*Throughout its time on the small screen, “Saturday Night Live” is known for introducing comics before they reach household name status, not to mention a rule of staying on-script when performing a sketch.
Although he would go down as one of its most famous alumni, Damon Wayans is also noted for his departure from “SNL” which he “purposely” caused.
Looking back on the situation, the funnyman mentioned a bit of advice he received from fellow comedy legend Eddie Murphy before joining the sketch comedy series’ season 11 cast.
“I felt like I was born to be on Saturday Night Live,” Wayans shared during an appearance on the Peacock docuseries “SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night.” “His advice to me was, ‘Write your own sketches. Otherwise, they’re going to give you some Black people sh*t to do, and you ain’t gon’ like it.”
Although the exposure from “SNL” was something in itself, behind the scenes, there was turmoil.
According to Wayans ideas he came up with for his own sketches were given a thumbs down from staff writers he said never liked his ideas.
“I could feel something was wrong and that’s why I was like, ‘Hey, give me the ball,” he said. “I know what this needs.”
Among the affected material Wayans wrote was a sketch titled “The Gifted Rapper.” In the skit, he played a gift wrapper that could rhyme. Despite it going over with viewers, it fell flat with former head “SNL” writer Al Franken, who didn’t understand the sketch.
“He read the sketch and was like, ‘I just don’t get the rap thing.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah but 50 million other people do,’” Wayans recalled.
As Murphy predicted, things went downhill as Wayans was asked to portray stereotypical characters.
“Everything Eddie said came true,” the entertainer confirmed. “I’m like, ‘Hell nah! My mother’s gonna watch this show. I can’t do this. I won’t do this.”
The breaking point for Wayans ultimately arrived with “Mr. Monopoly,” a sketch that was chosen over one of his own, During the skit, Wayans went off script and delivered his lines in an entirely different voice, stunning the cast and writers, Vibe noted
“I snapped. I just did not care,” he admitted.
Detailing how it went down, former “SNL” star Jon Lovitz remembered Wayans staring to do his lines like a very effeminate gay guy.”
“I purposely did that because I wanted [Lorne Michaels] to fire me,” stated Wayans, who paid for his defiance with being fired by “SNL” creator Lorne Michaels the moment he walked off stage.
“Having not fired anybody for the first five years, it was really, really hard. But it had to be done,” Michaels said.
Wayan’s termination was a clear result of him crossing the line. James Andrew Miller, co- author of “L Live From New York: The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as Told by Its Stars, Writers, and Guests,” labeled it as Wayans breaking “SNL”’s “broke the ultimate golden rule, which is no surprises.”
Despite things ending badly on “SNL,” Michaels did extend an olive branch to Wayans with an invite to return to the show to perform a standup routine later that season.
“Lorne is a very forgiving man, and I think he just wanted to let me know he believed in me,” he voiced.
For a lot of comedians, termination from “SNL” would’ve been a certified game-ender. Fortunately for Wayans, it opened the door for another level of success, with his transition to iconic TV fare such like “In Living Color” and “My Wife and Kids,” not to mention “Waynehead” and “Lethal Weapon.”
Add in big screen credentials for starring in “Mo Money,” “The Last Boy Scout,” “Major Payne,” and “Bulletproof” and it’s safe to say Wayans came out of just fine after “SNL.”
And he’s still going strong, with his current status, starring role opposite his son Damon Wayans Jr. and Essence Atkins in the CBS sitcom Poppa’s House.
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