Marlon Wayans Says He's Done With Parodies: "Every Movie I Finish Is Going to Be a Comedy"

Whether it’s riffing on model and Kardashian-to-be Blac Chyna’s two “baby bumps” or upsetting black women with vaguely misogynistic jokes, Marlon Wayans has remained in the spotlight and on top of current events throughout his career.

The 43 year-old actor, comedian, and writer long ago broke free from the shadow of his equally famous brothers. He has never shied away from mocking pop culture, something abundantly clear in his spate of spoof films. The star of A Haunted House (and its sequel), as well as Fifty Shades of Black, is touring the country with a new standup comedy show, Scandal-Less.

It’s a busy time for Wayans, to say the least. He remains hyper-focused on a slew of solo projects, including his recently picked-up NBC sitcom, Marlon. The comedy show will air this fall on network television. His web series, What the Funny, is on pause while he is on tour. 

New Times spoke to the funnyman ahead of his stop in Miami this Thursday at the Fillmore Miami Beach. 

New Times: How often have you been to Miami? What’s your experience been like?
Marlon Wayans: I visit Miami a lot. It’s a good time, a lot of fun. All we do is laugh, go to a lot of parties, and the thing about a Miami audience is they love to laugh.
After all these years and all the fame — after all, the Wayans name is synonymous with comedy — what still attracts you to standup comedy?
Nothing better for comedy than a live audience. You hear them laugh, and it fills you with something special, and it makes you want to go one step further.

What’s behind the name of the tour, Scandal-Less?
I touch upon a lot of scandals and things that are going on out there. I talk about those. I make fun of them.

You do love to mock everything, whether it’s the Oscars, the Kardashians, etc. What, or who, do you think is the most ridiculous thing right now that people are paying too much attention to?
I don’t know. Everything. There’s so much to talk about. Name a topic and it’s ridiculous. Fame has changed. It ain’t what it used to be before. Fame used to be respected. Now it’s exploited.

So we hear you’re working on a sitcom, Marlon, based on your life.
Yeah, hopefully we’ll get it picked up. I think that’d be a good thing for ABC or a network with three letters in the acronym. I’ll probably find out this week and that’ll be what makes me happy. People want me on TV and I’m gonna have a great time doing it. (It was announced after our interview with Wayans that NBC has in fact picked up Marlon to air this fall on their network).

It’ll be based on mostly you or will it include the rest of the Wayans clan also?
It’s just me.

You’ve been in Scary Movie, Haunted House, and recently, Fifty Shades of Black. What is it about spoofs that keeps you coming back for more?
I just love making fun of things. I’ve always been like that since I was kid. But now, I’m done with parody. Every movie I finish is going to be a comedy.

Before doing the parodies, do you ever watch the films for either entertainment or for more ideas? Like did you see Fifty Shades of Grey?
Always. You have to study those films. You have to watch them a hundred times.

So you watched Fifty Shades of Grey?
Over and over again.

What did you think?
I don’t know. I actually watched it so much I kind of threw up in my mouth. Girls like to be courted and what makes a woman smile more than putting her ass on a helicopter?

When one of your movies doesn’t do as well as you expected, how do handle that?
I don’t think about it. I just do. I continue to work my brand and continue to be funny and be fearless and over time you find the right thing and before you know it, everything’s all right. 

Marlon Wayans' Scandal-Less Tour
Thursday, May 19, at the Fillmore Miami Beach. Tickets start at $39.50 and show start at 8:30 p.m. Visit livenation.com.