Marlon Wayans stretches his entertainment palette

Marlon Wayans has been a sketch comic (“In Living Color”), a comedic actor (“White Chicks,” “Scary Movie”), a serious actor (“Requiem for a Dream”) and for the past four years, a stand-up.

Every time he works on a new skill set, he feels he’s bolstering his other work. He wants to be like Prince — able to play all the instruments in his craft.

“Stand-up has made me a better writer,” Wayans said in a phone interview in advance of his first appearance at the Atlanta Improv in Buckhead this Thursday through Saturday. “Stand-up has made me a better performer. Something might be offensive, but if it’s funny enough, they forgive the offensiveness. In comedy, you need to go for the jugular.”

He said people who come to his show should brace themselves: “My show is not for the sensitive. It’s for people who love dark comedy, who want to listen and go on a journey.”

He auditioned six years ago to play legendary comic Richard Pryor in a planned biopic, but the project languished. Earlier this year, director Lee Daniels (“Empire,” “The Butler”) cast Mike Epps for a new Pryor biopic that appears to be moving forward.

“I’m OK with it,” said Wayans. “I thought I’d be more disappointed with it. But I know from several years in the industry, if you don’t share the same vision as the director, chances are it’s going to be a frustrating process. … My hat’s off to Lee Daniels and his choice.”

On the bright side, the work inspired him to hit the comedy club circuit.

Wayans, 42, is the baby in his very illustrious family, which includes his frequent collaborator Shawn and two older brothers Damon and Keenen.

“I learned from my brothers’ mistakes and their victories,” Wayans said. “It’s really a blessing to be the youngest. It’s also a blessing to have giants who stood in front of you, to have big giant footsteps to fall into. It’s OK. With time, consistency and hard work ethic, one day, I hope to leave footprints for younger generations.”

Last year, he toured with his three most famous brothers on a big Wayans stand-up tour that didn’t make it to Atlanta. During the tour, they would rotate the order of who would perform when. The biggest challenge, he said, was closing a show after his older brothers had the crowd laughing nonstop for 90 minutes. Then again, if he was on earlier, “my brothers were always breathing down my neck. They rode me if I went over my allotted time by 30 seconds!”

Wayans will be on TV later this month hosting a new summer variety show on NBC called "I Can Do That," in which celebrities have a week to master skills they have never tried before. For instance, celebrities will have a week to, say, become a Harlem Globetrotter, a part of Penn & Teller or a member of the Blue Man Group.

Among the celebrities are comic Jeff Dye, singer Joe Jonas, dancer Cheryl Burke and Atlanta’s R&B star Ciara.

“She’s great on the show,” Wayans said of Ciara. “She’s beautiful. She looks like she’s 19. (She’s 29.) She has the soul of a 65-year-old grandmother.”