Interview with WANDA SYKES of THE WANDA SYKES SHOW
Watch the WANDA SYKES SHOW on Saturday nights at 11 PM EST on FOX
February 2010
By Lena Lamoray
THE WANDA SYKES SHOW premiered late last year on FOX and has been going strong ever since. The show is obviously hosted by the one and only WANDA SYKES who is known for her witty humor and cheetah like comebacks. She is definitely on the top of my list of favorite woman comedians. THE WANDA SYKES SHOW has not even been on that long and has already succeeded in having an all-star lineup and a diverse group of guests consisting of porn stars, musicians, actors and more. Some of my favorites have been MEGAN MULLALLY, SETH GREEN, FRED WILLARD and NEIL PATRICK HARRIS. This week she is going to have on EDDIE IZZARD so that should be amazing. What could be better than EDDIE IZZARD and WANDA SYKES together? I am looking forward to it and all her future episodes. Her show is so good that even her guests spill their drinks in excitement.
I got a chance to speak with WANDA SYKES via conference call and as her a bit about her show.
Lena Lamoray: What’s it like working with Fox again and are you having fun keeping the censors on their toes?
WANDA SYKES: I am having fun keeping the censors on their toes. I really am enjoying that and she’s a lovely lady, too, but so far, so good. We’re really getting along, but we do try to push her. As far as being back on Fox, it is weird. It’s weird, but there’s a new leadership and they’ve been very supportive. It’s been good. It’s been a good experience so far.
Lena Lamoray: Who would your dream panel of guests be and why?
WANDA SYKES: Dream panel of guests, mmmm. It’s hard. I know I mentioned Sade so many times already, but I’m serious. After having her on the show, it doesn’t matter honestly. It doesn’t matter.
Other conference call highlights:
Q: Which guest do you not want on the show?
WANDA SYKES: Not want? Honestly, it’s not like we’ve been able to just get any guest. We’ve just been lucky to get like Sade, who I really, really wanted. After having her on the show, I can’t really rule anyone out or say that someone I’m looking forward or don’t want to talk to. It’s okay, but if they’re funny, if they have a point of view, then I’m fine.
Q: Would you ever have Chelsea Handler on the show and have a debate?
WANDA SYKES: Yes, sure. ….funny—I don’t know what we would debate about, but, yes, I like Chelsea. I think she’s funny. I have a good friend over there working on her show too.
Q: Being intelligent and beautiful and extremely talented, you’re are looked up by all the young talent. What’s your advice for people, especially 18-35 trying to get into the business?
WANDA SYKES: First to be a smooth talker like you, gee. I would say just to stick with it. If you really love what you’re doing and you’re passionate about it, then I say you just have to keep doing it. Don’t think that there’s only one path to get to where you want to go. Whenever you get an opportunity to perform, you should do it, well, as long as you can keep your clothes on.
Q: You’ve made a living, a great living off of observation. What grade would you give President Obama at this point in his administration compared to Bill Clinton and George W. Bush?
WANDA SYKES: Compared to Bush, he gets an A+. Compared to Clinton, I would say a C+.
Q: Who do you think would be a great replacement for Oprah?
WANDA SYKES: For Oprah, oh, Lord. I think you would just need another little Oprah clone and don’t think that she doesn’t have one. I think the clone has been doing the last three seasons to be honest with you.
Q: How about the Simon situation with American Idol?
WANDA SYKES: I think it’s a contract move, I think. I don’t really see him leaving. I don’t know. Maybe I’m wrong, but it’s just won’t be Idol, I don’t think without Simon.
Q: So I watched you the other night on Bill Maher. You were wonderful and I was wondering if you could fine tune those comments about conservatives and what you were saying, the points you were making.
WANDA SYKES: The point I was making, well, first of all, I was just so happy to be on HBO and be able to say whatever I wanted to say. That just shot out of there. But the point I was making is that obviously we’re not talking about the majority of the country because we elected Barak Obama. But I believe that there’s this faction out there, just extreme right and they just can’t get over the point of having a black president. There’s some real racism that is, I think, behind that movement. It was horrific when you saw the signs with the white face, the Joker and then compare him to Hitler, call him a Nazi and now he’s a socialist. They’re just trying to come up with anything where they can get away with calling him a name without being overtly racist. To me, just the utter disrespect, shouting out, “You lie,” in Congress, lot of that, I think, is driven by racism and the fact that they just can’t stand having a black president. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen that documentary that Nancy Pelosi’s daughter did covering the election, but that segment, it exists and they’re loud. And that’s why they have these Tea Baggers and guys like Limbaugh and Beck and all and they feed off of that. That’s their audience and it’s scary. You show up at the town hall meeting with a gun, what the hell.
Q: So Bill Maher is going to be on your show coming up. I was wondering if you could talk about some of the upcoming guests on the Wanda Sykes Show.
