Wayne Brady Recalls His Big Break as a TV Host
Wayne Brady has now well established himself in the world of television with shows like Whose Line is it Anyway? and as host of Don't Forget the Lyrics and now Let's Make a Deal. At an event for the production company that gave him a shot at his first gig as a TV regular, World of Wonder, the now-veteran of television recalled his big break.
"[World of Wonder] gave me my first job as a regular on a TV show," Brady said at the launch of World of Wonder's coffee table book, The World According to Wonder. "I did a show for them years ago called 'Vinyl Justice.' Randy and Fenton (founders) [are] two of the best bosses you could ever have. They took this guy that was kicking around doing improv and singing in bands and whatnot and actually put me on a TV show, and I'll be forever grateful for them."
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Vinyl Justice proved to be short-lived, but it gave the then-26-year-old Brady the break that he needed as a TV host after a few years of taking on small roles on various shows. Brady is featured in the new book, an array of stories from World of Wonder's various talents of the past twenty years.
"We live in an age in which books seem to be old-fashioned, out-of-date, or even obsolete; we don't think so," said co-founder Fenton Bailey. "...The book really tells the whole story of World of Wonder, of the amazing and varied and crazy people we've worked with over the last twenty-one years. It's really a celebration of individuality, of freakishness, of 'Fly your flag!'"
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World of Wonder's other co-founder, Randy Barbato, described the book's specifications as "eight pounds, has 670 wow-lebrities, and has 396 pages," which suggests it probably shouldn't be used to hit someone over the head as Bailey facetiously proposed.
Also at the event were the always-vivacious Spanish actress Charo and television host RuPaul, who has had a longstanding relationship with World of Wonder, the production company of his current show, RuPaul's Drag Race.
"It's really amazing because this is a company that caters [to] and celebrates people who dance to the beat of a different drummer," he said, "and that's a rarity in Hollywood because Hollywood wants to make money, and this is a rare success story."
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The World According to Wonder is on sale February 5.