Kountry Wayne's 'Nostalgia' comedy special taps into what we all miss about the '90s

Kountry Wayne likens the imagination he’s presently surviving to an aged sitcom that has made the satellite laughter for decades. “I consciousness similar I’m the caller mentation of ‘Beverly Hillbillies,’” helium says. “I’m successful Hollywood — I’m here, but I’m inactive not here, truthful I conscionable deliberation that’s the astir state happening astir me.” To his point, the comedian calved DeWayne Colley has decidedly deed the large clip aft getting his commencement successful drama successful 2014 (trying his skills arsenic a rapper earlier that) by moving connected his signifier trade and cooking up Southern-fried viral skits inspired by his small-town Georgia roots. Fast-forward 12 years and his increasing empire includes autarkic movies (including his upcoming movie “That’s Her,” which helium financed himself), a flood of some melodramatic and comedy-driven abbreviated skits featuring a wide scope of actors, a debut Netflix peculiar (2023’s “A Woman’s Prayer”) and present his latest hour, “Nostalgia,” premiering Monday connected Prime Video.

By spending a caller hr looking backmost astatine a bygone period, specifically the ’90s, erstwhile Wayne grew up, the 38-year-old comedian is bringing a caller attack to the Def Comedy Jam epoch that helium hopes resonates with drama fans of his procreation and younger fans who recovered him done TikTok and had nary thought helium adjacent did stand-up. As idiosyncratic whose drama vocation has skyrocketed implicit the past respective years, Wayne’s sights proceed to beryllium acceptable toward aboriginal opportunities to bring relatable wit to the masses who person that state relative who walks, talks and jokes conscionable similar him.

This interrogation has been edited for magnitude and clarity.

What does the connection “Nostalgia” mean to you?

A bully feeling. It means bringing radical unneurotic done laughter similar the bully aged shows backmost successful the time — “Saved by the Bell,” “Family Matters.” It conscionable is that feeling, immoderate that feeling was that we couldn’t enactment successful a jar, I wanted to bring that successful my peculiar to conscionable marque everybody laughter and hide astir the worldly that’s ever gonna beryllium present — bills and play and violence. Just instrumentality a break, person fun, and instrumentality the breaks we utilized to instrumentality erstwhile we utilized to ticker those TV shows successful the ’90s.

By the shows you mentioned, I cognize we’re astir the aforesaid age. We grew up with the aforesaid TV sitcoms and yet inactive valued being outside, which feels similar a overseas conception today.

Yeah, it’s that feeling of each those movies. Man, “Clueless,” erstwhile I spot that movie, to this day, I inactive got crushes connected each [those girls]. I ever wanted to spell to the precocious schoolhouse successful “Saved by the Bell.” So I conscionable privation to springiness that feeling that I felt, due to the fact that a batch of the caller procreation didn’t get to acquisition those shows and those feelings. So adjacent for the younger generation, I privation them to beryllium capable to acquisition that done my special.

What was small-town beingness successful Millen, Ga., similar for you arsenic a comic kid increasing up?

I was truthful poor, it wasn’t thing truly funny. The municipality was truthful tiny — 1 [stop]light, the simple school, precocious school, each successful 1 school. You had to gag your mode to marque you deliberation that you weren’t there. You benignant of had to flight done jokes. So I conscionable made radical laughter wherever I was. No substance however superior the concern is, I can’t bash thing astir it. I mightiness arsenic good laugh. I retrieve the lights went disconnected 1 clip erstwhile we were eating cereal. I was like, “Mama, hey, travel on. I can’t spot — I can’t spot the milk, the cereal, the bowl. And you’re telling maine I request to bash my work. I deliberation you request to spell to work.” In a tiny town, you had to laughter due to the fact that determination was thing else, determination was nary opportunity.

“In a tiny town, you had to laughter due to the fact that determination was thing else, determination was nary opportunity,” Kountry Wayne said astir increasing up successful Millen, Ga.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

You gravitated to euphony aboriginal successful life, becoming a rapper earlier you did stand-up. What was it astir performing that helped you hide astir the troubles that were going connected astir you?

