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