Wanda Sykes wants Long Beach to know one thing: there will be no twerking at her show.
“There will be absolutely no twerking,” the longtime comedienne said about her upcoming show at the Terrace Theatre. “Even though Long Beach is always ready to party and a little liquored up, there will be no twerking.”
Sykes has a cult-like following of sorts that follows a career that is seemingly split in two: on one hand, there is the Wanda Sykes that rose to prominence writing for The Chris Rock Show, was married to a prominent record producer, and hosted comedy staple Premium Blend.
This Sykes was one that initially never knew she would be in comedy.
“I come from a family where you leave high school, go to college, and get a job,” she said. “And that’s exactly what I did. As soon as I was able to take care of myself, I had to ask, ‘What do I want to do for myself?'”
Inspired by the classic comedy of people like Whoopi Goldberg, Ed Sullivan, Jackie “Moms” Mabley, Sykes saw a reflection of her own capabilities. Like her inspirations, she is quick, witty, and unabashed in her opinion. It was these characteristics that led her to pursue comedy and succeed—even without the first-show flop that many stand-ups experience.
“My first gig was great because I didn’t know any better,” Sykes explained. “I had never been to a comedy club, I didn’t know you could bomb. And I just killed it—people laughing hysterically. And that feeling of people laughing with you just gave me the sensation that I finally knew what I wanted to do.”
Sykes’s second go-round wasn’t quite so successful: Feeling the high and ego from the success of her first performance, she invited friends and family to her second performance and ultimately bombed—an experience that showed her a healthy dose of humility.
“My mother was thinking, ‘Thank God, she got it out of her system,'” Sykes said. “But I was like, ‘No, I was just cocky—I gotta get back on stage.’ I had to get back to getting people to laugh again.”
Since then, Sykes has never really left the microphone, literally or metaphorically.
And then, on the other hand, is the other Sykes. The post-coming-out Wanda Sykes who came out as a lesbian in November of 2008 following the Prop 8 uproar. This Sykes was seemingly more accessible, more human to scale, and—more importantly—funnier.
“I think I’m funnier [after coming out] because it’s liberating,” she said. “I am totally open on stage now without having to pay attention to pronouns. All that energy I was using in trying not to spill the beans is now used on comedy. I’m liberated.”
This isn’t to say that her career still doesn’t face the fact that, for the most part, comedy remains largely a Boys’ Club.
“People always say, ‘She is one funniest female comics,’ instead of just saying, ‘She’s one of the funniest comics, period,” Sykes said. “They always have to throw the female identifier in there like it’s something abnormal.”
Her sentiment is not tinged with bitterness more than hope, as she supports many opportunities she believes women have now more than ever. Rather than limited to comedy clubs that, for the most part, are unilaterally ran by the owner and require knowing somebody, technology has opened up accessibility. Be it YouTube or Netflix, amateurs and professionals alike are finding new pathways to get their shows to the masses.
Sykes is no stranger to these alternative outlets: her own Sick and Tired is on Netflix and I’ma Be Me is on Amazon.
But the frank reality is that stand up comedy is meant to be experienced face-to-face—and Sykes wants nothing more than that sensation of making someone laugh aloud when she comes to Long Beach.
Without twerking.
Wanda Sykes will be performing Saturday, September 14 at 8PM at the Terrace Theatre, located at 300 E Ocean Boulevard. To purchase tickets, click here.