Darren Brand Shows HBCU Love
posted by Keyona Smith | November 29, 2017 | In Arts and CultureAssuming you don’t live under a rock and enjoy improv comedy with A-list celebrities hosted by Nick Cannon, then you’ve seen and cracked up at a Wild’ N Out episode or two on MTV.
FSU’s very own Jayda Hazley, aka Hazley DaIntern caught up with the show’s hilarious and very talented co-host Darren Brand while touring the campus during our welcome week for her YouTube channel.
Brand is really a product of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. He is a diehard Aggie, but has love for all HBCUs.
When asked what is it exactly about a HBCU that made him want to attend and that would entice others to go? Brand responded about the culture: “Man, it’s the culture … like when I was going to college at the time a lot of young males, black males, weren’t going to college at the time.”
Brand explained his experience in getting accepted to both North Carolina Chapel Hill and North Carolina A&T State University. He went to orientation and felt out of place because he wasn’t able to relate to the handful of black kids he ran into on campus. But at North Carolina A&T, he mentioned a noticeable difference on the campus after just stepping out of the car. He felt at home to see anywhere from 2,000 to 3,000 black people who wanted to further their education, the same as he did.
Brand had broad campus involvement, while at A&T, and majored in graphic design with a concentration in printing and publishing marketing. He was drawn to comedy, though, because “it’s a God-given talent.”
Brand got his start by hosting talent shows and step shows at A&T, where his love for the stage developed, and since 2008 his career has been on the rise.
Brand said, “You never know when you discover what you’re supposed to do. You never know what age.”
Brand is from Southern Pines, Moore County, not too far from Fayetteville. He grew up in a small town, so going from that to a big campus was something like a culture shock, but he fell in love with it.
Some advice that he gives to young men that maybe thinking of taking the road of making fast money or going to college is: “Going to a HBCU was the best decision I’ve ever made.”
His support from A&T is unmatched with colleagues traveling hours to make it to his shows, including colleagues in attendance to Welcome Week here at FSU.
Brand’s favorite games to play on Wild’ N Out are “Plead the Fifth” because, “[it] makes you think, you gotta ask something that they can’t say yes or no to, make them uncomfortable and you gotta be witty… I love ‘Family Reunion,’ that’s always hilarious. And I like ‘Let me Holler too.’
Next up for Brand: Wild’ N Out has been picked up for another season and will begin filming soon. He is also currently touring from Alabama, New York and to Texas, and Greatest Homecoming On Earth for his alma mater.
You can check this interview with Darren Brand out on YouTube at Hazley DaIntern and also Hazley’s upcoming interviews.
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