Wayans: Stand-Up Comedy Helped Me Cope With Loss

Marlon Wayans has spent nearly 40 years in the world of entertainment. From “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka” to “AIR,” he’s showcased his range as an experienced entertainer. Still, stand-up comedy is fairly new to the Hollywood star. While he grew up in a legendary family of dynamic comedians and actors, Wayans only began to pursue stand-up comedy in 2018. Now, he’s promoting his latest special, “Good Grief,” as he prepares for the Wild Child Tour. The tour isn’t set to begin until the fall, but he’s already hitting the road for a three-day stint at the Baltimore Comedy Factory. During his time in Maryland, he spoke with Taji Burris of the Baltimore Banner about how stand-up comedy has been a “healing” tool for him as he continues to cope with the loss of his parents, Howell Stouten and Elvira Alethia.

“Everybody is dealing with mental health. I don’t care what race you are, we all have trauma that we haven’t dealt with,” he told Burris.

“We all have these things that we don’t pay attention to. We think healing is moving on, and sometimes the reality of that is you don’t know the damage that you do to yourself when you’re too strong to cry or too strong to talk about it. ‘Good Grief’ allowed me to understand my process of feeling. I want people to know it’s not just cracking jokes, but it helped me heal and I’m still healing. I will forever be healing from the loss of my parents. The most vulnerable place for me is the stage.”

Comedy isn’t the only thing Wayans is using to keep himself grounded. The comedian, who recently landed a partnership with Dr Green NFT, has also been able to use cannabis to help manage pain and anxiety.

“Cannabis actually has been proven to help with anxiety and pain relief,” he explained.

“I’m not telling the world, ‘Hey, you need to smoke and stay high.’ You need to live in reality, but if you want to take a little vacation and you want to, you know, smoke something or you’re being creative and trying to contribute something great to society, whether that be art or something good-natured, then do you for sure.”

Wayans will remain in Maryland where cannabis is legal through July 7. Afterward, he is scheduled to kick off the Wild Child Tour on September 14 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Source: Baltimore Banner, NBCUniversal