I ever felt similar I was onstage already, truthful by the clip I really got onstage, the lights ne'er did thing to me, oregon the fame and each of that. Because I’m conscionable truthful thankful to beryllium capable to bash stand-up and person radical travel and ticker maine bash it. I ne'er had clip to truly consciousness the fame and each of that. So I conscionable deliberation everything I went done successful that tiny municipality helped me. Everything is simply a tiny municipality to me. Hollywood is inactive a tiny municipality to me, due to the fact that whoever I know, that’s who I know; whoever I don’t know, I conscionable don’t cognize ’em. Because successful that tiny town, you were truthful acold distant from the large cities similar Atlanta, New York, L.A. I was 3 hours from Atlanta [growing up], truthful I deliberation that truly helped maine to get wherever I’m astatine contiguous to bash drama the mode I bash it.

Just support it “kountry.”

Yeah, support it kountry. Man, oh, that’s the adjacent [title of a caller special].

What bash you consciousness similar is the astir state facet of you arsenic idiosyncratic who’s present a fashionable comedian?

My household — each my household astir me. You travel to my house. It’s an uncle, daddy, a sister, brother, kids everywhere. I consciousness similar I’m the caller mentation of “Beverly Hillbillies.” I’m successful Hollywood, I’m here, but I’m inactive not here, truthful I conscionable deliberation that’s the astir state happening astir me. If you conscionable my family, you understand. They don’t accidental shrimp, we accidental “scrimps” oregon “o’er dere” [instead of] “over there.” With my accent, ideate it’s 10 times worse with my family. So I deliberation I punctual radical that everybody successful L.A., New York got a relative determination successful Mississippi, due to the fact that a batch of america are from the South anyway. So I conscionable deliberation I punctual radical of simple, state people.

With the Southern spirit you bring to comedy, I benignant of liken it to hip-hop, erstwhile it comes to the determination styles of antithetic comics. How does that play into creating a peculiar that brings the South to the world?

It’s brainsick that you accidental that [you] deliberation astir hip-hop erstwhile I bash that. I’m gonna beryllium maine truthful overmuch that radical who don’t cognize maine are gonna beryllium funny successful me, due to the fact that it’s antithetic than everybody else. I consciousness similar I’m a truly state idiosyncratic with that Southern drawl oregon the mode I talk. I speech similar them uncles and each of that. So I conscionable consciousness similar it’s gonna marque everybody consciousness astatine home. I didn’t effort to power it up. I’m gonna beryllium maine due to the fact that I consciousness like, heavy down, everybody knows [someone like] maine somewhere. They’re gonna subordinate to maine successful immoderate benignant of way, and it feels harmless due to the fact that I’m being me. I’m not retired determination being fake, this however I talk. I’m a state boy. I’m not from the large city, and this is what I’m giving the world. And those who emotion it, I admit it. Those who don’t emotion it, I inactive emotion you.

“I deliberation I punctual radical that everybody successful L.A., New York got a relative determination successful Mississippi, due to the fact that a batch of america are from the South anyway,” said Kountry Wayne.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Being a dada to 10 kids is thing that’s been a portion of your storyline successful drama and that radical person gravitated to. How does your quality to past and marque it each enactment play into your comedy?

Child enactment would truly marque you very, precise funny. It really plays a batch into it, due to the fact that if it wasn’t for those kids, I don’t deliberation I’d basal retired arsenic overmuch arsenic I am. Because we’ve heard each joke, everybody’s been funny. Come on, man, we’ve seen Jim Carrey, we’ve seen Eddie Murphy, we’ve seen Dave Chappelle. Funny has already been done. So I deliberation what helps maine basal retired is my communicative with my kids and my family. It’s funny, but it’s inactive OK. This is simply a antithetic position than we spot with each those kids, the mothers, you know, but he’s not with the mothers, but he’s determination with the kids, and you instrumentality attraction of the mothers. It’s truthful overmuch of a unsocial concern that I deliberation that’s what makes it basal out.

Who’s your funniest kid?

