Keenen Ivory Wayans & Shawn Wayans

Beasley Digital

Keenen Ivory Wayans & Shawn Wayans discuss In Living Color and the difficulty of getting Don't Be A Menace made.

Transcript

00:00We knew we were gonna have one gentleman for sure that was coming in we have two

00:05here this morning this is a momentous occasion. I'd call it an honor. I'd have

00:10to say because he is the best-looking 60 year old man I've ever seen. It's his

00:15birthday today. So we first want to welcome our friend Sean Wayans who's

00:19been here and his brother Kenan Ivory Wayans is here celebrating his birthday

00:26today. This is how you do it man. Welcome to Philadelphia. Yeah well now all the

00:32women in my family are gonna kill you because you said my age and they all lie

00:37about theirs. You're working as a stand-up when you met Robert Townsend correct?

00:42Yeah well when I met Robert and Eddie and all of us we all started out at the

00:46same time and in the club in New York at the improv yeah and that's sort of how

00:51we you know started working together. And you you I believe if the legend is

00:57correct that you are one of the writers or co-writers on raw correct? Yeah I'm raw I

01:01worked on that with Eddie I also produced it and Robert directed it. I remember

01:07that day. Oh there's a picture put the picture back there yeah I was back there

01:11with you guys right plate I was slap boxing with Eddie and I almost hit him and

01:16then security grabbed me and was like all right all right Junior you you about to mess

01:20up this money go sit your ass down. Wow. I mean that's cool but all you guys have had a

01:28such a massive effect on comedy and and a type of comedy that I love we all love that

01:35that is you helped usher it in Eddie Murphy did as well. What happened in my career was I

01:41started out you know sort of by myself yeah and then as my family started getting

01:50into the business I kind of realized that it was either going to be all of us or one

01:56so I decided to make it about all of us so I kind of stepped away from acting and

02:04started to cultivate yeah exactly and Sean we were talking earlier about how you you

02:11were first on the on the show as the DJ yeah and you were also you'd already been doing

02:16comedy you're doing stuff like that but so from your point Keenan as you're seeing family

02:20member after family member I want to do this I want to do this is it a double-edged sword

02:25or you know what what do you first say to them when they come to you and they say you

02:29as sort of the you know default patriarch I want to do this nurtured us yeah yeah my my

02:35thing with them is was as long as you're willing to work and I always wanted them to know that

02:41it wasn't easy and I never I would give them small opportunities in the beginning I never

02:48gave anyone a starring role right right wasn't ready and you know like I said I made sure that

02:54they all put in their work and you know it's it is the fact that they're um where they are

03:02yeah their careers now is testament to the everybody yeah you know they came in the right

03:07way right anybody ever get mad at you saying hey I'm ready for my starring role always always

03:12when Damon first started I was a DJ man and you were a damn good DJ I could play sketches too

03:19hey the guy right behind you is really talented well when Damon when Damon first started I told

03:27him I said give yourself 10 years and he looked at me like I was insane you know and he was like

03:33it'll take me 10 years well 10 years later he was yeah he's ready we say the same I tell like the

03:40interns and and and people are coming up in the radio business and now we've been you know it's

03:44the 20th anniversary of the show uh and and I and I say trust me just if you were to jump five years

03:49into the future and look back you wouldn't believe where you were how things have changed yeah so

03:54that's very sage advice but when you're young and hungry yeah it's hard to perceive that it is and

04:00you know the thing is youth you know youth is something that people think everything is supposed

04:05to happen when you're young right and they're disappointed if it doesn't because youth is when

04:11you know you'll you make the money you chase the girls you do that's the experience that everybody

04:16wants as opposed to being great at what you do and being great at what you do takes a lot more time

04:22than that and sometimes you know youth passes you by and I I tell people all the time if if your goal

04:29is to be a CEO of a company it doesn't matter if it happens at 20 or 60 yeah you still accomplish your

04:34goal yeah all right so um you have to be a really good talent scout right so within living color were

04:41you the the sole decision maker as far as who was on the cast and who wasn't yeah all right so it was

04:46because you did an amazing job with that and you did you know look at that like all of the people

04:51that came out of there well they were all they were all people that I knew that you knew right

04:56so we were all in the clubs together okay so when I got an opportunity it was like who's the funniest

05:01guys I know but I mean it wasn't really like a a hard thing to do because I knew they were funny

05:07you were working with people like Jim Carrey and and then all those all those guys were were

05:10were paying their dues and he knew what to do with them right and but that's that's a key that

05:15that is a gift there's there's you know Lorne Michaels has that that that ability and also who's

05:20going to synergize well with each other but you also your show aired at eight o'clock on Sunday and

05:26you know so so you had a younger audience in in myself right and I mean I just I I loved it you

05:32know what I mean like Ace Ventura came out I was like all over that and it got moved to eight

05:36started started nine yeah what did uh Parker Lewis can't lose uh was that the your ear lead

05:42the Ferris Bueller ripoff I love that yeah Fox wanted to they wanted to make it an anchor show

