Wayne Brady's 'Lyric'-al TV Return

The Host of Fox's New Game Show Dishes on 'Chappelle's Show' and His Sitcom Dreams

Related Links More About Wayne Brady More About 'Don't Forget the Lyrics'

July 3 -- Invariably, the response when TV fans hear the name Wayne Brady is, "Oh, I love Wayne Brady!" The actor/singer/dancer/improv comedian extraordinaire is such a multi-talent that it's a sure bet most pop culture watchers are fans of at least one of the Emmy winner's projects, from his daytime talk show and weekly variety series to his guest roles on series like 'How I Met Your Mother,' 'Chappelle's Show' and 'Everybody Hates Chris' to, of course, starring on 'Whose Line Is It Anyway?'

Brady, 35, began his showbiz career at 16, performing in community theater in Orlando, and even did a stint as Tigger at Disney World before heading to Hollywood. He's starred as Billy Flynn in the Broadway revival of 'Chicago,' hosted Fox's celebreality series 'Celebrity Duets' and just finished a very successful run in Las Vegas with his original variety show 'Making It Up.'

Now, Brady takes his singing, dancing and comedy skills to Fox as the host of 'Don't Forget the Lyrics,' a new game show in which contestants have the chance to win a million dollars if they know the lyrics to hit songs. Brady talked to AOL TV's Kimberly Potts about how deceptively tough the show is, about that classic 'Chappelle's Show' spot, about his Vegas triumph and his upcoming return to The Strip, and about his goal of parlaying his role as the go-to TV guest star into his own hit sitcom.

What are your duties as the host of 'Don't Forget the Lyrics'?
My job as host, really, is to have a good time. I'm being paid to have a good time and say the things that I would be saying if we were at a karaoke bar. And it's a chance to give away some money on top of that, so it's a good thing.

Speaking of prizes, you have a pretty spectacular one on 'Lyrics,' no?
One million dollars just for knowing the lyrics of songs? That's not a bad thing at all. Even if you get the first song right, which means, usually, you have to know maybe three words in the song, [it's] $25,000. $25,000 for knowing a couple of words in 'Margaritaville'? That's great. The only problem with that is that when people hear 'Margaritaville,' they're drunk and they don't know the words. So we end up keeping a lot of the money.

So, on the shows you've taped so far, no million dollar winner yet?
Ah, you'll have to tune in to find out.

Joey Fatone is hosting a song lyrics game show on NBC. He told an interviewer that he called you up and teased you about how similar the shows are. What was your response?
Oh yeah, he called me and said, "Hey, I'm doing 'The Singing Bee' thing on NBC," and I said, "Well, good, I'm glad for you." I've seen the promos, and I still don't know what the hell his show's about. So I told him, I hope, before it goes on the air, that we know what it is. So it isn't even 'May the best man win,' because Joey is a great guy. It's more, may the audience choose which singing-related variety game show they enjoy the most.

Your most recent roles were those great guest appearances on '30 Rock' and as Barney's gay brother on 'How I Met Your Mother.' What's your goal when choosing a guest role?
Well, that's my aim, to keep on racking those up. I think it's a great thing. Being a guest star, you get a chance to play so many different people, and you widen the audience's palate for you. Because part of the audience, it's sad, but they go, "Oh yeah, we know what he does." So you have to keep flipping it on them.

Do you pick roles, guest roles, based on the specific show or more on the specific character that they want you to play?
A little bit of both. Sometimes they'll reach out to me and say, "Hey, we have this great character," or I'll say to my agents, "You know, I'm a really big fan of 'How I Met Your Mother' ... Do you think there's any chance that they'd be interested in me?" And then I get a call back the next day saying, "We love him! Would he come on?" and "Boy, have we got a character for you!"

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