{"id":2339142,"date":"2026-03-20T19:59:35","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T19:59:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2339142"},"modified":"2026-03-20T19:59:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T19:59:35","slug":"keep-it-kountry-how-kountry-wayne-refused-to-code-switch-and-became-comedys-most-authentic-voice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/keep-it-kountry-how-kountry-wayne-refused-to-code-switch-and-became-comedys-most-authentic-voice\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Keep it Kountry’: How Kountry Wayne refused to code-switch and became comedy’s most authentic voice"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Kountry Wayne likens the dream he\u2019s currently living to an old sitcom that has made the world laugh for decades. \u201cI feel like I\u2019m the new version of \u2018Beverly Hillbillies,\u2019\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m in Hollywood \u2014 I\u2019m here, but I\u2019m still not here<\/i>,<\/i> so I just think that\u2019s the most country thing about me.\u201d To his point, the comedian born DeWayne Colley has definitely hit the big time after getting his start in comedy in 2014 (trying his skills as a rapper before that) by working on his stage craft and cooking up Southern-fried viral skits inspired by his small-town Georgia roots. Fast-forward 12 years and his growing empire includes independent movies (including his upcoming film \u201cThat\u2019s Her,\u201d which he financed himself), a flood of both dramatic and comedy-driven short skits featuring a wide range of actors, a debut Netflix special (2023\u2019s \u201cA Woman\u2019s Prayer\u201d) and now his latest hour, \u201cNostalgia,\u201d on Prime Video. <\/p>\n

By spending a new hour looking back at a bygone period, specifically the \u201990s, when Wayne grew up, the 38-year-old comedian is bringing a fresh approach to the Def Comedy Jam era that he hopes resonates with comedy fans of his generation and younger fans who found him through TikTok and had no idea he even did stand-up. As someone whose comedy career has skyrocketed over the last several years, Wayne\u2019s sights continue to be set toward future opportunities to bring relatable humor to the masses who have that country cousin who walks, talks and jokes just like him. <\/p>\n

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.<\/i><\/p>\n

What does the word \u201cNostalgia\u201d mean to you?<\/b><\/p>\n

A good feeling. It means bringing people together through laughter like the good old shows back in the day \u2014 \u201cSaved by the Bell,\u201d \u201cFamily Matters.\u201d It just is that feeling, whatever that feeling was that we couldn\u2019t put in a jar, I wanted to bring that in my special to just make everybody laugh and forget about the stuff that\u2019s always gonna be here \u2014 bills and drama and violence. Just take a break, have fun, and take the breaks we used to take when we used to watch those TV shows in the \u201990s.<\/p>\n

By the shows you mentioned<\/b>,<\/b> I know we\u2019re about the same age. We grew up with the same TV sitcoms and yet still valued being outside, which feels like a foreign concept today.<\/b><\/p>\n

Yeah, it\u2019s that feeling of all those movies. Man, \u201cClueless,\u201d when I see that movie, to this day, I still got crushes on all [those girls]. I always wanted to go to the high school in \u201cSaved by the Bell.\u201d So I just want to give that feeling that I felt, because a lot of the new generation didn\u2019t get to experience those shows and those feelings. So even for the younger generation, I want them to be able to experience that through my special.<\/p>\n

What was small<\/b>–<\/b>town life in Millen, <\/b>Ga.,<\/b> like for you as a funny kid growing up?<\/b><\/p>\n

I was so poor, it wasn\u2019t nothing really funny. The town was so small \u2014 one [stop]light, the elementary school, high school, all in one school. You had to joke your way to make you think that you weren\u2019t there. You kind of had to escape through jokes. So I just made people laugh wherever I was. No matter how serious the situation is, I can\u2019t do anything about it. I might as well laugh. I remember the lights went off one time when we were eating cereal. I was like, \u201cMama, hey, come on. I can\u2019t see \u2014 I can\u2019t see the milk, the cereal, the bowl. And you\u2019re telling me I need to do my work. I think you need to go to work.\u201d In a small town, you had to laugh because there was nothing else, there was no opportunity.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIn a small town, you had to laugh because there was nothing else, there was no opportunity,\u201d Kountry Wayne said about growing up in Millen, Ga. <\/p>\n

(Christina House \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

You gravitated to music early in life, becoming a rapper before you did stand-up. What was it about performing that helped you forget about the troubles that were going on around you?<\/b><\/p>\n