05:49okay they moved us eight did they initially or did because what would it first really because it kind

05:55of hit the ground running I if my memory was and did they go whoa we need to bump this up yeah well

06:01initially they were very you know very afraid of the show period like they had no idea they were

06:06afraid of what was going to happen but once once the show was successful then it was like you know

06:12every network strategy is going to be how many other shows can we launch right you know they they ended

06:18up moving us in this day and age of reboots uh we're seeing tv shows rebooted what's what's the

06:24likelihood we don't have a good sketch show you know SNL is the only thing going right now as far as I

06:28know there's absolutely a new generation yeah um so it would just I don't think that the the guys from the

06:36past would step forward yeah I want to do that again but there's absolutely you know a new

06:41generation out there and it would be fun yeah you know we're we're in a a time now where I think a

06:47show like in living color is needed but at the same time it's you know the sensitivity can you do it

06:55yeah no that's a good question we we were wondering about that about about the you know

07:00president I were having to talk earlier about I mean you know that like the comedy club or that the

07:04theater when you guys are there that's your realm and all bets are off you should be allowed yeah

07:10that you know there's some is there safe spaces for satire and comedy and thought-provoking whatever

07:16you want to do that's your that's your palette and it's and like there's been there's been hits on it

07:21lately it's the phone yeah it's it you see because absolutely the people who are in the club yep they

07:28paid to be there and they want to see it yeah but people who are filming now it's going to people who

07:34didn't want to see it you're right and when they do see it now they're they're pissed it's never the

07:38people who were in that's why I didn't want to go see that speaking of that some some even some

07:44rock bands have adopted no yeah no I don't think phone yeah get out of here I think you're there for

07:49the experience and enjoy the experience and well Kevin Hart played the link you know the the stadium

07:55here and there was a no phone rule for that whole show it can be done it's a pain in the ass but I

08:00mean I I would agree yes you lift a clip out you lift a sound bite out out of context yeah and people

08:06gonna go a bit it's just crazy I heard somebody um and I don't remember who the performer was saying

08:10recently though that they um it's really easy to see from the stage when somebody does get on their

08:14phone have you guys noticed that like if you're up on stage you can tell immediately if the light is on

08:18yeah yeah you can tell but you just don't want to stop you you gotta understand you you got people

08:22in the palm of your hand yeah yeah you got momentum going right and you're thinking about your next

08:29thing and you're trying to be physical and you're trying to be in the moment and then someone has

08:33their phone up do you stop your whole show to deal with this guy with his phone up and then

08:39kill the people's no you're right you're gonna ruin it for other people yeah no you know it makes total

08:44sense sometimes you do and you make him part of the show and you destroy him for being an idiot

08:49yeah which is also the phone out yeah you channel your richard prior yeah if I gotta stop I'm gonna

08:55destroy you keenan I have to tell you that uh I'm gonna get you sucker is one of the my absolute

09:00favorite movies thank you hilarious I think I think uh people need to revisit it but it's I think it's

09:06also sort of it's a it's it's the likely first step to getting to don't be a menace which yes you

09:12know that same sort of of comedy uh which which has became the style of comedy when you were putting

09:19that together how how how difficult was that to pull everybody had a lot of you know cameos and

09:24stuff how give us the idea of what that production was like I was very lucky I was very lucky and um

09:32Jim Brown really um he and Bernie Casey once they came on that got it done that got it done and

09:41everybody else was like well if they'll do it and they were essential yeah they were they were

09:46they were what Leslie Nielsen was yes they were the icons of the era and so once once I was able to

09:52bring them on board it went really smooth and it really was it it was an homage to them

10:03so those are the movies I grew up watching and so did I they were awesome yeah so you know when I

10:10was writing it I was writing it affectionately so that's why I think that they responded to it and

10:16then these guys did the same thing for their generation with don't be a menace yeah so I was

10:21on the set of uh I'm gonna get you sucker 17 year old boy watching his big brother do his thing

10:29and just taking it all in and going man one day I want to do a movie just like this yeah you did

10:36a couple years later yeah uh don't be a menace was born it's uh Sean and Keenan Ivory Wayans here and

10:42we want to do something special because it's a special day and we have something to bring out

10:47uh for Keenan it is his birthday today so we got a cake for you Keenan

10:53happy birthday to you so you don't eat cake huh thank you no I actually actually I don't but I

11:13appreciate the seven candles it's my seventh birthday there you go so you can blow out the candles

11:21and everything

11:21yeah

11:22yeah

11:23yeah

11:24yeah

11:25yeah

11:26yeah

11:27yeah

11:28yeah

11:29yeah

11:30yeah

11:31yeah

11:32yeah

11:33yeah

11:34yeah

11:35yeah

11:36yeah

11:37yeah

11:38yeah

11:39yeah

11:40yeah

11:41yeah

11:42yeah

11:43yeah

11:44yeah

11:45yeah

11:46yeah

11:47yeah

11:48yeah

11:49yeah

11:50yeah

Category

Transcript

Recommended