David Mann makes you tired.
He’s got to be one of the hardest-working actors in show business.
The actor stars in “Meet the Browns”, “Mann & Wife” and “It’s a Mann’s World”; he’s performed with Grammy winner Kirk Franklin (whom he’s known since high school); been in too many Tyler Perry stage plays to name; and runs a record label with his wife and acting partner Tamela Mann.
So you would think stage fright was a thing of the past.
Not so, says Mann, who will bring his sold-out stand-up comedy routine to Atlanta at 8p.m. Saturday at Georgia Tech's Ferst Center for the Arts, 349 Ferst Drive N.W.
“If you were backstage and actually got to see me you would think, ‘He’s not going to make it.’, he said. “After performing in front of audiences for years, I still get terrified before I go on stage.”
And that’s OK with him.
“I never want to lose that,” he said. “I never want this to be, “I’m about to go out there and slaughter them’. I don’t want to ever take the gift that God has given me for granted.”
So, before he goes on stage. He prays.
Faith, in fact, plays a huge role in whatever Mann touches from work to family.
“Nothing but the grace of God has gotten us where we are,” he said.
Though he has worked on scripted television, Mann loves the give and take of a live audience.
If he doesn’t leave tired and exhausted then he doesn’t feel like he gave a good show.
“I’m from the old school of entertainment,” he said. “When people spend their hard-earned money to come see you in a show, you should give it everything you’ve got -whether one person paid or a million people paid.”
He fell into comedy shows by accident. Mann said he used to host a lot of events. He might do a 10 minute dialogue. Audiences loved it. So much so that 10 minutes turned into 15 minutes and that turned into 30 minutes then an hour.
He doesn’t think you can beat the spontaneity of a live performance.
“I would always stand up, get a look at the audience and there it is,” he said. One time, he remembers, he said a dark-skinned woman dressed in a white fur hat, white fur coat, white fur boots and white pants. “I just walked through the audience and asked her why do you look like a black Q-Tip? Can I wear your hat onstage?”
Underneath was a shock of white hair.
“She had it dyed like super white,” he said laughing. “The audience thought I had staged this.”
Between comedy show and television commitments, the Manns are working on a book about relationships and blended families. They’ve also shot 10 episodes of a cooking show, called “Hanging with the Manns,” which they hope will be picked up soon.
So what is it like to work so closely with his wife, whom he met in high school?
When they got married 28 years ago, both decided that no matter what, divorce would never been an option.
“When you declare and decreed that this is not an option, then at least you are walking the same path,” he said.
They also actually really, really like each other.
“We hang out together,” he said, still sounding love struck decades later. “That’s my homegirl. On set, I have a terrible habit of always touching her. I touch her a lot. It’s a habit. I always have my hand on her somewhere even when it’s not necessary.”
“Mann & Wife” and “It’s a Mann’s World,” have drawn large audiences for BET and Bounce.
“Our goal is to bring good wholesome, family entertainment to television,” he said. “Our test is can we sit down and watch it with our grand kids? There’s no profanity, perversion or ratchetness.”
At first they said no to reality TV, but then they decided “It’s a Mann’s World,” could provide teachable moments for families.
“You can only eat what’s out there,” he said. “People want wholesome television, but what happened was people started being fed a lot of ratchetness. All that’s on the buffet is ratchetness.”
So, now you might wonder, what does Mann do when he gets a break?
“I go to work and straight back to the apartment (in Atlanta) and do nothing,” he said. “I might go to Lenox Mall a few times. When I want to relax I come back home (to Dallas-Fort Worth). My relaxation is, I come home and I do nothing. I don’t leave the house.”
