Wanda Sykes: The Slap, Chappelle and Turning 60

The Last Laugh

The Daily Beast

Comedy Interviews, Comedy, Interviews, Tv & Film, Society & Culture, Tv, Movies, Film

4.6 • 661 Ratings

🗓️ 20 December 2023

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It’s been more than three decades since Wanda Sykes first stepped onto the stand-up stage. And sometimes, it feels like she’s just now getting her due. The legendary comedian just received her first-ever Grammy nomination for her latest Netflix special ‘I’m an Entertainer,’ which also landed nods at the Emmys and Golden Globes. The hard-hitting hour takes on many of the most divisive topics of the year without pandering to either side or ever punching down. “It’s just noise. And I like to try to cut through that,” she says of the way her comedy reacts to the broader political conversation. In this episode, Sykes takes on everything from the problem with Dave Chappelle’s anti-trans jokes to why she was shocked Will Smith didn’t get dragged out of the Oscars for slapping her friend Chris Rock to hitting the road for her Please & Thank You tour during an election year to how she thinks about her place in the comedy pantheon and a lot more.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the Last Laugh. I'm Matt Wilstein from The Daily Beast. It's our last new episode of
0:11.4	2023, and I could not be more thrilled that it's with a comedian who I've been trying to get on
0:17.0	this podcast from the very beginning, the legend herself, Wanda Sykes.
0:22.8	Earlier this year, Wanda released her sixth stand-up special on Netflix, called I'm an
0:28.7	entertainer. And now it has been nominated for an Emmy, a Golden Globe, and a Grammy.
0:35.2	And those honors are so well-deserved, because, as I tell her in this
0:39.5	refreshingly candid conversation, I think it just might be her best hour yet. We get into
0:45.0	so much during this talk, including how her jokes about trans women serve as a much-needed
0:50.0	counterpoint to Dave Chappelle, how she is still processing the trauma of watching Will Smith
0:54.7	slap Chris Rock from just a few feet away almost two years later, and how she's feeling about
1:00.2	her comedy legacy as she prepares to turn 60 next year. Before we get into it, let's listen to a clip
1:07.3	from her latest special, in which Wanda talks about losing her virginity to a man
1:11.9	when she knew deep down it wasn't for her.
1:16.2	And even then, it took me a long time. Like, I was a virgin until I was a junior in college.
1:22.5	Yeah. And even then, I was just like, let me just get this over with it. And I found the shortest guy with the littlest hands I could find.
1:32.3	Two hands.
1:39.3	Because I was like, you know, I ain't trying to have a whole meal.
1:43.3	I was just, you know, I ain't trying to have a whole meal.
1:47.0	I was just looking for tappas, you know.
1:53.0	Just do tappas.
1:59.0	And he was nice, he was nice, so then I started having sex with guys, you know.
2:03.5	Well, you know, it never really did anything for me, but they seem to enjoy it.
	...

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