Damon Wayans Jr., an American actor and stand-up comedian came to UIS on Jan. 17 to give his performance entitled “Damon Wayans, Jr. Live!”
Wayans, the son of Lisa Thorner and actor-comedian Damon Wayans, was born in Vermont 1982, but was raised in L.A. He first was fascinated by the film “Black Man” in 1994 at age 11, and decided to follow his father’s comedic foot step in 2005.
Wayans’ father, Damon Wayans Sr., is an American writer, a comedian of film and television satire, and prize-winner of 2002 People’s Choice Award for Favorite Male Performer in a New TV Series. He received four Emmy awards nominations and four International Press Academy “Golden Satellite Award” nominations for his projects such as Living Color.
Being raised in an acting family, Wayans Jr. started in his father’s projects, such as My Wife and Kids (2001-05) and Dance Flick (2009). He was well known after portraying the sensitive husband, Bran Williams, on ABC series’ Happy Ending (2011-13).
Several racial jokes were made by Wayans during the performance, but he claimed that these jokes can bring people from different racial group together. The applause burst from the crowd when Wayans indicated that it is not wise to like or dislike others due to their skin color.
A minor accident occurred when the stage lights suddenly lit up and dazzled Wayans’ eyes, but it didn’t interrupt the show. Instead, he resolve the embarrassing moment by saying “You should forgive that… I mean this building is just two days old.”
Christina Shaw, a former student of UIS, stated Wayans is an intelligent man, and the laughter he brought illuminated the new semester.
“Although some of his jokes are a little bit over the line, it still makes people laugh”, Shaw said.