“St. Louis can get ready to laugh like they haven’t ever laughed before,” Wayne Colley a.k.a. Kountry Wayne. He’s currently headlining a weekend gig at the Laugh Lounge (11208 West Florissant) that continues through Saturday, August 4.
“But it’s a different kind of laugh. It’s not in your throat. It’s not in your cheekbones. It’s in your soul.”
Social media took Wayne from a nightclub owner in tiny town of Millen, Georgia to an overnight celebrity and rising comedy star. He was simply trying to promote his club when he turned the camera on himself and began posting funny videos. He became an overnight sensation, racking up millions of views with situational comedy bits that range from talking basketball to reenacting exchanges with bill collectors.
With the support of his strong following, Wayne decided to dive head first into comedy.
“It was a challenge, but I enjoyed it,” Wayne said. “I’m a crazy person. I was excited because it was a new challenge in my life – and I just did it.”
His confidence as a comedian and his journey in the entertainment industry that started with Facebook is rooted in faith. The video prior his overnight viral success was a 10-minute video about the bible and a prophecy that he was about to “blow up.” It didn’t seem likely for the father of nine from a town in rural Georgia.
But Wayne felt that it was going to come to pass – and hopes other people will find that video and share it as proof of God’s word.
“It’s like you telling everybody that your uncle knows karate, and then he shows up and does some karate,” Wayne said. “I’m using my platforms to spread that God is still real. I’m letting everybody know that our only hope is really God. That’s the only thing that I really get excited about.”
He’s the first to admit that some might not consider him to be a likely messenger of faith, but the response has been entirely positive.
“I’m more relatable to people trying to find God,” Wayne said. People look at me and say, ‘okay, this guy isn’t perfect. He has nine kids by different women.’ But I stand up to my mistakes and the things that I’ve done – and I tell you that God is the reason for that.’
In addition to using comedy as a platform for inspiration and positive energy, Wayne considers it a blessing to represent for small towns and the south.
“Plenty of times people think that we’re slow because we’re from the country,” Wayne said. “We’re sweet because we still believe in helping thy neighbor and loving each other and that southern hospitality – but don’t take our kindness for weakness though.
He considers it a blessing to reflect the lives and experiences of communities often unseen within mainstream entertainment, including Mississippi, Alabama and his native Georgia.
“That’s my fan base,” Wayne said. “Hollywood didn’t know about me, because the people who do follow me are the people from those small towns – people that love each other and believe in the one who made the sky blue and the winds blow.”
He says that St. Louis fans can expect to feel like they are at their grandmother’s house and everyone sitting around, or at a cookout laughing about good old times.
“It’s good clean positive energy and I’m gonna tear your stomach up,” Wayne said. “The waist trainers are going to pop. And when you leave you’re gonna have a different mindset. I’m going to touch their souls.
Positive energy and love is still the cure to whatever is going on in the world – and I come to represent that.”
Kountry Wayne will be playing the Laugh Lounge through Saturday, August 4 with shows at 8:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. For more information, call (314) 921-2810 or visit https://www.thelaughloungestl.com/
