Wayans Quotes & Sayings

The less food, the more time to talk, the more to talk about. — Damon Wayans

'Paranormal 1' scared me because I didn't know if it was real or what. 'Blair Witch' was kind of scary for the same reason. It takes the voyeur element away and makes you think, 'Oh crap, this could really happen to me.' — Marlon Wayans

I'm the most inappropriate dad. I curse in front of my kids and their friends. I let my kids watch R-rated movies. I'll walk by the movie theater and say, 'Let's go see that,' and my kids will say, 'No, it's rated R. It's not appropriate for kids.' I'm like Uncle Dad. We have fun. I don't live with them, but I drive over four days a week. — Marlon Wayans

I think a lot comes from having the experience of doing stand-up comedy. It allows you to figure out the psychology of an audience; what things are funny and not. — Keenen Ivory Wayans

I got a man cave. I play my music loud. I bought big speakers because I need to hear music loud. — Marlon Wayans

Confident people, who understand comedy, improvise so much better than people who are scared. You can't be scared to improvise. You have to know your character, and then you have to let go. — Marlon Wayans

There's an art to comedy. — Marlon Wayans

Slot machines are like crack for old people. — Keenen Ivory Wayans

Just do your best," Mom said. "You can't do any better than your best. — Kim Wayans

I think that if you, as a comedian, are trying to be in people's face, then you've got to come up with new stuff every year. We're in a mass consumption phase where people take things for granted and want things to be instant when these are not things that can be instant. — Keenen Ivory Wayans

My dad was pretty strict. We didn't even get to watch any of his movies until I was, like, 17 years old. I didn't even see his stand-up, really, until I started doing stand-up, and that was when I was 22. So he's pretty strict. We had curfews until I was 17 ... he didn't play around. — Damon Wayans Jr.

We pay homage to the people who came before, doing satires, like Mel Brooks; we're just carrying the torch. — Shawn Wayans

In rare instances you have to give up what you thought was a great scene. — Keenen Ivory Wayans

With parody, you're referencing and sending up a particular genre, and mostly your material is going to be taken out of that genre. — Marlon Wayans

I have been a director who has starred, participated on both sides of the filmmaking process. — Keenen Ivory Wayans

Look, I want to be able to make the stupidest movies ever, because they make people laugh and they make money. But that's not all I want to do. And I think I've proven to some people - the ones paying attention - that I can do more. Everybody else, well, they can wait and see and make up their mind. — Marlon Wayans

This town was built on nepotism. — Damon Wayans

I don't want there to be this separation between the rich and poor. I may be part of the three percent because I've been fortunate and done well for myself, but I will never forget about the 97 percent. That was me growing up. I was so poor I dreamt about being just 'regular poor,' not 'poor, poor.' — Marlon Wayans

If Damon Wayans is not breaking, it's a miracle. He is so funny that he makes everyone die laughing. — Casey Wilson

We have a black President in the United States. I think the world has matured. It's no longer about colour, but the person in the skin. — Marlon Wayans

Triple T, K A.... time to totally kick ass. — Marlon Wayans

But my kids, my brothers' kids - they think about trying to top what we did. — Damon Wayans

A mother's love is supposed to be unconditional. That you could give your child up, over their sexuality, is unthinkable. — Kim Wayans

You just can't make any movie and it will be good now. This is a really a difficult time to be in films. — Keenen Ivory Wayans

I was going to be valedictorian in elementary school, but I got into too many fights, and they made me salutatorian. I was smart back in the day. Now I'm just an idiot. — Marlon Wayans

We did a lot of press for the last film and now for this one. We don't rest on our laurels. — Shawn Wayans

Television is a thing that people get very familiar with. They want to hear your voice in their head. — Damon Wayans Jr.

We like writing with each other; it's fun. — Shawn Wayans

I don't think of myself as a comedian, but as an artist, a scientist and chemist who just happens to be funny. I started doing stand-up to add another level to my game. I feel that I'm a young rookie with a veteran's skill. — Marlon Wayans

Comedy is very hard, but you have to learn the art and science of it. — Marlon Wayans

I like to work and there's no movies for actors, period, especially black actors. When white actors are like, 'Man, there's no work out there,' then black actors are like, 'Are you kidding me?' — Marlon Wayans

I wanted to be an animator originally. I went to art school; I went to art college and everything. But that screen was just calling me. — Damon Wayans Jr.

