Getting the family together can usually be good for a few laughs.Even more so when your last name is Wayans.

"It's definitely what you think it is. Everybody's trying to outdo the last joke that was told," Damon Wayans Jr. said in a telephone interview this week. "We just have fun. That's the beauty of making a movie with my family. It was like getting paid to hang out with people you're already around all the time."

Wayans - whose father, uncles and aunt all have had comedic success with television shows such as "In Living Color" and "The Wayans Brothers" - had the lead role in the movie "Dance Flick," which was directed by his cousin, Damien Dante Wayans, and released last month.

"It was a nice long, long, loonng ride," he said of the film and the publicity surrounding it. "It was my first movie, so I had a good time all around."

He made his screen debut in his father's film, "Blankman," as a child, but the 26-year-old had forgotten what it was like on a movie set.

"I already had a idea of what it was in my head, but it was definitely more challenging once you experience it," he said of shooting the film. "That's the crazy thing, sitting around and then you have the energy when the scene starts."

Wayans visits the Quad-Cities this weekend for performances Friday and Saturday at Penguin's Comedy Club in the Freight House Entertainment Complex, downtown Davenport. He lists dozens of comedic idols, including his family members, on his Web site, but said his style is a combination of Dave Chappelle, Louis C.K. and Tony Roberts.

"Usually, my perspective is not a general perspective that you've ever heard before. It's kind of odd sometimes," he said, "but in a good way."

Wayans was an art major in college, but at the age of 20, he began to write for "My Wife and Kids," his father's sitcom for which other family members wrote and performed.

Having one of the biggest comedic names is "a seat filler" for clubs, he said.

"They're going to be there thinking they're going to see my dad and it's me. But I give them a good show anyway," he said.

The downfall is "You're always compared. That's the double-edged sword. But at least you're compared to greatness."

He compared his father to a "soccer coach," adding, "He gives me advice all the time," but said the top priority is to have fun.

Although many of his uncles and cousins are involved in show business, he said it's not a prerequisite.

"There's a lot of regular Wayans," he said. "A lot of them are funny, they just don't necessarily like that limelight."