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Dwayne Perkins

Dwayne Perkins

Quietly dismantling everyday logic without ever raising his voice.

Portrait credit:

Photo: Dwayneperkins / CC-BY-SA-4.0

3 specials · 2004–2018

Start with Take Note, the breakout (2016 · 68 min · Netflix)

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Dwayne Perkins does not pace, yell, or sweat. He stands center stage and talks to the room like a guy who just figured out a magic trick and wants to explain how it works. His rhythm is deliberate and unhurried. He smiles when he sets up a premise, waiting a beat for the crowd to catch up before he delivers the punchline.

Specials

  • Please Believe It

    Low-key, methodical stand-up built on crisp logic and zero vulgarity.

    Comedy Dynamics · 50 min

  • Take Note Start here

    A highly structured, dryly funny hour about sports, aging, and dancing.

    Netflix · 68 min

  • Comedy Central Presents

    A smart, analytical look at relationships and coast-to-coast culture shock.

    Comedy Central

On stage

He is a veteran club comic operating entirely outside the outrage cycle. While much of modern standup leans into confrontation, he builds tight, broadly accessible material that works anywhere from an indie room to a massive theater. He is the kind of reliable pro who can drop into a Tuesday night showcase, follow a chaotic act, and immediately calm the room down with solid joke writing.

His best material functions like a polite argument about human behavior. He avoids heavy trauma or political grandstanding in favor of social logic. He will spend five minutes categorizing exactly which athletics are sports and which are just activities, or mapping out the exact moment a man crosses the line into being creepy. He stacks evidence until the audience has no choice but to agree. If there is a downside to this approach, it is that the stakes rarely feel life-or-death. You watch a guy calmly solve a puzzle rather than watching someone unravel on stage. He makes his case, gets his laugh, and moves to the next topic.

A Brooklyn native who worked Boston clubs before settling in Los Angeles, he carries the high joke density of an East Coast regular, delivered with a slow West Coast cadence.

Turning points

  1. Career Pivot From Microsoft to Stand-Up

    After interviewing with Microsoft for a software testing position and not getting the role, Perkins fully committed to pursuing stand-up comedy.

  2. Scouted by Conan O'Brien Bookers

    Perkins was scouted while performing in Boston and Chicago, leading to his television stand-up debut on Late Night with Conan O'Brien while still working in IT.

  3. Release of Debut Netflix Special Take Note

    Released his long-awaited debut one-hour comedy special, showcasing his subtle, broad-appeal style.

At a glance

Born
, Brooklyn, New York, US
On stage
since 1995
Style
observational, clean, storytelling
Breakout
Take Note
Influences
George Carlin, Eddie Murphy, Bill Cosby, Jerry Seinfeld, Richard Pryor, Paul Reiser, George Wallace
Topics
Elsewhere
Website, Wikipedia

Also on screen

2009–2010
The Jay Leno Show Regular Correspondent
The Blackening Cast member
–
The Gristle The lost stereotype in the bar scene
–
Dying To Kill Lead role in comedy/horror feature

A clip to start with

A clip of Dwayne Perkins