Dwayne Perkins

Last updated

Dwayne Perkins
Dwayne Perkins 2016.JPG
Dwayne Perkins 2016
Born (1971-03-21) March 21, 1971 (age 53)
Brooklyn, New York, US
MediumStand-up, television, radio
Years active1995–present

Dwayne Perkins (born March 21, 1971) is an American stand-up comedian from Brooklyn, New York, currently residing in Los Angeles. He has made appearances on Conan , Comedy Central, and as a regular correspondent on The Jay Leno Show . In August 2012, he was selected by Rolling Stone magazine as one of their "Five Comics to Watch". [1] In October 2015, he was the artist-in-residence at the Rotterdam International Comedy Festival. [2] [3]

Contents

Stage

Perkins earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the New York Institute of Technology. [4] After emceeing events in college, Perkins began performing at the Uptown Comedy Club [1] in Harlem. [5] After graduation, he moved to Boston in 1994. [6] While performing at The Comedy Studio in Boston in 1999, he was scouted by Late Night with Conan O'Brien , [7] and he made his television stand-up comedy debut on that show in July of the same year. [8] During this period, he also appeared in the New Faces of Comedy showcase at the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal. [9] [10]

In 2003, Perkins moved to Los Angeles. [11] He has indicated that his primary clubs in the area are The Comedy & Magic Club and the Laugh Factory. [12] Other notable area clubs where he has performed include the Hollywood Improv, [13] [14] The Comedy Store, [15] [16] and The Ice House. [17] [18] Notable clubs outside Los Angeles where he has headlined include Gotham City Comedy Club [19] in New York City and the Punch Line [20] [21] in San Francisco.

In addition to performing in the United States and Canada, [22] Perkins has also performed in Europe, [2] [3] the United Kingdom, South Africa, [23] India, [24] the United Arab Emirates, [25] Hong Kong, [5] Singapore, [26] and China. [27] [28]

Comedy style

Perkins has indicated that he prefers to appeal to broad audiences rather than to narrowly defined audience segments. [5] [29] [30] His earliest stage time was in front of predominantly black audiences in Harlem, followed by a period in which he played to predominantly white audiences in Boston, and he credits both experiences with influencing his style. [5] He has also indicated that he prefers subtler material over more confrontational approaches. [27] [31] While he includes material about race in his act, he has indicated that it is not the central focus of his material. [5] His delivery style has been characterized as "likeable" and "matter-of-fact." [32] [33]

Television

YearTitleNotesRef(s)
1999–2008 Late Night with Conan O'Brien 4 episodes [8] [34] [35] [36]
2000 Premium Blend 1 episode [37]
2004 Comedy Central Presents: Dwayne Perkins 1 episode [38]
2004Faking It1 episode [39]
2005–09 Last Call with Carson Daly 3 episodes [40] [41] [42]
2007 Last Comic Standing 2 episodes [43] [44] [45]
2007 The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson 1 episode [46]
2008 History of the Joke TV documentary [47]
2008 Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen 1 episode [48]
2009–10 The Jay Leno Show 13 episodes [49] [50] [51] [52] [53] [54] [55] [56] [57] [58] [59] [60] [61]
2009 The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien 1 episode [62]
2011–15 Tosh.0 and Wild n out (date unknown) 4 episodes [63] [64] [65] [66]
2012–13 Conan 2 episodes [67] [68]
2014 The Arsenio Hall Show 1 episode [69]
2016Take NoteNetflix

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References

  1. 1 2 Berlin, Erika (August 28, 2012). "Five Comics to Watch". Rolling Stone.
  2. 1 2 "International Comedy Festival Rotterdam Was a Great Success". October 11, 2015. New Yorker and Artist-in-residence Dwayne Perkins...
  3. 1 2 "Dwayne Perkins". Our Comedian-in-Residence is coming all the way from New York City! Dwayne wants to get to know our port town well....
  4. "New York Institute of Technology Magazine Spring 2021".
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  6. "Dwayne Perkins". The Comedy Studio. Dwayne Perkins, an import from New York City, moved to Boston in the summer of 1994.
  7. Blowen, Michael (December 26, 1999). "Best Comedy of 1999: Old friends, new laughs, and a solid scene". Boston Globe.
  8. 1 2 "Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Rudy Giuliani, Dwayne Perkins, Jeff Greenfield". Late Night With Conan O'Brien. Season 6. Episode 1128. July 15, 1999. NBC.
  9. "A special re-running of the SHECKY! coverage of the 1999 Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal: New Faces Premier...Old Faces Continue Partying!". Shecky Magazine. We took a packed shuttle to Café Campus (Kam-POOSE) to catch the first New Faces of Comedy. On the bill were...Dwayne Perkins...
  10. "Just for Laughs roster, Series 1–10" (PDF). Just for Laughs. Show 7: Tommy Tiernan, Rocky Laporte, Lee Mack, Dwayne Perkins, The Kinsey Sick, Bonnie McFarlane, Angelo Tsarouchas
  11. Mannis, Ari (November 18, 2013). "Run The Light With Dwayne Perkins". Stand Up Talk. I have lived in LA 10 years now
  12. Mannis, Ari (November 18, 2013). "Run The Light With Dwayne Perkins". Stand Up Talk. Ari: Where is your favorite place to perform in LA? Dwayne: The Comedy and Magic Club...I also really like the Laugh Factory
  13. "DWAYNE PERKINS Friday, March 29, 2013 8:00 pm". Hollywood Improv. March 29, 2013.
  14. "DWAYNE PERKINS with Frazer Smith and Tom Segura Friday, January 03, 2014 8:00 pm". Hollywood Improv. January 3, 2014.
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  17. "ComedyJuice w/ Dwayne Perkins, Annie Lederman and Francisco Ramos Thursday, May 16, 2013 10:00 pm". The Ice House. May 16, 2013.
  18. "Recycled Babies Wednesday, June 19, 2013 8:30 pm". The Ice House. June 19, 2013.
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  24. "CounterCulture : 'Hot Chocolate for the Mind' With Dwayne Perkins & Azeem Banatwalla". MeraParty. September 12, 2013.
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  29. Mannis, Ari (November 18, 2013). "Run The Light With Dwayne Perkins". Stand Up Talk. I think too many guys now define themselves by their group or demographic, but I grew up on comedy before it was marketing-based.
  30. Marks, Zander (May 3, 2013). "Author Zander Marks and Comedian Dwayne Perkins talk Books, Comedy and Vampires". I Smell Sheep. Zander Marks: There wasn't any 'them' to the whole piece. Dwayne Perkins: I don't think you can afford to leave anybody out. A stand-up show is a community event.
  31. Marks, Zander (May 3, 2013). "Author Zander Marks and Comedian Dwayne Perkins talk Books, Comedy and Vampires". I Smell Sheep. Stand-up doesn't leave much room for subtlety but amongst most comics I know, I'm probably one of the best at making points without beating my chest while doing it.
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  36. "Late Night with Conan O'Brien: America Ferrera, Judd Apatow, Dwayne Perkins.". Late Night With Conan O'Brien. August 5, 2008. NBC.
  37. "Premium Blend: Jimmy Pardo, Dwayne Perkins, Leo Allen, Emmy Laybourne". Premium Blend. Season 3. Episode 11. February 15, 2000. Comedy Central.
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  63. "Bug in Mouth Reporter". Tosh.0. Season 3. Episode 14. June 7, 2011. Comedy Central.
  64. "Redneck Stuntman". Tosh.0. Season 3. Episode 24. October 4, 2011. Comedy Central.
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