I like dark comedies. That's why I like the Wayans Brothers. — Zach Galifianakis

I was scared to death because for the comics of my generation, HBO specials are like the pinnacle. I'm thinking of all these unbelievable comedians I've seen on HBO: Chris Rock, George Carlin, Damon Wayans, Richard Pryor and Billy Crystal. I started having a panic attack seeing my name in that list of people. It was pretty overwhelming. — Bill Burr

Now we have to hit them from a different angle. — Shawn Wayans

A comedian, or any artist, needs their time to develop what they are doing. There has to be some respect for the art form and when it's allowed to be seen. — Keenen Ivory Wayans

When someone can, on a worldwide level, make someone laugh, that's power. A lot my heroes - Eddie Murphy, Will Ferrell, the Wayans, Adam Sandler - they get it. And I've always felt that Andy Samberg is the future of comedy. — Terry Crews

Comedy clubs can be brutal. Those people are for real, and if you aren't funny, they aren't laughing. They don't care who you are. — Marlon Wayans

We all write, but the script is a blueprint. We can lose whole scenes when we're shooting. — Shawn Wayans

If I read something great and I want to go after it, I go after it. You don't wait to see what Hollywood wants to do with you. You decide what you want to do. I don't mind fighting when I really want something. — Marlon Wayans

I've never really lived with somebody. Only for very brief periods. I learned I'm not a good roommate. I'm better off when we visit each other. I like the mystery. — Marlon Wayans

'The Martin Show,' the 'Jamie Foxx show,' 'Living Single,' 'The Wayans Brothers,' 'Hanging with Mr. Cooper ... ' Some of these shows were good, some were typical television, but they facilitated a lot of work for blacks in front of as well as behind the camera. A lot of us in Hollywood thought it was the beginning of a real racial breakthrough. — John Ridley

If I'm racist, don't think I would have directed shows like 'The Parkers' and 'The Wayans Brothers' or worked 41 episodes with Victoria Rowell on 'Diagnosis: Murder.' — Scott Baio

I knew when I was 6. I just knew it; I didn't care about nothing else. If I didn't make it in this world, I would probably be homeless. I gave myself that little to fall back on. — Shawn Wayans

People don't understand how much time and work it takes to make somebody laugh, and how hard it is to write a script, to put together the story, the characters. When everyone laughs simultaneously, there's no greater feeling. — Marlon Wayans

We still have that same burn, to get that same kind of laughs. So whether the studio wants us to or not, we're going to do it. The money is just a byproduct of coming out with good stuff. Our whole thing is building that rapport with the audience. — Shawn Wayans

I was 12 years old when I had my first job, delivering packages. — Damon Wayans

My kids have a competitive drive I never had growing up. — Damon Wayans

I went to a performing arts high school, we learned Shakespeare, I did 'Fences.' When you train, you can do anything. — Marlon Wayans

Let me tell you, Barack Obama is the most down dude in the world, but he's so smart; so articulate, such an amazing speaker; such a passionate man. He's humble. — Marlon Wayans

It's the teenage and university crowd, so we give them lots of sex jokes and gross humour. — Keenen Ivory Wayans

I got written out of 'G.I. Joe' and was like, 'Welp, I'm going to go back to what I do: writing and producing comedy.' — Marlon Wayans

I hate cooking. But I do make the candied yams every year at Thanksgiving. And they're awesome! You could definitely get diabetes and cavities from them, but they're delicious! — Marlon Wayans

Women don't like advice. They don't want you to fix their problems, they just want you to listen. — Shawn Wayans

I want to do literally everything. I think I was gifted ... I inherited one of the best comedy visionaries as a director. — Marlon Wayans

The show has become my therapy. — Damon Wayans

If you could cross a lion and a monkey, that's what I'd be, because monkeys are funny and lions are strong. — Marlon Wayans

My father is a Jehovah's Witness, and he raised us under a very strict hand. — Damon Wayans

Before I made it big I worked as a dishwasher, washing dishes in this place called Dishwasher House where people could just come in and do whatever they wanted to the dishes and we had to clean them with our hands till they bled. A lot of struggling actors worked there-Downey Jr., Joaquin Phoenix, Damon Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Keenen Ivory Wayans-and we actually all kind of wish we still did. — William H. Macy

I enjoy the character interplay. Sometimes the audience is not laughing, but smiling, and that is almost just as good because it keeps them ready to laugh. — Keenen Ivory Wayans

I go through a whole process with the actors first, building and creating characters, then I encourage them to sort of live in that character when they're in the screen. — Keenen Ivory Wayans

I used to watch all my friends play with G.I. Joes. I couldn't afford them. — Marlon Wayans

If you keep up with pop culture, everybody knows the joke. — Shawn Wayans

You need to be lucky in life, but it's also what you do with your luck. — Marlon Wayans

I put heavy emphasis on the characters. — Keenen Ivory Wayans

It's rare that you cut out something that is really good. You screen all of it, and when the audience doesn't respond, you cut out whatever is holding the story down. — Keenen Ivory Wayans

