Growing up in a dynamic and enterprising comedy family set a very high bar for Marlon Wayans, but the actor, comedian, writer and producer has managed to set himself apart with a high-energy brand of frenetic, physical comedy. You may know him best from parody movies like Scary Movie and Dance Flick and other big-screen comedy collaborations with his brother Shawn like White Chicks and Little Man, but the youngest member of the Wayans family has also starred in action movies and experimented with intense dramatic roles, and most recently he’s returned to the stand-up stage to reaffirm his comedic roots. After the success of last year’s Netflix special Woke-ish, Wayans makes his Aces of Comedy debut at The Mirage on Nov. 15.

How excited are you to perform at The Mirage for the first time?

For me it’s great because I want to play all the classic Vegas rooms. I love the fraternity of comedy at (The Mirage) and I’m just hoping I can represent the right way. The great thing about comedy right now is there are so many different voices and so many outlets for us to express ourselves. It’s really a golden era for us.

You really broke through on TV and in movies, but was there some stand-up performance in the early days of your career?

There was a little stand-up mixed in but I never took it seriously. I always wanted to come up as an actor because my brothers came up as comedians and I felt that what would set me apart is acting. I started doing stand-up and had maybe 60 shows but I hit a point where I just wanted to write and produce movies and TV and act in things. Then I had the opportunity to potentially play Richard Pryor (in a biopic) about 10 years ago and that brought me back to the stand-up stage. That experience made me want to be great.

What’s it like building this stand-up persona when your audience already knows you and your comedy style so well from TV and movies?

I think it’s actually been a harder road for me, doing stand-up this way, sort of reverse-engineered. Once people view you as a certain kind of funny, it’s hard for them to embrace you in a different genre. I constantly have to prove myself, but I like having something to prove because it makes me work harder. And I think you can see the effort I’ve put into stand-up and the evolution from Woke-ish to now. This new set is really funny.

You’re in the next Sofia Coppola movie On the Rocks, coming in January. Is that more of a comedic or dramatic role?

It’s kind of a dramedy. It has a little comedy and a lot of drama, which is great for me because it’s good to flex that muscle.

You had such a great dramatic turn in Requiem for a Dream. It’s hard to believe that was almost 20 years ago.

I’ve been doing this 30 years now, but I feel like I’m just getting started. The next two projects I have will show that Requiem side of me again.

What kind of movies and television projects do you want to work on going forward, and how will your stand-up work influence those projects?

I think the stand-up will mostly influence the new TV show I’m creating, especially the voice of my character. In terms of movies, I have a couple dramas I’m working on, and then I want to start doing more action-comedy and comedy in general. I want to do a thriller and a superhero movie, really showcase all that I can do. At the end of the day, I just love acting.