WANDA SYKES: This week we have Ray Romano, Cheryl Hines, Eddie Izzard, Colin Quinn. I’m going to have a one on one with Roland Martin. We have Suze Orman, Roseanne. Who else? I think Wesley Snipes is going to come through. I’m going to ask him to help me with my taxes. We’re still filling up the board.
Q: How’s it going with Keith, your partner in crime there?
WANDA SYKES: I love Keith. He’s one of my closest, pretty much my best friend, known him forever. Really, it’s just trying to find more time for us to have our moments. It really is crazy how the time just flies by and we fill up the show and then it’s like, wow, I didn’t really get to spend the amount of time and material that we wanted to do. But eventually, we’ll work towards that. Maybe we’ll throw him on a panel.
Q: Since you’ve been doing the show now for a couple months now, what’s the biggest surprise that you’ve come across in doing the show?
WANDA SYKES: The biggest surprise, I would say what we’ve been able to do. I really didn’t think that we would get away with some of the things that we’ve gotten away with. I don’t mean like being sneaky or whatever. I’m just saying how far that Fox is letting us go. Their concern is more about just don’t piss off advertisers. As long as we don’t name names or brand names or stuff, then it seems like we have a lot of berth over here for network TV, which is I found somewhat surprising and enjoying it.
Q: On Bill Maher you seemed almost a little tired of talking about the gay thing when he wanted to change topics a little bit. I don’t know if you were just being on or if that was really real for you. Are you tired of talking about it?
WANDA SYKES: No, not tired of talking about it, no. I think we were talking about Obama and I really didn’t get to a joke for Obama. As a comic if I don’t end on a joke, I go, darn, okay. So that’s probably what you saw was just me not feeling fulfilled that I got my laugh off of Obama.
Q: Given all this talk about Conan O’Brien coming over to Fox, are you on Team Conan or what do you think of his whole situation?
WANDA SYKES: I know there’s talk about him coming to Fox. I hope he does. I think that’d be really cool to have him over here. As far as like Team Conan, Team Jay, I didn’t pick a side. It’s just so funny how, you kind of felt like you had to. Oh, wait a minute, why do I have to pick a side? I like both of these guys. Really, it’s a couple of rich guys fighting over a job that they don’t have control over. It’s the network. So, yes, I stayed out of it, I guess, but I wish them both well.
Q: Which is harder, getting up and doing stand-up comedy or trying to moderate a group of people when they’re talking? Is one more complicated than the other?
WANDA SYKES: Moderate a group of people, yes, that’s much harder. To be stand-up, it’s just me. I don’t have to try to interrupt and tell me to let someone else speak. Hey, give that audience guy a shot. I don’t have to do that, but I’m enjoying it, though. I’m enjoying working with the panel. Sometimes I enjoy it too much where I sit back and watch and listen and then I go, oh, wait a minute. This is my show. I need to get in here, but definitely stand-up I think is easier. Usually because we drink on the show, when I shake my glass a little bit, the clinking of the ice sometimes, people know that, okay, it’s like the teacher tapping the ruler on the desk. When I shake that glass, somebody messed up.
Q: So what is your spring cleaning ritual?
WANDA SYKES: My spring cleaning ritual, I’ve usually start on the junk drawer and right now, we’ve started to accumulate a drawer in each room now, which is ridiculous versus it was that one drawer in the kitchen and then the one drawer in the bedroom. So I start on a drawer and then I’ll just go I’ll do it next spring basically, so we never get around to it.
Q: When you did you realize that you had a made it as a comedian, you knew you were clicking with the public?
WANDA SYKES: It was probably when I did my first tour and Comedy Central sponsored the tour. It was the White Cotton T-Shirt or something like that. It was ridiculous what I named the tour. I was first time headlining theatres and that first night, I think we opened in Chicago and it was packed. The crowd was just great and that’s when I said, okay— It was probably, man, maybe five years ago, six year, five, six years.
Q: Has there been a guest on your show that has been totally different on air versus the way they are off screen, like behind the scenes, personality wise or just the way they portray themselves?
WANDA SYKES: I would say Sade and it was basically because we knew nothing about her off screen, other than the music. She rarely does interviews and never seen her do anything outside of perform, so yes, that was the biggest shock.
Q: Would you encourage other gay actors, comedians or people in the public eye that come out only to after they’ve become successful.
WANDA SYKES: Wow. I think you should do it when it’s right for you. If you’re feeling spiteful and you want to come out, but you have to hide something, I think that hurts your creativity. So I don’t know if—I guess it depends on the person. It has to be about your comfort level and you’ll know.
Q: You wrote a book in 2004 before you came out. Do you think there’ll be another one in your future that would include notes on your life now as an open lesbian and as a parent.
