13 Great Jokes from the Wayans Family
Without a doubt, the Wayans family is a comedy dynasty. Whether breaking new ground with sketch comedy like In Living Color or revitalizing a left-for-dead genre with Scary Movie, they’ve consistently found a way to be (a hilarious) part of the comedy conversation for almost 40 years. And with a new generation of Wayans making their ascent, we don’t see that changing any time soon.
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Here, then, are some of the funniest jokes and moments featuring one (or more) Wayans...
Gamecast
In Malibu’s Most Wanted, Damien Dante Wayans played Tec, a streetwise gang leader who, for some reason, likes Jamie Kennedy, making this a fantasy film. The guy is so poor that he doesn’t have a video game console that’s recognized by, well, anybody.
Kim Wayans as Oprah
On In Living Color, Kim Wayans often portrayed talk show host Oprah Winfrey, including when Oprah apparently opened her own restaurant.
Damon Wayans Jr. as Coach in ‘New Girl’
While Coach knows a lot about sports, he doesn’t seem to know how to communicate with women.
Chaunte Wayans Was a ‘Poor Wayans’
“A lot of you know half of my family is rich; half my family is poor. And I grew up on the poor side, unfortunately. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been in all their films; you just need a helluva slow-motion button.”
Marlon Wayans on Jay-Z
“You know what I love about Jay-Z? He’s an artist that matures, and his music matures with him. Right now, his new album 4:44, he’s talking about grown-man shit. Stuff that’s relevant to grown-ass men. He’s talking about marriage and children and family legacy and wealth and cheating on your wife and getting caught and getting your ass beat in the elevator by her crazy little sister. You know, shit that happens to grown folks. That shit happened to me twice last year.”
Shawn Wayans Imitating Chris Rock
Shawn Wayans impersonated Rock both in voice and joke style for the MTV Music Awards in 2000. Oddly, Shawn’s Rock would get slapped on stage during a live TV broadcast 22 years before the actual Chris Rock.
Keenen Ivory Wayans on ‘The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson’
‘Major Payne’
Damon Wayans put his authoritative side on display as the weirdest drill sergeant that a kid could ever experience.
Damon Wayans on Earthquakes
‘I’m Gonna Git You Sucka’
Keenen Ivory Wayans wrote, directed and starred in this parody of the Blaxploitation films he grew up with. Like with many of his productions, he made it a family affair by casting his siblings Damon, Kim, Nadia, Shawn and Marlon in various roles.
Damon Wayans on Growing Up Poor
“I had a great childhood growing up even though we was crazy poor. We was like P-O. We couldn’t afford O-R. That’s how “po” we were. I remember nights we didn’t eat. We had sleep for dinner.”
‘The Wayans Bros.’
From 1995 through 1999, Shawn and Marlon had their own sitcom playing brothers who own and work at a newsstand in New York. As you can see, they were able to transfer the Wayans’ film humor to the small screen, right down to John Witherspoon yelling at people.
‘The Scary Movie’ Franchise
While they were only involved in the first two films, Keenen, Shawn and Marlon were credited for creating one of the most successful parody series of all time. The movies were filled with horror tropes, gross-out gags and basically anything you’d expect from the Wayans family in terms of over-the-top humor.