I always felt like I was onstage already, so by the time I actually got onstage, the lights never did nothing to me, or the fame and all of that. Because I\u2019m just so thankful to be able to do stand-up and have people come and watch me do it. I never had time to really feel the fame and all of that. So I just think everything I went through in that small town helped me. Everything is a small town to me. Hollywood is still a small town to me, because whoever I know, that\u2019s who I know; whoever I don\u2019t know, I just don\u2019t know \u2019em. Because in that small town, you were so far away from the big cities like Atlanta, New York, L.A. I was three hours from Atlanta [growing up], so I think that really helped me to get where I\u2019m at today to do comedy the way I do it.<\/p>\n

Just keep it \u201ckountry.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

Yeah, keep it kountry. Man, oh, that\u2019s the next [title of a new special].<\/p>\n

What do you feel like is the most country aspect of you as someone who\u2019s now a popular comedian?<\/b><\/p>\n

My family \u2014 all my family around me. You come to my house. It\u2019s an uncle, daddy, a sister, brother, kids everywhere. I feel like I\u2019m the new version of \u201cBeverly Hillbillies.\u201d I\u2019m in Hollywood, I\u2019m here, but I\u2019m still not here<\/i>,<\/i> so I just think that\u2019s the most country thing about me. If you meet my family, you understand. They don\u2019t say shrimp, we say \u201cscrimps\u201d or \u201co\u2019er dere\u201d [instead of] \u201cover there.\u201d With my accent, imagine it\u2019s 10 times worse with my family. So I think I remind people that everybody in L.A., New York got a cousin somewhere in Mississippi, because a lot of us are from the South anyway. So I just think I remind people of simple, country people.<\/p>\n

With the Southern flavor you bring to comedy, I kind of liken it to hip-hop<\/b>, when it comes to the regional style<\/b>s<\/b> of different comics. How does that play into creating a special that brings the South to the world?<\/b><\/p>\n

It\u2019s crazy that you say that [you] think about hip-hop when I do that. I\u2019m gonna be me so much that people who don\u2019t know me are gonna be interested in me, because it\u2019s different than everybody else. I feel like I\u2019m a really country person with that Southern drawl or the way I talk. I talk like them uncles and all of that. So I just feel like it\u2019s gonna make everybody feel at home. I didn\u2019t try to switch it up. I\u2019m gonna be me because I feel like, deep down, everybody knows [someone like] me somewhere. They\u2019re gonna relate to me in some kind of way, and it feels safe because I\u2019m being me. I\u2019m not out there being fake, this how I talk. I\u2019m a country boy. I\u2019m not from the big city, and this is what I\u2019m giving the world. And those who love it, I appreciate it. Those who don\u2019t love it, I still love you.<\/p>\n

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\"Comedian <\/picture>\n
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\u201cI think I remind people that everybody in L.A., New York got a cousin somewhere in Mississippi, because a lot of us are from the South anyway,\u201d said Kountry Wayne. <\/p>\n

(Christina House \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

Being a dad to 10 kids is something that\u2019s been a part of your storyline in comedy <\/b>and <\/b>that people have gravitated to. How does your ability to survive and make it all work play into your comedy?<\/b><\/p>\n

Child support would really make you very, very funny. It actually plays a lot into it, because if it wasn\u2019t for those kids, I don\u2019t think I\u2019d stand out as much as I am. Because we\u2019ve heard every joke, everybody\u2019s been funny. Come on, man, we\u2019ve seen Jim Carrey, we\u2019ve seen Eddie Murphy, we\u2019ve seen Dave Chappelle. Funny has already been done. So I think what helps me stand out is my story with my kids and my family. It\u2019s funny, but it\u2019s still OK. This is a different perspective than we see with all those kids, the mothers, you know, but he\u2019s not with the mothers, but he\u2019s there with the kids, and you take care of the mothers. It\u2019s so much of a unique situation that I think that\u2019s what makes it stand out.<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s your funniest kid? <\/b><\/p>\n

