Sometimes laughter really is the best medicine.
Legendary comedian Marlon Wayans' HBO Max stand up special You Know What It Is is nominated for The Comedy Act of 2021 at the 2021 People's Choice Awards, and the White Chicks star exclusively shared his reaction with E! News on Oct. 29.
"I just wanted to say I am super excited about being nominated for a People's Choice Award by the people for my comedy special on HBO Max," Wayans explained. "It's dope to be nominated by the people for this prestigious award."
He continued, "When I first went out to do stand up, it was right at the tail end of the pandemic and I realized I was depressed. A lot had happened to me, but for me I had a lot of deaths, just a lot of tragedy, I lost my mom. I was just feeling a sense of depression, which I had never felt. I was like, 'I've got to go into the stages, I've got to go make people laugh.' I felt like it was a calling. People needed to laugh. And I realized, it wasn't the people that needed to laugh, it was me who needed to laugh."
Wayans credited fans, viewers and PCAs voters for their support.
"I want to thank you guys because your laughs literally saved my life, changed my life and gave me purpose in life. I'm so grateful and I'm so thankful during this time I could provide laughter," Wayans noted.
He later joked, "I did stand up in some weird clubs, some outside venues near freeways. It was cold, my nose was dripping with snot, but I was about these laughs. When I started telling these jokes, I started heating up."
Wayans concluded, "I want to thank all you guys for this nomination. It means a lot to me because it's from the people and from the fans. Go vote, and hopefully we win this thing and we have one big celebration together. And, I'm also not only nominated for a comedy but I want to give a quick shout-out to the movie Respect. We're nominated for a PCA as well, so got a little bit of drama and a whole lot of comedy. Let's get it!"
Watch his full reaction above!