Atlanta’s Kountry Wayne lands Amazon stand-up special ‘Nostalgia’
Atlanta’s Kountry Wayne, who grew up in the tiny southwest Georgia town of Millen, was an early fan of social media, building his comedic act with sketches and jokes on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter in the early 2010s.
By the time Wayne (real name: DeWayne Jamarr Colley) began performing stand-up comedy onstage in 2015, he said he had already found his voice and quickly built confidence before a live audience.
“Stand-ups often take 10 years to figure out who they are,” he said in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I already knew what to talk about. I just had to work on my timing.”
Wayne, 38, has released his first hourlong special on Amazon Prime, called “Nostalgia.” He tackles topics close to his heart, like baby mamas, child rearing (he has 10 kids from five moms) and trust in relationships. “Nostalgia” was taped last year at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, and includes the best of material he honed over the previous 18 months.
“I feel like Atlanta is my hometown,” Wayne said. “I believed the Atlanta audience would bring explosive energy, and they did.”
Wayne remains a dominant force on social media, where he monetizes more than 18 million collective followers across multiple networks, including 11 million on Facebook alone.
He said his 2023 Netflix special, “A Woman’s Prayer,” solidified him as a stand-up comic. “People look at me as more than a social media comedian,” he said. “It validated me.”
The new Amazon special is more raw and includes a long riff on oral sex. But he said he avoids using any curse words harsher than “hell” or “damn.”
“I have a brand,” he said. “I have a lot of kids. I want people to watch my stuff. I can’t make it too raunchy.”
He also wears his Christian faith on his sleeve. “God is my foundation,” he said. “I put Jesus in every special.”
Even when Wayne tackles a sensitive topic, like R. Kelly, he said he does it “with no malice. I know a lot of people who still listen to him. I don’t agree with his actions. I say that in my special. But the music sounds good: not the words, but the beat.”
For the Amazon special, he also specifically trained extra cameras on the audience. “I wanted to show that people were laughing,” he said. “A lot of people thought the first one was using laugh tracks.”
He said he models himself on his idol, Cedric the Entertainer, whom he has met. He even has Cedric’s number.
“He is light,” Wayne said. “He isn’t trying to make a strong political point. He is just funny.”
Wayne said he also wants to do more acting, like Cedric. He was in the Tubi movie “Holiday Heartbreak” and produced and starred in theupcoming rom-com “That’s Her” with Coco Jones.
“I like acting,” he said. “You can be more grounded, more subtle. Stand-up is about being on a stage and being loud.”
Financially, even with so many kids to support, he said he is doing fine. In past interviews and in his stand-up, he has openly talked about selling drugs when he was younger and was fortunate not to end up in prison.
“I used to hustle on the streets,” Wayne said. “Even when my stand-up wasn’t ready, the business part was ready. I was always good at business.”
About the Author
Rodney Ho writes about entertainment for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution including TV, radio, film, comedy and all things in between. A native New Yorker, he has covered education at The Virginian-Pilot, small business for The Wall Street Journal and a host of beats at the AJC over 20-plus years. He loves tennis, pop culture & seeing live events.