One of the greatest compliments you can ever get is when you make fun of a certain sect of people and they are laughing the hardest. When we did 'Men on Film' on 'In Living Color,' gay men wrote in how much they loved it. — Marlon Wayans

And my marriage was perfect when I wasn't famous. — Damon Wayans

They'll say, That's funny, but you can't do that on TV. — Shawn Wayans

I worked with Marlon Wayans on the show 'They Wayans Brothers,' and we hit it off. One thing about Marlon, when he casts a movie or a TV show, he expects you to bring it. You've got to be ready to improv, because Marlon will say anything, and you've got to be ready to come back. — Kym Whitley

I always feel that the best roles are written for white guys. — Marlon Wayans

I'm from New York, and yet I've done only one film executive-produced by Spike Lee and have never done a film that Spike Lee directed. I've never done a film that Keenan Wayans has directed, or Bill Duke. — Ving Rhames

Being a celebrity, I don't even have to talk. — Damon Wayans

I want to be believable in anything I take on. — Marlon Wayans

You can kind of feel when things are going to work out. — Keenen Ivory Wayans

You never really know until you put the movie in front of an audience. I am a big advocate of screenings, which are getting harder and harder to do nowadays. — Keenen Ivory Wayans

I was 160lbs when I started and I went up to 195lbs. There were no steroids. But it was hard work, dedication, hitting the gym. You kind of see it. — Marlon Wayans

I had to do the full body shave for the first coupla weeks of 'White Chicks,' then I said, 'You know what? I'm just gonna be a hairy white chick 'cause this is too much! — Marlon Wayans

Any time something does that well, you gotta follow up. — Shawn Wayans

The pressures having grown up in this business can be really rough. And it is a testament to you that you have remained focused and NOT lost your mind. — Keenen Ivory Wayans

God, please help me! I can't go through — Damon Wayans

I throw it all in there, Kung Fu, blaxploitation, horror. — Keenen Ivory Wayans

Jim Carrey and my dad were best friends. He would always be in my house and stuff like that. — Damon Wayans Jr.

My brothers can be a little out of control sometimes and so somebody has to be able to keep them focused. — Keenen Ivory Wayans

We do nods to Charlie's Angels and Mission Impossible because they are popular with our fan base. — Keenen Ivory Wayans

My father was the guy on the block who said hi to everyone. — Damon Wayans

I got caught stealing when I was a kid from the local bodega right across the street from where we lived. I tried to steal a big bag of Red Hot Dollars. And I swear, I was about 7 years old and the bag was bigger'n me. — Marlon Wayans

You do what it takes. It was on me to deliver. — Keenen Ivory Wayans

My uncle Shawn used to stay with us when we were really young, and I used to come downstairs and see him break dancing on this piece of a cardboard. I probably always thought they were cool since then. I never knew his comedy, but I used to always see him break dancing. And he was terrible at it. — Damon Wayans Jr.

A lot of the jokes had some build-up to some nasty stuff. But most of it was all character situations leading to what the ultimate payoff would be for that character. — Shawn Wayans

Sometimes they try to put you inside a box, but I look at my filmography and I've been able to do a lot. — Marlon Wayans

For Scary Movie 2, we had a due date and had to work fast. And though there's a lot of pressure, as artists, we just block it out. So really, the pressure comes from us. That's how the first movie happened. There was no outside pressure: we wanted to hit the audience hard. — Shawn Wayans

'Scary Movie' has lost its way as a franchise. It has turned into 'Disaster Film' and 'Epic Movie' and 'Date Movie' and that isn't what I wanted. I wanted to do a movie that was just grounded in a reality that went to crazy places. — Marlon Wayans

Success is not a destination, but the road that you're on. Being successful means that you're working hard and walking your walk every day. You can only live your dream by working hard towards it. That's living your dream. — Marlon Wayans

I think family is key, and if you have love for family, then you have love for others - and you have unity as a people. — Marlon Wayans

I like All Saints. They make great leathers. I love Hugo Boss, especially the suits. I like James Perse for T-shirts, and Supra and Radii for sneakers. And God Is in the Details. — Marlon Wayans

I'd like to see a ghost. It would confirm there's an afterlife. — Marlon Wayans

Even in real life, sometimes you find that person you click with that you get irritated by every other person in the world but you can be around this person every day and you'd be fine with it. — Damon Wayans Jr.

There are so many things to talk about between black people, Hispanic people, white people, gay people, men, women, it's all based on fear. We all have fears, this thing that stops us from embracing as we are one. We are never going to be one. People are messed up, but humor lets us see how ignorant we can be. — Marlon Wayans

I've got Democratic skin, but a Republican pocket. — Marlon Wayans