Wayans brings ‘In Living Color’ fun, laughter to ‘Major Payne’

Wayans brings ‘In Living Color’ fun, laughter to ‘Major
Payne’

By Phillip Hong

Cracking a seductive smile and an effeminate pose, Damon Wayans
assumes his "Men On Film" character and says, "I know what’s wrong
with that little Gump, he just needs a box of chocolates."

In that instant, you just have to laugh and remember how Sunday
nights were the bomb because of Wayans and "In Living Color".
Sitting down with him at a Westside hotel, Wayans pushes this tone
of laughter and nostalgia talking about his family, career and his
latest film Major Payne.

The film is about a gung-ho, emotionally dysfunctional officer
unexpectedly assigned to train the bad news bears of military
school.

"He’s sort of like a Homey the Clown meets G.I. Joe," says
Wayans.

Comedy found its roots early for Wayans. Growing up as the
fourth child of 10, the family "had a lot of time in the house
together. We had to be upstairs by six o’clock every night, even on
weekends. It was forced interaction and we had fun."

With several other Wayans becoming successful in the
entertainment industry, this type of family fun proves to be a
winning formula for raising celebrities.

"We plan on doing a family movie. We want to show what we grew
up doing and how much fun, interaction and love was in our house,"
says Wayans.

Hey, if America can swallow a "Brady Bunch" movie, then a film
about the constant barrage of humor found in the Wayans’ family
shouldn’t be too tough to chew ­ especially if it rekindles
the family bond that provided the foundation for the Emmy
Award-winning series, "In Living Color".

More than just a starting point for the runaway success of Jim
Carrey, the show featured the writing and performing talent of
several Wayans family members. However, at the peak of the show’s
success all of the Wayans decided to leave.

"’In Living Color’ was a huge hit, and it would’ve been a hit as
long as we were happy doing it. But because a network was trying to
become more serious, they put a lot of restrictions on us and it
just wasn’t fun anymore," says Wayans.

For Wayans, having fun is the reason he is in the business.

"It’s important for everyone to have fun. I don’t want a job.
I’ve had jobs, and they’re not fun. If I’m going to make movies,
I’m going to have as much fun with everybody along the way."

Wayans doesn’t find it difficult to throw out the script and
improvise, and as executive producer, co-writer and star of the
film Major Payne, there really wasn’t anyone who could argue with
him.

However Wayans’ idea of fun on the set can be a bit distracting,
a lesson that Major Payne co-star Karyn Parsyns learned, "We’ll
rehearse a scene a couple times and then the cameras start rolling
and he’d change it around. The trick is, you can’t laugh but it’s
hard to keep a straight face when the other person is so damn
funny."

Wayans is at his best improvising on stage doing stand-up.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on whether or not you
happen to be there, Wayans has scheduled a return to stand-up for a
couple of unannounced gigs in Los Angeles. The return to the stage
is also a place to brush up his skills for his upcoming appearance
as the host of "Saturday Night Live" on April 8.

"Nothing takes place of performing live. A movie, I gotta wait
till we cut it, put music under it, to score it, all this stuff you
have to go through to see if it’s funny. You can’t determine
whether it’s a hit or not. When I go up and do my stand-up, if I’m
funny I’m a hit and I’m validated." says Wayans.

Proving himself through comedy started when Wayans was a child
insecure about the orthopedic shoes he was forced to wear because
of his club foot. Like Forrest Gump, Wayans didn’t let it bring him
down. In fact, Wayans attributes the handicap as responsible for
his gift of laughter.

"I was a quiet kid rolled up in this little ball. When I
discovered that I was funny and that people would laugh and accept
me and say ‘Hey, you a funny dude’ and embrace me they wouldn’t
look down at my shoe and realize that I was the biggest joke in the
room. Then that became my thing, I wanted to be funny and loved by
everybody."

By the time the shoes were taken off in high school, the gloves
also came off and Wayans wasn’t pulling any more punches.

"I went crazy. I got thrown out of three different high schools
for being the class clown. I had something to say about everything.
I was a funny kid, but I was just working on my act a little too
soon."