Shawn and Marlon Wayans

Nothing’s off the table when it comes to comedy for Marlon Wayans. Rape? 9/11? Murder? “Those all sound like pretty funny topics to me,” he says flatly during a recent conversation with us. One half of the bill for the Shawn and Marlon Wayans weekend run in Houston, Marlon tells us his audience knows what to expect when they come to a Wayans show. “If they don’t, they’ll figure it out pretty quick once they get there.”

Marlon and his brother Shawn are two of the numerous Wayanses in the entertainment industry (we can’t give you an exact number since members of the second generation are launching careers in comedy and film on a seemingly daily basis). On the road together for a stand-up tour, the pair perform one after the other, each with a slightly different style onstage. Shawn, Marlon tells us, is really good with relationship issues. “I think that’s some of the best stuff he does; he’s real good at that.” We ask him what his favorite topics are onstage.

Relationships? Politics? Racism? “I talk about all of that.” Marlon says he doesn’t have a set list. His act, he says, changes every night. He picks material according to his mood, what the audience is reacting to and whatever he has on his mind. “I don’t sit down and write jokes. I think about a topic and say, ‘Hey, that might be funny.’ Then I take it onstage and work it out.”

But back to our first question — rape, 9/11 and murder are acceptable topics for stand-up? Really? “Yeah,” he tells us. “If you’re so sensitive you can’t laugh at a joke because it might be [controversial], keep your ass at home.”

8 p.m. Thursday; 8 and 10:30 p.m. Friday; and 7. 9:30 and 11:30 p.m. Saturday. Improv Comedy Showcase, 7620 Katy Freeway. For information, call 713-333-8800 or visit houston.improv.com. $40 to $50.

Thu., Feb. 19, 8 p.m.; Fri., Feb. 20, 8 & 10:30 p.m.; Sat., Feb. 21, 7, 9:30 & 11:30 p.m., 2015