WANDA SYKES
She defies logic.
Reason.
And all that may be rational.
To some.
To others???
Including the writer?
As Ali self-proclaimed, [she] is, “The Greatest.”
Pure and simple.
Wanda Sykes is the greatest.
And this is so, because she’s real.
Wanda Yvette Sykes is an American actress, stand-up comedian, and writer.
First recognized for her work as a writer on The Chris Rock Show — for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award in 1999 — it didn’t take long for Sykes to branch out.
By 2004, Entertainment Weekly anointed her one of the 25 funniest people in America.
Her television, film, writing, discography and voiceover credits — even video game kudos — are widespread and impressive.
But EW had it right; she’s funny as hell.
The shrill tone of her voice and signature inflection — sprinkled with more than a dash of salt, not sugar — have a lot to do with it.
Sykes is not one to pull punches.
“Florida has so many strip clubs, they need to change [they] state flag to just a brass pole.
You know?”
“I went to a strip club, you know, with the guys after the show, we went to this club.
And we get to the strip club, and they actually tried to charge me a cover.
Can you believe that?
Wanting me to pay.
I was like, ‘pay?’
Are you out your damn mind?
I was like, ‘Come on, man.
I brought my own titties.’”
“I’m a black woman from Virginia…and I’m not talkin’ about the nice Virginia… I’m talkin’ about Virginia…”
Born in Portsmouth, VA. some 57 years ago, Sykes has been around the block.
Her family history was researched for an episode of the 2012 PBS genealogy program, “Finding Your Roots With Henry Louis Gates Jr.”
Sykes’ ancestry was traced back to a 1683 court case involving her paternal ninth great-grandmother, Elizabeth Banks, a free white woman and indentured servant, who gave birth to a biracial child, Mary Banks.
Mary Banks was fathered by a slave; she inherited her mother’s free status.
Ira Berlin, a towering, if not iconic figure and expert in the history of American slavery, remarked that the Sykes family history is “the only such case that I know of in which it is possible to trace a black family rooted in freedom, from the late 17th century to the present.”
WOW!!!
Certainly not all you need to know, but plenty of meat on that bone.
Sykes graduated from Hampton University and her first job out of college was as a contracting specialist at the National Security Agency.
She stayed for five years, but ultimately, it wasn’t a good fit.
She had an itch to do stand-up comedy, which only some real scratching could relieve.
And the NSA wasn’t doin’ it for Wanda.
Local venues began to sate her comedic appetite and a Coors Light Super Talent Showcase in D.C. provided the backdrop for her first performance before a live audience in 1987.
She continued to hone her talents, and after sharing the stage with the likes of Adele Givens, J.B. Smoove and Bernie Mac on television, at Russell Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam in the early 1990s, Sykes got her first big break, opening for Rock at Caroline’s Comedy Club.
Her career exploded from there.
Pootie Tang.
Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Wanda at Large.
Comedy Central’s Tongue Untied, Premium Blend, Crank Yankers, and Wanda Does It.
Film, television, books, voiceovers, public service spots, you name it.
In May 2009, Sykes was the featured entertainer for the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, becoming both the first African American woman, and the first openly LGBT person to land the gig.
She came out with both guns blazing, stirring a little controversy when she took on Rush Limbaugh.
In response to the conservative radio talk show host’s remark about Obama and his presidential agenda — “I hope he fails.” — Sykes was not measured.
Quipped she, “I hope his [Limbaugh’s] kidneys fail, how ‘bout that? Needs a little waterboarding, that’s what he needs.”
Wanda inimitably being Wanda.
[Editor’s Note: This piece was written by Mr. Kaplan in October 2021.]
