“This is where it all started,” Emmy-Award winning comedian/actress/television host and writer Wanda Sykes said about her upcoming comedy tour that stops in St. Louis one week from today.
“I wanted to be a really funny stand-up comic and work all over the place. Everything else came from having that one focus.”
This year marks 25 years of working towards a goal that would eventually lead her to stardom. The sass that has been synonymous with the characters she has brought to the screen has been the catalyst for her success and not her first love of standup comedy.
But this year she returned to her roots in a major way with a national tour that comes to the Peabody Opera House on March 8.
“I’m bringing all of my problems,” Sykes said while serving a dose of the quick wit that made her a star. “My standup is pretty much a snapshot of what’s going on in my reality. And I just get so happy when I’m on stage and out of the house. I get to stay in all of the finest hotels with room service – and when I’m at home I can barely get a Hot Pocket.”
But the room service is the icing on the cake of returning to her first love within the entertainment industry – where it all began when she started moonlighting as a comic back in 1987 while working days as a procurement officer with the National Security Agency.
Those days seem light years away thanks to a solid career in comedy catapulted when she became a member of the Emmy-Award winning writing team of HBO’s Chris Rock Show in 1997. From that moment to this one she can essentially say “been there, done that” to just about every element within the industry.
She’s been a cast member for major network sit-coms (including The New Adventures of Old Christine, Wanda Does It and Wanda At Large), her own talk show and countless guest appearances and recurring roles on shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm. And her film and voice overwork is equally of note thanks to roles in the Ice Age franchise and other animated films like the blockbuster film Rio.
It goes without saying that she’s in a different place than when she started, but her new approach to comedy has as much to do with living life as it does honing her craft.
“When I first started, I was just figuring out how to be funny,” Sykes admitted. “As you get older you get more confident, but by the time you get to your forties you don’t give a [expletive].”
But as an established celebrity comic there are more challenges and pressures – which is what she looks forward to most on this new venture.
“You can expect a damn good show,” Sykes said. “You’ve got to be on point at this stage in the game, and I love pushing myself.”
The surprising aspect of Sykes’ career is that as an undeniably black comic she was instantly embraced by the masses.
“My audience is more white than black, but the age of the crowd is across the board,” Sykes said. “I love the diversity. I don’t know where it comes from though. Maybe it’s just being authentic and having a realness that people can relate to.”
She also has a way of turning something that anyone might have been thinking into a one-liner that anyone would wish they had said first.
“I’m you,” Sykes said. “I’m everybody. It’s a gift also – this just the way I was wired. As a kid I would get spankings for it.”
These days her zings are earning packed houses and praises on television, the standup stage and in films.
As far as the near future, Sykes is excited about her upcoming role in Hot Flashes, a film about a group of middle-aged women who decide to get their high school basketball team back together and play the current team for a charitable cause. She’s also lending her voice to Ice Age Four.
But her focus today was preparing to haveSt. Louiscurled over with laughter next week.
“You might even pee yourself a little bit,” Sykes said. “You’ll be able to take some things I say home with you and chuckle throughout the rest of the week.”
Wanda Sykes will be performing her award-winning comedy on Thursday, March 8 at the Peabody Opera House. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.ticketmaster.com.
