like instant. Instant connection.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right?

[Damon Wayans]

And we just talk about, you know, anything without resentment, without. It's just love. David Alan Grier. Tommy, you know?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, Tommy. I forgot about Tommy.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah, yeah, we. It's all love, Jamie. And because we. We. We fought a fine fight and we won.

[Shannon Sharpe]

How did the hell did Keenan convince Fox? Well, it's not so convinced now because, you know, they kind of do. They kind of go against the grain over there. But how did he convince them at that time to put in Living Color what you guys were doing on the air?

[Damon Wayans]

Well, the funny thing is, they came to him after they saw Imma get you sucker. The reaction. They didn't. They were like, what the hell? Like, people would get up and run out the theater. You know, we laugh, we would. Teeth falling out. Yeah, yeah. And they didn't understand it, and they wanted to meet with him immediately. And they was like, look. And so Keenan took this meeting thinking that they wanted to do a film deal.

[Shannon Sharpe]

A movie. Yeah.

[Damon Wayans]

Right. So he's in there and they're telling him about, you know, how great it is, and we want that kind of edge. And they say, we got a network, we're going to do a new network. Coming up. And Kynan was like, okay, the meeting is over. And he went to walk out the door and he goes, wait, wait, wait. You can do anything you want to do anything. That part. And that's actually a lyric in the Living Color song. You can do what you wanna do. The thing is, we did do anything we want. And then so we were a mid season replacement, right? Supposed to come out in February, something, right? And they got it. They were so scared of it that they went to the jdl, they went to the naacp Push, you know, everybody to try to get them to sign off. And they would, like, give us money, we'll sign off for it. And then, you know, it's like they. They was like, they didn't know what to do. So we missed that window. We missed the fall season because they still didn't want to know what to do. And then Barry Dillon just went, you know what? Put it on. Let's see if it's. If people are having this kind of reaction to it, let's put it on. That's what we wanted. And then the rest is history.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Wow. Ooh. So now you go from. Did you feel vindication going from SNL to Living Color. Because everything that you did on In Living Color you had tried to do on snl and they said, no, it ain't gonna go. And now you're getting rave reviews. Everybody's talking about Home of the Clown. They still talk about Home of the Clown. Home of the Clowns on T shirt.

[Damon Wayans]

Hilarious. Nah, I ain't getting no money for that. Thank you for telling me.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You should have copyrighted, homie.

[Damon Wayans]

Well, the thing is, it's all good. It's love, and everybody gotta eat. It's okay. Vindication. No, I think it validation. Yeah, But In Living Color was the validation. It had nothing to do with snl. I buried that as soon as I left. It was like I never looked back.

[Shannon Sharpe]

What if they called you to come back? You the way back?

[Damon Wayans]

I would host and I would host it. I did host one, and he brought me back to do Stand up at the last. You know, Lauren is very forgiving, you know, but he had to show me who's boss. And that's fine, right? You know, but in the end, he know and I know that it was the best thing for me to be off the show.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right. I saw Jerry Seinfeld explaining the importance of failing at doing it your way. Because a lot of people, and I've said this about sports, a lot of times, people would rather lose their way than win Someone else's way because they lose themselves. That's not who they are.

[Damon Wayans]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And it seems to me that you was like, look, if I'm gonna go down, I'm gonna go down doing things my way. I'm not fitting to go down doing it your way, because I'm not being authentic to myself.

[Damon Wayans]

Right. But I had already gotten the warning from Eddie. Right. So when I walked in, I knew it wasn't a team. We weren't playing team ball.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oh.

[Damon Wayans]

I was the. On the team. So I just knew that I. You know, this ain't. And what he was saying was playing itself out in front of me. So I. You know, when you talk about sports. Sports is a team.

[Shannon Sharpe]

It's a team game. Yes.

[Damon Wayans]

Right. You know, and you can be the best person in the. In the game, but it's.

[Shannon Sharpe]

If the team. The team don't play well around you, you lose.

[Damon Wayans]

Right. But if you. And if you try to take all the glory, then people praying for your downfall, and they may not block the next time.

[Shannon Sharpe]

True.

[Damon Wayans]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Damon Wayans]

So you got. You have to. You know, these are your brothers that you are out there trying to, you know, compete in this war. It is. Football's a war. Basketball's a war.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I read that some celebrities would get upset with you when you would make fun of them or use them in your sketches.

[Damon Wayans]

Mm.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Did they ever approach you? I saw Mike Tyson, Whitney Houston, MC Hammer. Did they ever come to you, you say, bro, come on, now. That's enough.

[Damon Wayans]

Yeah. Mike Tyson rolled up on me in a jewelry store. You talking about scared? I wanted to show him my foot. I got club foot. Mike, please. Mike. But he. It was like he was playing, but he's so strong. He grabbed me and he bit me on my neck.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So that was the thing.

[Damon Wayans]

That was Evander. And I just felt. I still remember his hot. I could feel his hot. I was like, ooh. But he was playing.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right?

[Damon Wayans]

Right. But Mike, here's the interesting thing. Mike Tyson loves my family, and it's not because of me. He was at some event with my mother, and my mother sat there and said. Introduced herself to him, and she said, I'm Mrs. Waynes. He said, oh, your kids, they make. I don't like. They mockerize me. They're always making jokes. And my mother said, oh, shut up. If they didn't love you, they wouldn't do you.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Wow.

[Damon Wayans]

And Mike Tyson was like, I fell in love with your family right there. Just, if anything ever happened with you and your family, I'm gonna eat through people, but he just, I guess that's it felt like a mother to him. You know, she just, he said, I could have knocked your mom out, but she just, she reprimanded me. It was like beautiful. Because he did want to beat Kenan up and Eddie was trying to instigate it. He was going to kick his door down and beat him up.

[Shannon Sharpe]

This concludes the first half of my conversation. Part two is also posted and you can access it to whichever podcast platform you just listened to Part one on. Just simply go back to Club Shay Shay Profile and I'll see you there.

[Damon Wayans]

Listen as Selenia tells us why she chose to vaccinate her daughter Right after.

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[Damon Wayans]

They're still here.

Talk to your child's doctor and learn.

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Merck when it's tip off time at my house, there are a few things that are must haves on my checklist. My fellow friends and fans. Check my favorite jersey. It is good luck. Check an iconic drink that's a fan favorite.

Check.

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