[My daughter] Honest. Honest is the funniest person in my life. Her name\u2019s Honest, but she lies \u2014 she makes up all these stories about what happened at school. [She\u2019ll say,] \u201cI got arrested today.\u201d I\u2019ll be like, \u201cHonest, you did get arrested?\u201d [She\u2019ll say,] \u201cWell, they was about to arrest me, but they didn\u2019t.\u201d She reminds me of me, but she is just a little bit more witty because she don\u2019t got no trauma like I did. I come from poverty. She\u2019s rich. She goes to this Christian school full of white people, and she thinks she\u2019s a white baby now. The white girls have this clip they put on their hair. She bought her clip. Now her hair not floating like theirs. Her hair is definitely stiff. I\u2019m like, \u201cHonest, you don\u2019t need that clip!\u201d She\u2019s in dancing. She don\u2019t go to practice. When she goes to the dance recitals, it\u2019s clear that she can\u2019t dance and we always ask her, \u201cDo you know the dance?\u201d Every time she gets there, she says, \u201cYeah,\u201d but she gets there and she\u2019s always watching the other kids. She was the only one [who\u2019s] off. <\/p>\n

She is so funny. I put her in the skits. She says the wittiest things. She asked me one day \u2014 I got a lot of kids \u2014 and she said, \u201cDaddy, which one of your kids you love the most?\u201d She said, \u201cDo you love all your kids?\u201d I said, \u201cYeah, I love all of y\u2019all.\u201d She said, \u201cWell, come here. Let me talk to you right quick.\u201d She took me to a picture I had in my man cave, \u201cShe said, \u2018Well, why all of us [not in the picture]?\u2019\u201d… She\u2019s my comedian.<\/p>\n

Speaking of the skit-producing pipeline\/network you<\/b>\u2018ve<\/b> developed over the last several years, how has that been <\/b>instrumental to your comedy career, and also your career as sort of a producer in developing content?<\/b><\/p>\n

I think that content helped me more [with] being known as a producer and a filmmaker and an actor. So I think it helped my acting career, the first part of my life, and all the skits helped my comedy because it was just me being funny, but the skits I put out now help people look at me more as a businessman, an entrepreneur and an actor. And it\u2019s crazy, some people now even know me from the skits. And when they come to the [stand-up] show, they\u2019re going to be shocked. A lot of my fans who met me when I started writing the storylines, when they see this [\u201cNostalgia\u201d] special they\u2019re like, \u201cHe never showed us that!\u201d Because that person I am onstage, I don\u2019t be that on social media anymore, so you have to go watch me on stand-up to give that energy that I give. But my Day 1 fans met that guy. These fans I\u2019ve made over the last four or five years were probably equivalent to my Day 1 fans. It\u2019s a large fan base but they don\u2019t even know that I could [do] stand-up like that.<\/p>\n

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\"Comedian <\/picture>\n
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Comedian Kountry Wayne holds up his gold neck chain with his mom\u2019s face on it.<\/p>\n

(Christina House \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

That\u2019s nostalgic in a way<\/b>.<\/b> I\u2019m thinking of a TV dad like Bob Saget, who was so different when you saw him do stand-up. You\u2019re like, \u201cWow, Danny Tanner is filthy!\u201d That\u2019s great that you can kind of separate the two personas. What do you feel <\/b>is next for you in comedy? <\/b><\/p>\n

To bring that to the big screen, for sure. All my talents and gifts that I worked on, in a way, [have] gotten better. I put the work in, I\u2019m ready to show it on the screen. I think it\u2019s happening organically, like the special [on] Amazon, that\u2019s organic. I had one on Netflix now they wanted me to do one at Amazon, and I just want to show the world what I\u2019ve been working on, and the time, energy I put into a broader scale … So I\u2019m just excited, and I feel like a kid again, because I got so many responsibilities and kids I take care of. It took a while for me to get back to this point where I could just be an artist. Because I wanted to be an artist, but then I had a lot of kids, so I had to be a provider. But now I\u2019m in a position where all that is handled, so I feel like a kid again when it comes to the art.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.latimes.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kountry Wayne likens the dream he\u2019s currently living to an old sitcom that has made the world laugh for decades. \u201cI feel like I\u2019m the new version of \u2018Beverly Hillbillies,\u2019\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m in Hollywood \u2014 I\u2019m here, but I\u2019m still not here, so I just think that\u2019s the most country thing about me.\u201d To […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2339143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2339142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Keep-it-Kountry-How-Kountry-Wayne-refused-to-code-switch-and.com2F592F6d2F90ec05dd4a9d9ee11223286f-scaled.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2339142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2339142"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2339142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2339144,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2339142\/revisions\/2339144"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2339143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2339142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2339142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2339142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}