Actor Marlon Wayans done with parody but up for comedy

Movie star and comedian Marlon Wayans can’t say what topics he’ll hit on when he takes the stage in Wichita on Wednesday night.

It all depends on what happens in the world between now and then.

But he can say this – it’ll likely be inappropriate. Just like him.

“It’s some observations, some personal stuff,” he said, calling from Los Angeles last week. “Expect the unexpected. I don’t know what I’m going to do from night to night, so we’ll see. I like to keep it fresh and keep it open in case things happen.”

Wayans, who will bring his standup routine to Wichita State University’s Hughes Metropolitan Complex, has made a career – and a fortune – with his inappropriate humor.

The youngest of 10 siblings in his family – which also includes actors Keenen Ivory, Shawn and Damon – Wayans, 43, is best known for his starring roles in films like “Scary Movie,” “Scary Movie 2,” “White Chicks,” and most recently “Fifty Shades of Black,” a parody of “Fifty Shades of Grey.” He also co-wrote all those films.

He loves acting, said Wayans, who got his very first part as a pedestrian in his brother Keenen’s 1988 movie “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka.”

But like most comedians, he also loves the stage. He’s been performing standup steadily for the past three years but before that would only “dibble and dabble” in it. His WSU stop comes in the middle of his “Scandal-Less” comedy tour, which is taking him all over the country – and helping him develop material he hopes he can parlay into a comedy special.

“I really enjoy it,” he said. “It’s good to meet the audience.”

Wayans also is busy off the comedy stage. He said he doesn’t like to talk about what he might or might not do in the future but went on to share plenty of possibilities.

He just finished shooting a pilot for NBC called “Marlon” that stars him as an inappropriate father – “which I am,” he said. Wayans has two older children.

“It’s about ‘How do you raise the kids and keep the family together after a divorce and still have a family full of love?’” he said. Wayans hopes the pilot will be picked up next month.

He’s also celebrating the DVD release of “Fifty Shades of Black,” which was clobbered by critics (like many of his movies) but had a decent box office take (also like many of his movies.) His films have grossed more than $736 million.

And he’s also considering the possibility of filming a sequel to 2004’s “White Chicks,” in which he and his brother Shawn starred as black FBI agents working undercover as white female socialites.

Nothing’s in the works yet, he insists, but the brothers like the idea.

“We hope, but you never know what’s going to happen,” he said. “If it happens, great. If not, great. We’ll only do a sequel if we think we can make it a better movie or a bigger movie than the first, and there are a lot of moving parts on that one.”

Wayans is more clear about what he won’t do in the future. He says he’s done with parody movies, despite several successful ones on his resume.

“I’m done,” he said. “I did it, learned a lot and enjoyed it, but you come to a point where you want to do other things, explore other things.”

Other things, he hinted, might include more dramatic roles. Wayans is frequently praised for his part in 2000’s “Requiem for a Dream,” in which he played a drug dealer.

“I’m well-versed in what I can do in terms of my skill set from a dramatic acting standpoint,” he said.

This story was originally published April 21, 2016 at 3:41 PM with the headline "Actor Marlon Wayans done with parody but up for comedy."