Keenan Ivory WayansSpeaker and Booking Agent Information

The second of ten children of Howell Wayans, a grocery store manager, and Elvira Wayans, a social worker, Keenan attended Seward Park High School, and then majored in engineering at Alabama's Tuskegee University. He dropped out during his senior year when the comedy bug hit him full force. Heavily influenced by Richard Pryor, he found only lukewarm success on the New York standup stage, deciding later to relocate to Los Angeles in order to pursue film and TV opportunities. After being glimpsed in bit parts in such TV shows as "CHiPs" (1977) and "Cheers" (1982) and movies as Star 80 (1983), in which he played a standup comic, he found his first real break in a sudsy TV drama--the short-lived military series "For Love and Honor" (1983), in which he had a recurring role as Pvt. Duke Johnson, who aspired to become a professional boxer.

After hooking up with comedian Eddie Murphy and earning writing credit on the star's raunchy live performance feature Eddie Murphy Raw (1987), Keenen's visibility rose. Partnering with actor/director Robert Townsend, he had his first film hit with Hollywood Shuffle (1987), a pointed satire highlighting the plight of the black actor in Hollywood. Done in hilariously stereotypical fashion, one great bit had detective Townsend battling a blaxploitation villain named Jerry Curl (Wayans).

Contact a Speaker Booking Agent to inquire about Keenan Ivory Wayans speaker booking, speaking fee details, and availability.