Comedian, actor and "Saturday Night Live" alum Dean Edwards doesn't make a very good newspaper interview.

Not because he isn't friendly, talkative, open and hilarious. He's all of those things. But he's one of those people who has to be heard. If only these words could speak. And impersonate fellow SNL alum Tracy Morgan and morph into a character that can only be described as a humor hitman (you would totally get it if you heard Edwards say it) and punctuate almost every statement with loud, short bursts of laughter.

But these are just words, and they don't do the stand-up comedian any kind of justice.

To get a real sense of the Dean Edwards who answered these questions via phone from his home in Brooklyn, you have to see him live. He performs Wednesday night at Pipeline Café.

Q. How did you get started in comedy?

A. I saw Eddie Murphy's "Delirious" in 1983 and that's pretty much when I made that decision. On Feb. 22 I'm actually going to be celebrating my 17th anniversary of performing on stage. The first time I performed was 2-22-92.

Q. You're probably best known for your impersonations of people like Eddie Murphy, Tracy Morgan, Don Cheadle and Wayne Brady. When did you discover that you could impersonate others?

A. I don't even know. It was just something that I always did, even back in elementary school. I would do everyone from Bugs Bunny to Woody Woodpecker to Michael Jackson way back then to Michael Jackson in the '80s, and then every version of Michael Jackson — from black to white — since then.

Q. I was just going to ask if you impersonate white people, but I guess you just answered that question.

A. Yeah, exactly! But I can do everyone from Denzel Washington to Seth Rogen.

Q. You've done some acting too, right?

A. I've done a lot of it — it's just a question of whether people saw it! I've done a couple of films that are available on Netflix. Charlie Murphy and I did a movie that was released last year called "Universal Remote," and I also did "Tony n' Tina's Wedding" — you can't miss me because I'm the only brother in the movie. My biggest film to date is "Spider-Man 3." I have 10 seconds on screen.

Q. Professionally, who's your biggest competition out there right now?

A. Me! I'm like a martial artist — I have to keep my eye on me. But there are of course people who inspire me, like Eddie Murphy, Will Smith and Jamie Foxx. I aspire to reach their level of success, but you just have to wait your turn, you know?