WANDA SYKES: I'MA BE ME (TV)
Summary
This televised comedy special features a stand-up performance by Wanda Sykes at the Warner Theater in Washington, D.C. In her act, Sykes touches on such topics as: the "bittersweet" experience of having a black President when the country is in financial trouble; Obama's unflappable cool in the face of extreme criticism; her sense that black people are free to be "less dignified" with Obama in office; her experience as entertainer at the 2009 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner and being told to censor her act; the media's hopes that Michelle Obama will behave in a more stereotypical "sassy black woman" manner; her flattering fashion sense and romantic life with Barack; Sykes' shock at recent news stories about Somalian pirates; insurance companies' so-called "death panels" and her own fears about her kids' plans for her in her old age; her views on organ donation and leaving one's body to science, particularly as a celebrity; her recent trip to Brazil and skepticism about natural weather forecasting methods; Americans' centuries-long refusal to learn the metric system; why we are "a nation of dummies" with only short-term memorization abilities; immigration and which Americans she would prefer to "trade out"; frequent racist and sexist criticism of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor; her sense that being gay is more difficult than being black, as one does not have to "come out as black"; her recent experience on a gay cruise and concerns about the "dress code"; her marriage to Alex Niedbalski and the challenges of raising their newborn twins, particularly her fussy daughter Olivia; disapproval of her interracial marriage from straight black women and the pros and cons of having children of a different race; aging and unpleasant physical changes, including her battle with Spanx girdles; Michael Jackson's surprising death; her shock at Jamie Lee Curtis and Sally Field's television commercials for products for older women; the extreme popularity of erectile dysfunction medications as proof that "men rule the world"; speculation about elderly women's hopes for their married lives and frustration at being "tricked by science"; a harrowing experience at a waxing salon; and her own increasing forgetfulness.
Details
- NETWORK: HBO
- DATE: November 30, 1999 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:26:39
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 123121
- GENRE: Comedy
- SUBJECT HEADING: African-American Collection - Comedy; Stand-up comedy
- SERIES RUN: HBO - TV, 2009
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Liz Stanton … Executive Producer
- Wanda Sykes … Executive Producer, Writer
- Robin Seidon … Coordinating Producer
- John McCann … Associate Producer
- Lance Crouther … Consulting Producer
- Beth McCarthy … Director
- RhythmDB … Theme Music by
- Wanda Sykes … Performer
- Jamie Lee Curtis
- Sally Field
- Michael Jackson
- Alex Niedbalski
- Barack Obama
- Michelle Obama
- Sonia Sotomayor