Wayne Brady - Actor/Singer

By: Dominick A. Miserandino

Wayne Brady is best known for being a comic, but his real passion is in singing. He will release his debut album A Long Time Comingthis September, and features covers of some all-time favorites. TheCelebrityCafe.com's Dominick Miserandino spoke with Wayne about music and performing.


DM: I saw the track list for the album. How did you take so many styles and narrow it down?

WB: I went with the songs that I wanted to sing. I wish I had more of a scientific answer. We went with songs to go with change. In this political climate, with Obama and everything happening, we picked songs we felt right for covering. It was also picking songs I loved as a kid. We wanted to do Sammy Davis Jr. I love Sammy Davis Jr. but I didn't want to do an impersonation of him. I wanted to do my own take. The album took me so long to do because I didn't feel I had enough experience yet to really write songs. I didn't want to be a novelty actor-cover song act.

DM: I've seen you sing in every genre you can imagine. How do you reflect everything you can do on this one album?

WB: I don't think I did everything I can do on this album. If I did that would be doing myself a kind of disservice because it would be giving everyone the entire thing and then there'd be nothing left. What I think I did do is take the diversity people know me for and expound on that. Hey I'm this guy on TV and film doing this this and this and now I'm here doing the same thing in a music form. But it's not every single thing that I love to do. There's a lot of it but it's not the complete package. Because I think I've got a few more albums in me to paint a complete picture. I'm still growing. This is my first album out to date and I don't know what the response will be. I hope it's favorable. Even now I know I can come up with better things to put on this album because I'm growing.

DM: I've read about how people are surprised you've come out with the album, but really I've always known you can sing from watching you on TV.

WB: If you look at this guy, this Wayne Brady, in the last 10 or 12 years I've been on television and people think they know me from when they caught me. Hey that's the funny guy from Whose Line Is It Anyway, or that talk show host, or isn't that the guy who played in a couple comedy movies? So what I am trying to do with album is coming back to being the whole person. I grew up on music. That's why a lot of my comedy is music based. That's where I come from. I'm not a stand up. My comedy and acting and even me as a person is all channelled through music.

DM: I think that was clear on Whose Line for example. I'm sure Drew Carey is a brilliant singer …

WB: Uh, no. (laughing)

D: ... but in every episode you were singing something.

WB: That's because the producers wanted to sing the hell out of me. They didn't have a person like that on the British version. That was much to my advantage. That's great because I could carve my own name. I could hold my own because I'm a physical comedian and I can come up punchlines in a heart beat but so can the other guys. And then you hear a song title and I could take the competition to the next level. But I could only do that because of my musical background - doing cover bands on cruise ships, jingles on the radio and horrible doo wap groups - that I was able to translate into comedy.

DM: Do you find yourself to be a jack of all trades and master of none, so to speak?

WB: I wouldn't say that because my ego won't let me. I wouldn't have come this far if I were masterless. But I don't think you should ever say you've mastered anything because there's always someone faster, stronger, bigger, better. You always have to be on top of your game. That's whay I'm having fun with my show in Vegas because I'm on top of my game singing five nights a week, which put in me in shape to do the album. That's why I don't profess to be a master because I'm in training for my black belt.

DM: What do you consider yourself at heart?

WB: At heart I'm a performer. The music, the comedy, the dancing, the acting. It's all a part of my being. If any of those pieces were missing you wouldn't be talking to me now because I couldn't have gotten to the place to make the album I wanted to make at the time I wanted to. I think at heart I'm an old school performer like Danny Kaye and Nat King Cole. You don't see too many brothers with Judy Garland in their repertoire. I think I go back to the day of the Gene Kellys of the world who had to do everything because that's the way it was. You had to be able to sing your ass off, turn around and act and so much more. Now everyone says no, I'm an actor that's not what I do. Now if you don't have an acting job, you're a waiter and I've never been a waiter. I've nothing against the hard, fine art of waiting but I'd rather act.

DM: So you were prepared for some difficulties going into this album?

WB: The reason I stress about the album because I'm worried how people will react to it. I knew that going into making this record that some people would like it, some people would know that I am a singer and not a guy trying to cash in, and then there would be some people who would sit back and hate it.

I still am bracing myself. I was so nervous this morning when I logged in to iTunes to see if anybody had reviewed the songs. When I checked this morning there seven. Six were glowing reviews, and then there was one. So of course I go to the one that had only two stars. This guy didn't even say this song sucks. He said 'I listened to this song and I didn't even hear it because I could only think of Wayne Brady in his pimp role from Chappelle Show. It's so funny how some complete stranger in the anonymity of cyber space can completely kick you in the balls like that. But that's just one opinion and a valid one in his view and I need to be prepared for it.

Talk to other readers about this story.