Damon Wayans Sr. opens up about the struggles he has faced throughout his career.
While promoting his new show, Poppa’s House, that actor spoke about his journey as an entertainer. He talked about growing up with nine siblings in their cramped New York apartment. “To sleep with someone’s foot in your behind is pretty much my childhood,” the comedian said.
However, he didn’t let his circumstances stop him from pursuing his dream of becoming a comedian. “In my stand-up, I talk about how my mother would tell us, ‘There’s no food, you can each have a little bit of toothpaste so you have something in your stomach.’ That’s real.”
Wayans talked about being a father before making it big and how he worked in a mailroom at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, following after his brother Keenen. He would later land a gig working with Eddie Murphy and then head to Saturday Night Live where he lasted only one season.
Wayans revealed the advice that Murphy would give to him while at SNL. “He said write your own sketches. Otherwise, you’re going to be doing white people stuff, and you’re going to hate it. And he was right.”
During the 1990s, Keenen developed In Living Color, where Damon was a longstanding castmate on. He also starred in the hit show, My Wife and Kids, while he was in the midst of a divorce from his wife, Lisa Thorner. They were married from 1984 to 2000 and they share four children, Damon Wayan Jr. 41, Michael, 39, Cara, 37, and Kyla, 33.
He said, “People don’t know that in 2000, I was going through a divorce while we were filming ‘Wife and Kids.’ He also revealed the pain that he went through while filming. “No, comedians live for that. It’s like I get to a car accident and I go up on stage and I talk about my neck hurting and people and laughing. My neck doesn’t hurt as much.”
Damon Wayans Sr. concluded by reminiscing on his nearly four-decade career ahead of his new show. “I’ve reached an age where I’m content,” he said. “I got tired of chasing happy, because happy is fleeting. There’s nothing I need except my health and well-being. And guess what? Happy moved in next door to me. Now every day is just like a blessing. Ten grandkids, one great-grandkid, it’s like life doesn’t get better. It doesn’t”
Poppa’s House premiered on Paramount+ at 8:30 P.M.