All About Me

Nobody can accuse Wanda Sykes of resting on her laurels. After shattering her glass closet at a Prop 8 rally and killing with controversy as the first African-American woman and openly gay headliner at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, Sykes scores with her second full-length stand-up special on HBO, Im’a Be Me (premieres Saturday).

Scatological, ideological, political, and probably some other “-icals,” Sykes focuses her laser wit on everything from being black during an Obama presidency to health care, immigration, aging and motherhood. If those topics seem stiff, you don’t know Sykes. Cialis should license her impersonation of a munchkin singing, “Ding dong the dick is dead.” Obama giving Michelle his “stimulus package” is all sorts of raw hilarity. She admits to her Spanx. And yes, Kegels can cause cramps.

Despite her trademark bluntness, Sykes never skips a beat when segueing into the sincere, particularly at the heart of her act: life as a lesbian parent. And her bit on “coming out black” to a beside-herself momma is as spot-on a send-up of reactions to coming out as we’ve ever seen. Perfect ammunition for Sunday’s National Equality March.


Im’a Be Me premieres October 10 at 10 pm on HBO.