-My next guest is a very funny comedian
and a talented actor who you can see in the new movie "Respect,"
which is in theaters this Friday,
and his stand-up special, "You Know What It Is,"
is on HBO Max August 19th.
Everyone, please welcome Marlon Wayans.
♪ -Marlon Wayans ♪
♪ You know what it is ♪
♪ Comes from the family ♪
♪ With far too many kids ♪
♪ It's Marlon Wayans ♪
♪ Ain't playing no games ♪
♪ So when you see him, put some respect on his name ♪
♪ Yeah ♪
[ Cheers and applause ]
-That feels good, right?
-Thank you. -That's for you.
You look sharp. -They think I'm Damon.
That's what it is. -No, they don't.
-I can't believe I'm second guest to Barbra Streisand.
Do you understand I was hoping she was going to be here?
-Yeah. -Yeah, because I owe her
an apology 'cause I met her one time.
And I don't know if she remembers.
It was on the lot. it was a couple years ago.
She was on an NBC lot, and I was doing "Marlon,"
and she was there, and she was in a golf cart,
and she got out and I said --
everybody was like, "Barbra Streisand, Barbra Streisand!"
And I screamed out, "I love you, Yentl!"
And she took off in that golf cart so fast.
-Yentl, yeah.
You absolutely -- [ Laughs ]
I want to talk about your stand-up special,
but I also want to talk about "Respect."
-Yes.
-Let's start with the stand-up special.
-Yes.
-You've always --
No, you actually -- You haven't always done stand-up.
-No, I did stand-up -- I started --
See, I didn't always do stand-up 'cause --
I come from a family full of comedians.
-Oh, yeah. Damon. -All my brothers.
Like, all of them, they all comedians,
and I was like, "I want to do something different,"
so I wanted to be the actor of the family.
I was like, "You silly Negroes.
[ English accent ] You go ahead with your buffoonery.
I'm going to be a serious, dramatic actor."
-Yeah. "Hand me my skull." [ Laughter ]
-[ Normal voice ] So I didn't do stand-up for years.
I studied drama.
Because I felt like when you do stand-up, right,
you pull from your life, and I got six comedians before me,
and we all grew up in the same house.
I ain't got [bleep] to talk about.
[ Laughter ]
-They took it all. -They got all the stories.
-They took all the comedy.
-So I was like, "I'm not gonna do stand-up."
And then, you know, I just was like -- I caught the bug.
I had to do a movie for my brother called
"Behind the Smile," and then I had to audition
for the prior movie and I was like, "You know what?
I'm going to start doing stand-up."
And I started doing stand-up 12 years ago,
and I just haven't stopped.
-I'm glad you kept going. This is great.
-And you know what? [ Cheers and applause ]
Thank you.
You know what made me quit stand-up?
Like, I was doing it, right, when I was like 18, 19,
and then one day, Chris Rock heckled me.
[ Laughter ]
-Wow.
-And I quit stand-up for 20 years.
[ Laughter ]
I was on stage and you know how you tryin' to find it, right?
And I was on stage and I was like, "Uh, so what else --
what else is up?" He goes, "How about some jokes?"
And I was like -- [ Laughter ]
And I didn't know who it was.
All I kept hearing was his evil laugh, "ha, ha, ha, ha."
"How about being funny?! How about that?!"
And I swear I quit stand-up for like 20 years,
and what's funny is now I'm, like, the baby of all --
I grew up with Eddie, Chris.
All of them are like my big brothers,
and they, like, haze me with my older brothers.
But see, I'm the baby, right, of the bunch.
So now, I'm gonna pay them back 'cause they all getting old.
[ Laughter ]
In about 10 years, 12 years from now,
when Chris is old and senile,
and he on stage trying to find it,
I'm like, "How about some jokes, you black, skinny bastard?"
[ Laughter ]
-Oh, my gosh. [ Applause ]
He's gonna kill you. -"Where the jokes?!
Look in your Pamper!"
[ Laughter ]
-It's called "You Know What It Is."
-Yes. -It's on HBO Max August 19th.
Congrats on that, but let's talk about "Respect"
because this is a dramatic part.
You're not funny in this. -No, not at all.
-No. -No.
-So I just want to set people up for when they see this,
but this is about Aretha Franklin.
-Yeah, who is, you know, like, the Queen of Soul
but a goddess in my household.
My whole family love Aretha Franklin.
Like my mama, my sisters.
My sister Elvira was by -- The "Sparkle" soundtrack was on,
and she was by the radio and she's...
♪ Giving him something he could feel ♪
And she was 15 years old, and my mama said, "What the hell?
You know what he wants to feel!"
[ Laughter ]
And my sister got quiet, right?
And then six months later,
she showed up pregnant with my nephew,
so she knew what she was talking about.
-Yeah, she actually did.
Do you get to improvise when you do these --
-No, you don't improvise when you do drama.
You have to be really skilled to do that.
Forest actually improvised in a scene and -- [ Laughs ]
-Forest Whitaker?
-Forest Whitaker, who's in the movie.
Fantastic actor.
We're in a scene,
and it was the scene where I come to the house.
Aretha was gonna leave C.L. for Ted, right?
-Yeah. -Forest plays the father.
I play the abusive boyfriend, her husband.
So I'm about to take her from him and he goes,
"You ain't going to do that in my house."
And the man pulled out a gun.
And it wasn't in the script and you --
[ Laughter ]
If you don't listen -- if you --
We was like, "Oh, man! Ghost Dog went postal!
Oh, my God!"
[ Laughter and applause ]
-"Ghost Dog went postal." -I'm serious.
It was like, "Ah, last king of Scotland lost his damn mind!"
[ Laughter ]
-It is an interesting story
and a tricky story, Aretha's story.
But, man, you're great in it, and I love that you do --
These are both out at the same time.
You have a comedy and a drama, and it's tough to do.
-I want to do it all, man.
I want to be one of those guys that, you know, can do it all,
like, you know, Tom Hanks and Robin Williams, Eddie Murphy.
You know, I've been studying 30 years to try
and just be my best me.
And what do you do with a guy that can do everything?
He does everything. -There you go, bud.
-I just love it. -Please keep doing everything.
Come back. We love ya.
I want to show everyone a clip from the movie.
Here's Marlon Wayans in "Respect."
Take a look at this.
-What are you drinking?
-Iced tea.
-Mm.
Just...iced tea?
-With a little bourbon.
-[ Chuckles ]
Yeah, you look like a bourbon girl.
How long you in town for? -A week.
Then I return to Tennessee.
-Well, then I won't waste any time.
-Mm.
-I'd like to take you out.
-Mm.
I'd like you to take me out.
-How about tonight?
-Ree, come and help me set this table.
-Yes, to tonight.
-Okay.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Marlon Wayans, everybody.
"Respect" is in theaters this Friday,
and his stand-up, "You Know What It Is,"
is on HBO Max August 19th.