EXCLUSIVE: Marlon Wayans encouraged his fellow comedians to keep making those off-color jokes in a recent interview with Fox News Digital.
Americans’ funny bones seem to have stopped working in recent years amid a rise in cultural sensitivities. But Wayans said he’s never let a changing culture affect him and not once has he watered down his humor.
And he said he’s not one to judge when other comics tell edgy jokes. One quip in particular caused a weeks-long controversy in the lead up to the 2024 presidential election. Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe spoke at a rally for President Donald Trump and joked that Puerto Rico was a “floating island of garbage.”
“There’s always going to be different sides of me, but I’m always going to be like 85% comedian,” Wayans told Fox News Digital. “And I think comedians have every right to poke fun at everything. Now, if you’d have told that joke maybe a different way, Puerto Ricans may have found it funny. But I’m pretty sure there’s some Puerto Ricans that found it funny. It depends on how dark your humor is. And I think you have to have the courage to go, ‘Hey, this is funny. Tony roasts for a living.’”
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In a new interview, comedian Marlon Wayans declared that cancel culture has never prompted him to water down his jokes. (Arturo Holmes/FilmMagic/Getty Images)
“I’m not gonna cancel any comedian for a joke,” Wayans added. “Even if it was a Black joke. You know, hopefully you told the joke that makes Black people laugh. You know, Don Rickles did some of the most edgy, racist humor, but man was he funny. And I’m always gonna subscribe to comedy.”
Wayans said it’s a comedian’s job to push buttons and boundaries.
“I know Tony and you know I’ve watched him perform at The Comedy Store,” Wayans continued. “Tony’s a funny dude, and I think, look, we gotta push the envelope. We gotta push buttons. We have to be able to make people feel uncomfortable. We’re trying to make people laugh at themselves. We’re not trying to hurt your feelings… but sometimes there’s casualties in war.”
“Finding jokes is war,” he explained. “And sometimes you step on land mines, and that’s okay. Next joke. And every joke you tell is going to be like that. But you can’t be – you gotta be fearless. You gotta just walk through that landmine. Some is going to blow up in your face. You know, I’m pretty sure some people enjoyed it. And then the majority of it, maybe they didn’t. But, next joke.”
Bill Maher also defended Hinchcliffe’s joke when he had the comedian on his “Club Random” podcast last week.
“There’s no doubt it’s insulting to Puerto Ricans, but I have been over the same territory,” Maher said. “I mean, I don’t think I would do exactly that joke, but I certainly have done many that have been objected to.”
“My thing was always, you know what? Everybody has to accept, in the framework of comedy, insults… you know, and they’re never fair,” he added.
Marlon Wayans performs at The Apollo Theater on November 11, 2023, in New York City. (Johnny Nunez/WireImage)
Wayans was one of the stars of “In Living Color,” an “SNL”-like satire show that ran from 1990-1994, with his siblings Keenan Ivory Wayans, Damon Wayans, Shaun Wayans, and sister Kim Wayans. Eventual megastars like Jamie Foxx and Jim Carrey also served as cast members.
“‘In Living Color’ was like my alma mater,” Wayans fondly recalled. “It’s like where I came up, it’s my graduating class. I was the freshman and I learned so much. And that type of humor is ingrained in my soul. That’s our family humor. So we’re always gonna bring that. Every time we bring a Wayans project, we’re always gonna have that flavor. That’s just who we are. We’re equal opportunity offenders, no holds barred. And we have fun, and we go dark, but with kids’ gloves.”
That’s true of his filmography too, Wayans said, referencing his 2004 movie “White Chicks,” in which he and brother Shawn play two FBI agents who disguise themselves as White women in order to bait a kidnapper. Some have suggested the movie could never be made today.
“The whole purpose is not to hurt feelings, it’s to actually make people laugh,” he added. “And even the people that… Our thing is, we try to make the people that we make fun of laugh the loudest. ‘Cause flattery is the greatest form of mockery. I mean, mockery is the greatest form of flattery. And so, they’ve been trying to — the internet or whatever — trying to cancel us for ‘White Chicks’ forever, but you can’t. You know why? You know who loves ‘White Chicks’ the most? White chicks. So we told the joke the right way. And that’s just how we do our family humor.”
Shawn and Marlon Wayans The Wayans family of actors also includes Keenan, Damon, and Kim. ((Reuters))
Wayans was asked whether any politicians could have had a second career as stand-up comics.
“I’m pretty sure there are… I don’t know which one right now,” he answered. “They’re all a bunch of clowns and jokes to me. Just like watching a circus. I don’t know what’s happening. But you know who would be a really good standup comedian? I think Barack Obama would have been a great standup comedian. Like, he’s funny. He’s witty, he’s charming, he’s likable. And he, when he does his speeches, he takes his digs and they’re funny. And you know it’s like off the top. I think Obama’s a funny dude.”
Obama and his former presidential opponent Mitt Romney were praised for their stellar comedic timing at the Al Smith dinner in 2012. A couple of the more memorable jokes from Obama included him poking fun at his middle name, Hussein, and his poor performance in his first debate against Romney, while also throwing in some jabs about Romney’s wealth.
“Trump’s a different kind of comedian,” Wayans said. “I think Trump is funny, and he doesn’t even know he is. He just says crazy stuff. He’s like somebody’s crazy grandpa who just sits on a porch spitting out insanity, and you’re going, ‘Grandpa’s crazy, but that one thing he said was kind of funny.'”
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According to a new book, former President Barack Obama wanted to have a Democratic primary following President Biden withdrawing from the 2024 election. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Wayans said he and his brothers always laugh off-camera together, too.
“Oh, absolutely,” he said. “We all, you know, take pride in making each other laugh and, you know, if there’s a joke out there, all of us kick it around and try to find the best joke. And we’re not trying to one up each other. It just happens. You just start riffing on a joke. Humor is, it’s like a band, right? When someone starts playing, you know, a certain instrument in a certain key and you kind of jump in and start with the drums and then somebody else jumps in with the bass, and before you know it, you got this beautiful song. And that’s how it is hanging out with my brothers and my sisters.”
Wayans is currently on his national Wild Child tour. He also has a comedy special, “Good Grief,” currently streaming on Amazon Prime.
Fox News Digital’s Laura Carrione and Gabriel Hays contributed to this report.
