Marlon Wayans’ stand-up comedy is all about the journey

Marlon Wayans is coming to Phoenix for three nights of shows at Stand Up Live, Jan. 8 to 10, and he’s ready for every second.

His recent comedy special “Good Grief” for Amazon Prime shot to number one in its first week of release, and that’s just one achievement. Like many of his fellow Wayans family members, also in the entertainment industry, his endeavors go beyond stand-up comedy. We’ve seen him acting in several movies.

Most recently, he appeared in the horror movie “Him,” which he says was “one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.” His time recently, too, on “Bel-Air,” the TV show that took “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” to a modern and dramatic level, was challenging in the best way.

“As Lou, I had to tackle making an unlikeable guy lovable,” he says. “It was also important because I wanted to speak to kids out there who are detached from their fathers and inspire reconnections, because sometimes the dads aren’t monsters; they’re just damaged little boys.”

We caught up with Wayans for a chat before his visit to Phoenix to discuss his artistic journey.

Phoenix New Times: When you’re planning a show to take on the road, what is that process like?
Marlon Wayans: To me, it starts with truth. It’s like therapy. I ask myself what hurts, and what am I healing from? I do this because I think in each one of my specials is a character on a journey trying to find an elixir. And that elixir is what I share with the audience. It’s a personal elixir. 

You’re sharing your journey.
I think we all need to have those hero journeys. That’s what makes storytelling compelling. And for me, maybe it’s the actor in me and the writer in me, but I’ve learned that’s my voice. That’s what I wanna do. Everybody’s set is gonna be different. Every comedian is different. Everyone finds their thing; it’s just my thing. And people could love it. They could hate it. You know, I, I don’t, I don’t, I’m not trying to please them. I’m trying to really please myself. And, luckily, throughout the process, I wind up with something the audience enjoys for the most part.

In addition to your family’s multiple talents, it is an empire of humor. When did you realize that, for you, comedy was something more than just a home full of hilarious people?
I think when I read “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka” at 10 years old. We were on a pissy mattress in the projects. Me and my brother Shawn, in the middle room, shared a full-size bed,  and we read it together page by page. And then we opened it back up and went to the front page, and we saw “Written by Keenan Ivory Wayans.” And we got a hold of our sister Kim’s Wesleyan University thesis, and it was a hilarious compilation of stories. And I was like, “‘”Yo, how our sister wrote that?” And from there, my mind just went, never mind being an actor, never mind being a performer. I wanna be a creator. I wanna be a writer, I wanna be a producer. I wanna be a visionary like my big brothers and my sister.

The Wayans are an entertainment powerhouse, most definitely, working across multiple platforms.
Well, we do that because that’s survival, right? We have to, as a minority, you know? My brother taught us, if you wanna work now, you could sit there and wait on the right role to come hit you. Or you can be proactive and create the right role for yourself and roles for others. So, don’t just wait on Hollywood because you’ve been waiting a long time. And so create your own destiny. And so that’s what we did, you know, it’s outta necessity and desperation to work and to continue our craft that we take on the workload of writing and producing.

Working in various realms, from comedy to acting and beyond, do you prefer one area over the others?
At this point? I love them all. I love them all. But I would say performing. I do the writing and I do the producing. And I do the standup because at the end of the day, I just love performing. I just love getting in the vibe. Getting my body right for a role. You know, learning, learning the lines, creating new ones. I just love the art of performing. I don’t care if it’s acting, I don’t care if it’s drama. I don’t care if it’s comedy. I don’t care if it’s sketch. I don’t care if it’s parodies. I don’t care if it’s being a white chick. I don’t care if it’s playing a little person. I don’t care if it’s “Requiem for a Dream” and I’m playing a drug addict. I just love doing the work. I love it. And so I’m always gonna do it because I’m a performer at heart. I’ve been one since I was 5.

The vulnerability that comes with stand-up is intense. Are you ever terrified to go out there?
Nope.

Wow! Never?
I just say a prayer and let God move me and talk to me. It’s like every joke you tell, you’re a skydiver jumping out of a plane, and you don’t know if you have a parachute.

Exactly!
You don’t know if you’re gonna hit the floor or miraculously find a parachute and that string and land safely. It’s every joke. But to me, it’s the greatest gym and the greatest training because you are always staring failure in the face for an hour and 15 minutes or an hour and a half, and to do it over and over again. Especially when you’re working from a blank canvas. You don’t know, right? You don’t know. Every time you tell a joke, you don’t know how they’re gonna respond. You don’t know if you’re gonna get an “ooh,” and sometimes you get that “ooh” when you thought that joke bombed, but it really didn’t. Either way, that “ooh” means they’re listening and they’re affected. Now prove your point. Prove that hypothesis. You threw this hypothesis out there; now prove it.

What do you want to do as a performer that you haven’t done yet?
I’d love to do more action. I don’t always want to do the funnies. I could do the Tom Cruise-style stuff. I want to have the versatility of being extremely hilarious or just a good, grounded actor. I don’t want to be pigeonholded, which sometimes Hollywood tries to do with people. I’m committed to my craft and to stepping things up in major ways. I’m in my megastar years, and I am looking forward to being my best. I rehearsed a lifetime, so I’m ready for all the big shows.

You’re certainly not done.
Not even close.

What else should we know about you?
There’s so much I’m learning about myself every day. New things are always unraveling. I’m growing in your sight and in the dark, but just always growing. I think that’s just life. That’s me as a father, that’s me as a man. That’s me as an artist. I’m growing, and my best me is yet to come.

Marlon Wayans appears at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 8, and at 7:00 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. on Jan. 9 and 10 at Stand Up Live. Ticket prices vary.