May 11, 2010, by
Damon Wayans was in a creative rut, a self-described mid-life crisis. After successful runs with sketch comedy show "In Living Color," sitcom "My Wife and Kids" and a string of movies ("Major Payne," "The Last Boy Scout"), he was searching for a new venue for his skills.
So he wrote a novel. And he stretched himself. The main character of "Red Hats" is not a 49-year-old black stand-up comic. Instead, he created Alma, a bitter 65-year-old woman who browbeat her husband literally to death. (She told him she wished he would die in his sleep. And he did.) Only when she joined other women of like mind and age in the Red Hat Society did she find salvation and an outlet for her guilt.
"I wrote this from passion," said Wayans at Georgia Perimeter College's Clarkston campus, where he spent an hour answering questions from students and fans before signing his new book. "I wanted to do something different, to do something that spoke to me." He admitted to writing difficulties after the1994 film "Blankman" he wrote bombed. "It made me so insecure, I stopped writing," he said. "And even when I did, I have a stack of scripts I'm too afraid to let anyone read." He didn't let his mom (who is a member of the Red Hats) to read his novel, much less any other Wayans family member except his sister Kim.
He ripped through the first 100 pages of "Red Hats" in ten days. Then he got really insecure, he said. He sold it based on those 100 pages, then spent a year procrastinating and being scared of finishing it. Once he got a book deal, he did. (Want an autographed copy of his book? You can get one at Eagle Eye Bookshop at 2076 North Decatur Road in Decatur, which sponsored the talk and signing.)
Now he writes a daily journal for himself. “It keeps me in check,” he said. “In my journal, I can get really hard on myself.” He also hopes to eventually write an autobiography and a book focused on the how to’s of comedy.
Wayans is proud of his past. When someone in the audience asked him to say “Homey don’t play that,” from arguably his most famous character on “In Living Color,” Homey Da Clown, he obliged. “You want me to stand up here and humor you,” he said in Homey’s voice. “I don’t think so. Homey don’t play that!”
Although he didn't say it directly, he did allude to tension between him and his older brother Keenan that hasn't been fully resolved. "I still love and worship my brother," he said. "He's the greatest in the world. I'm a grandfather. You can't just punk me around like we were four or five years old. My grandkids are looking at me. I have to stand up to you."
When talking about education, he cited the local Ron Clark Academy. "They come to school ready to play. They're going to sing and dance and interact. It's fun. That's how school should be."
He hopes his book will resonate with Oprah (Ron Clark's bud). "I did Gayle King's [Sirius XM radio] show. I hope she whispers in Oprah's ear. I think it's an Oprah story. It'd be cool for her show to promote her sisterhood."
And he's proud of his son Damon Jr."There's a lot of pressure with that. When he shows up, 'Wait. I thought you were Damon Sr.!' Now he has to step up. He's doing it. Just booked a pilot with ABC. He's got a movie coming out this summer with Will Ferrell["The Other Guys"]. It takes guts and talent."
He doesn't think an "In Living Color" reunion is in the cards, especially with alums Jennifer Lopez, Jim Carrey and Jamie Foxx so successful, he said. But he hasn't ruled out some sort of Wayans brothers comedy tour with Shawn and Marlon. (He has toured in the past with "In Living Color" cast mates Tommy Davidson and David Alan Grier.)
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