WANDA SYKES: That book damn near killed me and I found out ….friends, they’re were like you wrote your own book? I was like yes. Nobody writes their book. You get somebody to write the book for you and you go through and make---I was like oh, man. I think that’s the only way I could’ve have done it was to do it myself. Eventually, yes, there probably will be another one, but I don’t see it any time soon.
Q: Now that you’re coming to the second half of your first year doing this show, any thoughts about mixing up the format a little bit, doing the show live as opposed to live on tape? What’s your thought on shaking things up even more?
WANDA SYKES: That is so funny because I was walking into the office with one of my executive producers, Eddie October, and we were talking about the format and what we could do to make it a little more exciting and he said, “Maybe we should go live.” So, yes, we’re talking about it, shaking things up a little bit,….up the format. So yes, to answer you question, yes, we are thinking about things.
Q: You’re coming in with this show at the same time we’re seeing a lot more diversity in late night television, Lopez Tonight on TBS, Monique’s Show on BET. Of course, we had Comics Unlimited for a while. But this is the first time since Arsenio Hall that we really had a huge flowering of diversity with people of color hosting shows in late night. What do you make of it?
WANDA SYKES: I guess you can say, is it the Obama effect? Is it that? Or I’m thinking that George, Monique and myself, we’ve been doing this—I think all of us have been doing this over 20 years. So I think it’s also some seasoned comedians who have now come into their own. But, yes, definitely there’s more diversity out there. I think it’s also the number of channels. George, myself and Monique, Monique I think did Showtime specials. George and I, we’ve both been on, have a relationship with HBO, so I think that also attributes to it, too.
Q: Are you learning anything from what they’re doing with their show that you’re applying to your show?
WANDA SYKES: Honestly, I watched George a little bit and Monique also. And then I just don’t have time. I really don’t have time to watch the other shows. And with George and Monique, from what I’ve seen, we’re doing totally different things. They’re more of a straight up talk show and I’m doing more comedy bits. Usually the other shows that we try to keep an eye on is just to make sure we’re not doing some of the same bits. But other than that, yes, I’m a fan, but I just really haven’t had time to watch the shows.
Q: How do we increased more diversity, get it all over the place, whether it is Fox or ABC or HBO or Showtime or TBS or the entire spectrum of television networks. Obviously there is more diversity, far more than there has been in a long time and the recent news that a lot of the prime time pilots this coming season are casting people of color in lead roles is a big move ahead. But is there something you see and based on where you are now with your show on Fox that you think could be done across the board—if there’s one thing you wish that could be done across the board by television overall to catapult diversity to higher level, what would it be?
WANDA SYKES: Wow, I think it’s quality programming and to have enough promotion. Like that would be my one complaint about Fox right now is that I don’t think the show gets promoted enough. But I think just putting out quality product and for the networks to get behind them and to get them a shot, give them a chance.
Q: One of the things that I hear you talking a lot about in your stand-up, as well as on your show is race. I’m wondering how much you think Obama being in the White House has changed the way we talk about race in this country.
WANDA SYKES: I think it definitely has opened up the line for open communication to talk about race. That’s a great starting point where you can just go, hey, we have a black president and then….from there. So, yes, I definitely think Obama has helped. Now about how honest we talk about it, we still need some work done, because you have people going, hey, we elected a black president. Everything is fine. It’s like, no, no, no, that was not the cure-all.
Q: Has it changed the way that you joke about race?
WANDA SYKES: I won’t say change the way I joke about it. It’s just definitely has given me some new material, but no, it hasn’t changed.
Q: Is Obama somebody you’re trying to book for the show?
WANDA SYKES: The president has an open door. I would love to have the president on, sure.
Q: What is the top question that you would want to ask him?
WANDA SYKES: It would be to just come on, just straight up, what is the problem? What is the problem? No, really, you’re the president. There’s things that you can do right now if you wanted to. What’s the problem and why are you being so darn fair? The Democrats won. Just push the agenda forward and who cares? Be more like Bush.
Q: Is there any question around race that you would want to know from him?
WANDA SYKES: Not really, I can’t think of anything off the top of my head. I know he doesn’t want to acknowledge it or he doesn’t honestly feel that way, but he thinks that, I think he said that he thinks that all the noise and what people are saying about him stems from being a bad economy. And he doesn’t want to credit any of it towards race or racism. I think I would call him on that.
Q: How are you finding time to balance your family? I know that you’re doing The New Adventures of Old Christine, which you’ve been doing for a few years and a new talk show. How are you balancing it all?
WANDA SYKES: At first, like the first four, five episodes, it was really, really hard. It was hard on the family. My wife is very understanding and she works also, so it was rough. We have help. Right now my in-laws are here visiting us and they’re helping out. But now that the show is running smoother, I get to go home. So I’m out of here, I get home by at least by 9 or 10 at the latest sometimes. And I spend the mornings with them, so we’re working it out. What it is, it’s hard, it’s a hard balance.