“Superior Donuts” star Jermaine Fowler didn’t exactly drop the mic the first time he performed stand-up. The microphone was essentially pried out of his hands.
“I was about 17 years old and my neighbor let me borrow ‘Eddie Murphy: Raw.’ I watched it every day,” Fowler told TheWrap’s Joe Otterson.
“Finally I just said, ‘I’m gonna do it. I want to do it,”‘ he continued. “So I did an open mic. Well, it was more of a talent show back in school. I got kicked off stage by the judges because they didn’t like my material. I didn’t finish my set but my friends told me it was the funniest thing they’ve ever seen.”
Fowler’s new series also stars Judd Hirsch and follows the relationship between the gruff owner (Hirsch) of a small donut shop, his enterprising new young employee (Fowler) and their loyal patrons, in a fast-gentrifying Chicago neighborhood.
The series tackles a number of sensitive topics in a funny way, from gentrification to racism to police brutality. So why bring up such touchy things on a sitcom? “These issues are a part of life,” Fowler said. “We’re living these issues. Our job as comics is to make people laugh at them.”
“Superior Donuts” premieres this Thursday Feb. 2 at 8:30 p.m./7:30c before moving to Mondays at 9 p.m. beginning Feb. 6.