He felt like he wasn’t being given opportunities. Lorne Michaels was trying to protect Damon from the Eddie comparison and bring Damon along slowly. “Damon tried to take Eddie’s advice, but it didn’t necessarily serve him that well. Otherwise, you get sucked in and become Garrett Morris.'” Morris, who worked on The Jamie Foxx Show in the 1990s, was a founding cast member at SNL, who often played background to breakthrough stars including John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, and Dan Ackroyd. Even if you only do one sketch, make sure it’s centered around you. If you want to stand out, write your own sketches. “Eddie took him aside and gave him some advice: ‘Don’t get integrated into the cast. “I did talk to Damon a little about the pressure that was on him on Saturday Night Live to be the ‘next Eddie Murphy.’ When Damon actually SNL, there was a party for him that Eddie came to,” Peisner reports based on his interviews and research. OkayPlayer recently interviewed David Peisner, author of the newly-published, Homey Don’t Play That: The Story Of ‘In Living Color’ And The Black Comedy Revolution. In the conversation, Peisner explains how Damon Wayans felt the pressures to fill one of Comedy Television’s biggest shoes.ĭave Chappelle Has A Serious Conversation About Living A Happy Life (Video) Damon had also appeared briefly in Murphy’s 1984 Beverly Hills Cop film ahead of joining Saturday Night Live. Two years removed from Eddie Murphy’s exit from the cast into a booming Hollywood career, Wayans was viewed by many as the replacement, as a Black actor in the otherwise white cast. Damon Wayans did earn a spot, and was part of the Season 11 cast, alongside Robert Downey, Jr., Joan Cusack, Jon Lovitz, and Randy Quaid.ĭamon Wayans Gets Deadly Serious About Diabetes, In Living Color & Past Racism On SNL Jim Carrey auditioned for the 1980-1981 season but did not make the cut during a transitional period for the show. Notably, two of ILC‘s biggest cast members had history with Lorne Michael’s storied sketch show on the older network. What SNL was for NBC, In Living Color would be for FOX’s Sunday (and later, Thursday). Created by Damon’s older brother, producer/writer/director Keenen Ivory Wayans, the sketch comedy show was an integral platform in the acting careers of Jim Carrey, Jamie Foxx, David Alan Grier, Tommy Davidson, and many others. "By showcasing these important creative materials, production notes and artifacts, we continue to fulfill the Comedy Center's mission of celebrating comedy as an art form and preserving its heritage for generations to come.Between 19, Damon Wayans was one of the driving forces of In Living Color. " 'In Living Color' was a landmark television series that revolutionized comedy, broke creative boundaries and has influenced comedic artists for over 30 years now," said National Comedy Center Executive Director Journey Gunderson. Together with the incredibly talented cast and writers, we imagined a new voice in sketch comedy, found a broad audience who connected with our work and charted a course for change in the TV industry's approach to real representation, not to mention winning an Emmy in our first season!" "I'm elated to know that future generations will be able to see these materials and learn how we brought this series to life despite creative and censorship issues. "I'm thrilled to donate this one-of-a-kind 'In Living Color' collection to the National Comedy Center, where it will live to tell the story of the show's creation," Rawitt said in a news release provided by the National Comedy Center.
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