Catching Up with Kim Wayans

Oh, how she made us laugh on TV’s comedy sketch show, “In Living Color,” created by her brothers Keenen Ivory and Damon Wayans.

Today, Kim Wayans is married, writing children’s books with her husband (Kevin Knotts) and touring select cities with her one woman show.

I caught up with her in Los Angeles and we talked about her life today and the laughter she brought into so many households back in the ‘90s --

Talk2SV: In preparing to speak with you, I shared with a few friends that we would be chatting and the buzz was in the air; people want to know, ‘what is Kim Wayans up to these days?” So, let’s just jump right into it.  You are now a children’s book author.  By comparison-- to your hilarious performances on “In Livin Color,” how has becoming a book author changed your life?

Wayans: Well, I get to explore a different aspect of Kim; working with children a lot, going to libraries and schools and reading to kids and just sharing with them my love for  reading and education.  It’s just a different side that I’ve always known was there. I just didn’t really have an opportunity to explore it until I started writing children’s books.

Talk2SV: The book series title is “Amy Hodgepodge.” How do you define Amy Hodgepodge?

Wayans: Amy is a multi-racial child, she’s African American, she’s Caucasian, she’s part Japanese and part Korean.  That’s how she gets her little nickname, Amy Hodgepodge, because she’s such a wonderful mixture of things.  She’s your typical nine-year-old trying to make her way in a new school.  She’s been home schooled her entire life and now she’s starting a new school so she has to go through the process of trying to make friends,  trying to fit in and just dealing with all the things that are typical of children her age.

Talk2SV: The expression goes, ‘you remember what you read.’  What do you want children to remember, apply and carry with them through adulthood because of this book series?

Wayans: I want children to remember that it’s good to be different, they should accept and embrace differences in themselves, and in others --welcome it-- different things, different kinds of people, different kinds of experiences; they all serve to enrich your life.  Ultimately, those differences make you a better person so that would be one of the main messages I hope children carry with them into adulthood.

Talk2SV: I ask that partly because I’d like to know what books you read as a young person that have remained with you through adulthood?

Wayans: It would be Charlotte’s Web, right off the bat.  I’ve never forgotten that book.  It just touched my heart and I cried like a baby.  I thought it was such a beautiful story about the circle of life, friendships and it really stayed with me. Another book series that I absolutely loved and have never forgotten was Pippi Longstocking.  I so desperately wanted to be a part of her world; those are two books that I really loved and have stayed with me.

Talk2SV: I understand that you and your husband work alongside each other on the Amy HodgePodge books.  In today’s world with all of the conversations surrounding “work-life-balance” this scenario has to be a pretty good set up for you, I would think.

Wayans: It’s such a wonderful set up because when I talk to most of my girlfriends, their main complaint about their relationship is that they don’t get a chance to spend enough time together.  Everybody is on their separate track doing their separate thing and the twains meet but not enough. We never have that problem; we’re glued to the hip. And, we love it, we really love it. We work well together, we have a lot of fun together and it’s truly been a blessing to have that kind of creative partnership with your mate.

Talk2SV: How wonderful. Let’s spend some time talking about another aspect of your creative expression.  In all likelihood, millions of us will never forget you on “In Livin Color.” We thank you for all of the laughter you brought into our homes each week, however, I’d like to know if there are any of your character portrayals that you hope will fade away?

Wayans: Oh, for sure, I loved doing my original characters for the most part.  The original characters were characters that I’m most proud of and I get the most joy from people remembering and reminding me about Benita Butrelle and Little Magic.  Those were really my favorites.  My celebrity impersonations, I’m not too proud of, now in retrospect.  I mean, they were for the most part harmless and not out of any kind of mean spiritedness but, anything that I may have done that offended anybody is something that I’m not proud of.

Talk2SV:  A few weeks ago, I ran into David Alan Grier in New York and we spoke very briefly about his Broadway show, “Race.”

Wayans: Yeah, I saw him in it and he’s wonderful.

Talk2SV: Are we going to see an “In Living Color” reunion show?

Wayans: I don’t know, we often talk about it.  Keenen talks about it from time to time but it would require many different elements coming together and I just really don’t know if that’s ever going to happen but it is something that we like to talk about, so you never know.

Talk2SV: Tell me about your one-woman show and your new musical that’s coming up.

Wayans: Well, the new musical is something that I’ve written with a couple of friends and we’re looking for funding.  It’s in the very baby stages, but my one woman show, A Handsome Woman Retreats, which I’ve been touring with from place to place, is basically an autobiographical piece about a 10-day silent meditation retreat that I went on. (A while back) I was having these horrible panic attacks and my yoga teacher suggested that I go do this retreat and I learned so much about myself and so much about the source of my anxiety and the source of my panic.  It (my show) is a really funny but poignant journey to inner peace and it’s called “A Handsome Woman Retreats.”

Talk2SV: Forgive me for asking, but what gave you panic attacks?

Wayans: Well, you’ll have to see my one woman show in order to find out because it’s nothing I can really encapsulate in a sentence or two. I mean, it’s an entire journey with several things, a confluence of things that led to this state of anxiety and unrest that I had deep in my soul.  There were things that had to be resolved; some things that I didn’t even realize were a problem until I went on this retreat and in the silence so many things came up from my life that I had to face and work through.