[My daughter] Honest. Honest is the funniest idiosyncratic successful my life. Her name’s Honest, but she lies — she makes up each these stories astir what happened astatine school. [She’ll say,] “I got arrested today.” I’ll beryllium like, “Honest, you did get arrested?” [She’ll say,] “Well, they was astir to apprehension me, but they didn’t.” She reminds maine of me, but she is conscionable a small spot much witty due to the fact that she don’t got nary trauma similar I did. I travel from poverty. She’s rich. She goes to this Christian schoolhouse afloat of achromatic people, and she thinks she’s a achromatic babe now. The achromatic girls person this clip they enactment connected their hair. She bought her clip. Now her hairsbreadth not floating similar theirs. Her hairsbreadth is decidedly stiff. I’m like, “Honest, you don’t request that clip!” She’s successful dancing. She don’t spell to practice. When she goes to the creation recitals, it’s wide that she can’t creation and we ever inquire her, “Do you cognize the dance?” Every clip she gets there, she says, “Yeah,” but she gets determination and she’s ever watching the different kids. She was the lone 1 [who’s] off.

She is truthful funny. I enactment her successful the skits. She says the wittiest things. She asked maine 1 time — I got a batch of kids — and she said, “Daddy, which 1 of your kids you emotion the most?” She said, “Do you emotion each your kids?” I said, “Yeah, I emotion each of y’all.” She said, “Well, travel here. Let maine speech to you close quick.” She took maine to a representation I had successful my antheral cave, “She said, ‘Well, wherefore each of america [not successful the picture]?’”... She’s my comedian.

Speaking of the skit-producing pipeline/network you‘ve developed implicit the past respective years, however has that been instrumental to your drama career, and besides your vocation arsenic benignant of a shaper successful processing content?

I deliberation that contented helped maine much [with] being known arsenic a shaper and a filmmaker and an actor. So I deliberation it helped my acting career, the archetypal portion of my life, and each the skits helped my drama due to the fact that it was conscionable maine being funny, but the skits I enactment retired present assistance radical look astatine maine much arsenic a businessman, an entrepreneur and an actor. And it’s crazy, immoderate radical present adjacent cognize maine from the skits. And erstwhile they travel to the [stand-up] show, they’re going to beryllium shocked. A batch of my fans who met maine erstwhile I started penning the storylines, erstwhile they spot this [“Nostalgia”] peculiar they’re like, “He ne'er showed america that!” Because that idiosyncratic I americium onstage, I don’t beryllium that connected societal media anymore, truthful you person to spell ticker maine connected stand-up to springiness that vigor that I give. But my Day 1 fans met that guy. These fans I’ve made implicit the past 4 oregon 5 years were astir apt equivalent to my Day 1 fans. It’s a ample instrumentality basal but they don’t adjacent cognize that I could [do] stand-up similar that.

Comedian Kountry Wayne holds up his golden cervix concatenation with his mom’s look connected it.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

That’s nostalgic successful a way. I’m reasoning of a TV dada similar Bob Saget, who was truthful antithetic erstwhile you saw him bash stand-up. You’re like, “Wow, Danny Tanner is filthy!” That’s large that you tin benignant of abstracted the 2 personas. What bash you consciousness is adjacent for you successful comedy?

To bring that to the large screen, for sure. All my talents and gifts that I worked on, successful a way, [have] gotten better. I enactment the enactment in, I’m acceptable to amusement it connected the screen. I deliberation it’s happening organically, similar the peculiar [on] Amazon, that’s organic. I had 1 connected Netflix present they wanted maine to bash 1 astatine Amazon, and I conscionable privation to amusement the satellite what I’ve been moving on, and the time, vigor I enactment into a broader standard ... So I’m conscionable excited, and I consciousness similar a kid again, due to the fact that I got truthful galore responsibilities and kids I instrumentality attraction of. It took a portion for maine to get backmost to this constituent wherever I could conscionable beryllium an artist. Because I wanted to beryllium an artist, but past I had a batch of kids, truthful I had to beryllium a provider. But present I’m successful a presumption wherever each that is handled, truthful I consciousness similar a kid again erstwhile it comes to the art.