I sat down with CBS, and we talked about me developing a show for them. At the time, I was meeting with a lot of networks. And I told them, 'I don't want to be acting on your show as the token black guy. I want to do something that will change a network and will change the way people view African-Americans on TV.'
— Jermaine Fowler
I make my own opportunities no matter what.
Man, that's all I can do, just be myself.
Growing up, I've always made a point to not be placed in a box.
I was always causing trouble in school. Doing impressions of Bart Simpson, interrupting class - I liked the attention and entertaining people.
Society, they look down on teenage moms and dads, but I think those people are just jealous because they'll never know what it's like to be raised by someone who's still being raised.
I like whatever I'm doing to have depth.
I'm pretty much a comic that dwells on what happened to me instead of what's happening to me.
I worked check-to-check, worked in dead-end jobs my whole life before I got into stand-up, and even during stand-up, I was working at a retail job and Starbucks, all those places.
I grew up in a very, very diverse neighborhood back home in Maryland. And when I see that on TV shows, it makes me want to watch it, personally. I just gravitate towards that.
Humor and comedy have always been the best way to deal with real life issues and just reality.
I grew up around a mix of a lot of people, so I got a lot of different perspectives. As a kid, I appreciated that.
My dad kicked me out of the house when I was 18. I was supposed to go to community college. I wasn't really into going because I wanted to do stand-up, and he felt I was wasting my time.
Humor was how I got through everything in my life. I used to find a funny way to get out of situations. That's who I was. That's who I am!
The millennial generation is very vocal.
When I got nominated class clown in school, I remember my mom said, 'Don't be no clown.' So I went to my vice principal in my school and said, 'Can we change this to just the funniest?'
In entertainment, if you have a message in a film, no one wants to be spoon-fed the message. No one wants to be told how to feel. At least, I don't.
As comics if you aren't rubbing people the wrong way, to me, you suck.
I believe the more you talk about everyday issues, the more it helps other people deal with it themselves.
'Crashing' was my first scripted TV gig.
I've always loved the idea of the rookie cop vs. the grizzled veteran. A lot of comedy can be mined from that.
I see myself touring internationally - everywhere, every theater, every arena - and putting out stand-up comedy specials until I can't even stand no more. Even then, I'll probably do my comedy special in a hospital bed.
I'd been writing sketches since high school, but 'Friends of the People' really taught me about structure - how to wait out a joke, how to stick with it for a while. It also made me more confident onstage as a performer.
I just love pranks, man. They're great. I don't understand why people don't do 'em more often.
I've never been the guy to sit back and wait until someone approved something I was passionate about.
I speak from experience, and I speak from the heart, and I speak only what I know and what I understand; and on what I don't know and what I don't understand, I'm a good listener.
I don't know what the secret to doing standup well is, but I do know the goal is to be yourself as much as possible. And working harder than everyone else.
I do everything with a purpose, and I don't really pay attention to the negativity.
I've always navigated my way around the comedy writing rooms because I didn't want to cater to this side and that side; I just wanted to be liked by everybody.
I like glazed donuts.
My parents argued a lot. It was pretty tumultuous at times.
CBS garners a predominately older white audience, and by having a show like 'Superior Donuts' on their weekly programming, it distorts what people are used to seeing in a positive way. It's a show I think was necessary.
You can't teach standup comedy. You can teach someone how to formulate a joke, but making it funny is different.
I could never lie to someone to benefit myself, so telemarketing was something I was terrible at!
Comics are just mirrors. People can either laugh at the reflection or be disgusted by it.
I was raised watching sitcoms, and I love long-form comedy.
I was the black kid in school who'd skate and wrestle, who was really into outer space and botany and kung fu and hip-hop. I was into everything.
I probably wouldn't have pursued comedy further if my friends didn't tell me that my getting kicked off the stage was the funniest thing they'd ever seen.
I did my first set at a talent show, and I couldn't finish because the judges didn't like my jokes. They were 'offensive.'
You don't expect to be touched by comedy. But when it happens, it's beautiful.
I've been poor most of my life.
I grew up watching shows like 'Martin' and 'Fresh Prince' and 'Moesha,' and I was inspired by all these shows. When I was growing up, there were so many black people in TV. That's just the world I was around.
I love comedy, but more than that, I love comedy that has a message and that has some stakes.
Broadcast TV has a very classy but old-fashioned way of doing television. That's what it's always going to be. But you've still got to introduce young talent and ideas and shows to the masses. That's the way you build a bigger and younger audience, introducing younger writers, comics, TV shows to viewers.
I felt so contained at home. I always really felt like I couldn't be myself at home, so I was always quiet. I remember I used to sit in my room and listen to Bone Thugs and close the door.
Dave Chappelle - he's one of my favorite icons. I can't think of anyone who's funnier.
I got into standup because I wanted to be an actor, and then I ended up loving standup for the next eleven years.
I used to record 'Futurama' episodes on my cassette player and play it to help me go to sleep.
I grew up watching people and companies commercialize Black History Month. I watched old McDonald's commercials, and they'd blacken up the commercials for 28 days then go back to normal in March. It got annoying to me.
'V for Vendetta' is an amazing movie, and it had an obvious message, but it was done so perfectly. I got out of the movie, and I wanted to march so hard. I wanted to be an activist.