Talk2SV: I admire people who can share their personal journey with an audience of strangers, essentially. Did you have to do much preparation to get ready to expose yourself that way?

Wayans:  Well, you know, you do.   I had wanted to do a one-woman show for many years but fear kept me from doing it.  When you get up to do a one-woman show --if you’re doing a show that’s not like about a historical figure or somebody other than yourself-- you have to bring it; you have to be naked.  It requires a lot of courage and that courage was something that I accumulated over a long period of years.  Years of growing and finally getting to a place where I just didn’t care about that anymore.  My story, the story that I wanted to share was more important than the fear I had of sharing it.  It is a process, you know.  You don’t just jump up over night and go, ‘hey I’m going to tell the world about all my scars.’ It usually doesn’t happen that way.

Talk2SV: What kind of feedback have you received from the show?

Wayans: It’s been tremendous the way people have responded to ‘The Handsome Retreat.’  It ha you s been such a success for me --in that regard-- to hear from so many people who were moved by the story, touched by the story or inspired to go find some quiet time for themselves so that they can really get in touch with their own issues.  That has been so rewarding, so in that sense, it enriches me that my show is helping to enrich and helping to inspire other people.

Talk2SV: Why did you title your one-woman show, “A Handsome Woman Retreats”?

Wayans: I call it ‘A Handsome Woman Retreats’ because when I was a little girl, my grandmother --who was one of those typical old-school southern women-- felt like I was not her idea of what beautiful was so she used to tell me that I was going to grow up to be a handsome woman instead of a pretty woman.  According to her, that I would grow up to be a handsome woman was one of the things that came to the surface while I was on this retreat and that is why I called it ‘A Handsome Woman Retreats.’

Talk2SV: Oh my, I love that. So, how can we see you in this one-woman show? Are you touring?

Wayans: Well, right now I’m busy working on another project that I’m writing, but I am touring with the show and it’s not like a tour where I can tell you, ‘oh next I’ll be in such and such.’ It’s just kind of as things come up and as I get invited to different places. I know I’m doing Dallas but that won’t be for another six months.  I have a producer working right now on bringing me to Chicago so, hopefully, that’s going to happen in the next few months.

Talk2SV: I want to comment on the hairstyle that you’re sporting. I love it.

Wayans: Oh, thank you.

Talk2SV: Have you been going “free and voluminous” for a while?

Wayans: Yeah, I have.  I’ve been rocking my bush for the past few years. I had braids for many years, then I just stopped doing those.  Beneath my braids, I always had my own ‘natural’ hair. I’ve always worn it natural.  I’ve just been letting it fly and doing what it wants to do and I love it.  I think it suits me.

Talk2SV: I think it’s very becoming and I speaks to embracing natural beauty, something that women of color don’t do enough of.

Wayans: Well, there again, they’re not getting encouragement; not getting the kind of encouragement you need. It’s so important to see role models around you and in the media-- images around you-- that support who you are.  Images that say, ‘Yeah, that’s good. Be who you are and natural beauty is beautiful.’ You don’t receive that message so you have to be really strong within and you have to cultivate your own role models and your own sense of beauty. You have to be very strong about that because the society at large isn’t patting you on the head and saying, ‘you go girl with your nappy bush!’

Talk2SV: I absolutely agree and I think it brings us full circle to Amy Hodgepodge.

Wayans: Yeah, it does, it really does because this is who I am.  This is who I came in the world and I’m going to embrace it and hopefully, you will embrace it too.

More on Kim Wayans

Born and raised in New York City, Kim Wayans moved to Los Angeles after graduating from college. She knocked around doing stand-up comedy and small parts on television before getting her big break on FOX’s “In Living Color," the groundbreaking sketch comedy show created by her brother, Keenen Ivory Wayans, and featuring brothers Damon, Shawn, and Marlon. On the show, Kim was known for her music video parodies and for the many original characters she created such as the popular Benita ("I ain't one to gossip, but ...") Butrell.  Kim next co-starred on the NBC series "In the House," opposite LL Cool J.   She followed that with guest stints on various TV sitcoms and parts in feature films including "Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in The Hood," "A Low Down Dirty Shame," and "Juwanna Man" co-starring Vivica A. Fox.

Looking to expand creatively, Kim moved behind the camera and added producing, writing, and directing to her resume working on the ABC sitcom, "My Wife and Kids."   In late 2007 and early 2008, Kim took to the stage where she wowed Los Angeles audiences with her dynamic one-woman show, “A Handsome Woman Retreats.”  Having a difficult time finding worthwhile roles, Kim took a cue from her brothers; she put pen to paper and wrote herself a show.  Based on her experiences growing up in the projects and surviving in the jungles of Hollywood, "A Handsome Woman Retreats" had its world première in October 2007.  Favorable word of mouth about the show continues to spread.  Since the premiere, Kim has performed the show as part of the 2008 Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival and as a headlining feature at The Cleveland Playhouse’s FusionFest 2008. In June, Kim was thrilled to bring her show to her hometown of New York City as part of the SoloNOVA Arts Festival at PS 122.