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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy

I'm An Entertainer

Wanda Sykes

Netflix · 2023 · 62 min

A veteran comic trades polite consensus for exhausted common sense.

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Wanda Sykes spent three decades building an audience that expects her to say exactly what she thinks, and she delivers on that expectation with a relaxed, veteran confidence. Standing on stage at the Miller Theater in Philadelphia, she immediately addresses the collective fatigue of the modern political landscape, explaining why she is completely done with the advice to “go high” when opponents go low. Instead, she leans into her exasperation, converting the stressful absurdities of the early 2020s into sharp, highly specific stories.\n\nHer material works best when she roots large societal anxieties in the messy realities of her own life. She contrasts the challenges of raising Gen Z teenagers with her French wife alongside personal pandemic memories, like trying to attend online church while sneakily smoking weed in isolation. Sykes also tackles broader cultural battles head-on. The centerpiece of the hour is a physical sequence where she mimes swinging an imaginary tampon like a lasso, using a chaotic public-restroom scenario to dismantle the transphobic panic over women’s bathrooms.\n\nThe special was filmed in early February 2023 and directed by Linda Mendoza. It earned three Primetime Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Variety Special and Outstanding Writing for Sykes. It followed her 2019 special, Not Normal, continuing her run of direct, unfiltered assessments of American culture.

The set list

8 bits

  1. Having sex with men before coming out as gay

    Explaining that had rainbow flags existed in schools when she was growing up, she could have avoided unnecessary intimacy with men; although she felt nothing, the men enjoyed it, prompting the line 'I'm an entertainer!'

  2. Racial disparity in consequences and white privilege

    Contrasting how her French wife casually snooped around an under-construction house next door with the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, noting that white privilege allows actions that would get a Black person arrested or killed

  3. Black people cannot afford to be weird

    Contrasting the tragic death of Elijah McClain with white people being allowed to wear cheeseheads or storm the U.S. Capitol, observing that the Jan 6 Shaman should have been tagged and placed in a zoo

  4. Defending drag shows and reading hours against conservative bans

    Pointing out that if children can handle Snuffleupagus on Sesame Street, they can easily handle RuPaul

  5. The realities of women's public restrooms

    Using act-outs to describe the gross conditions of women's bathrooms while dismissing conservative panic about trans women entering them

  6. Pandemic behavior and lockdown church attendance

    Recounting debaucherous online church attendance, secretly smoking weed during isolation, and childhood run-ins with the mosquito man making her unafraid of vaccines

  7. Conservative opposition to Critical Race Theory

    Questioning whether conservatives want to whitewash history because they are afraid their own children will be ashamed of them

  8. Her belly fat roll named Esther

    Checking back in with the physical comedy of her fat roll, dubbed Esther

How it plays

Tone
Provocative, irreverent, candid, sharply observational, and personal
On stage
Honest, sarcastic, ferocious, insightful, self-effacing, not mean-spirited
Pace
Starts off pacing back and forth on stage with vocal and physical pacing likened at times to Chris Rock, escalating into dynamic physical comedy, exasperated expressions, and impeccable comic timing
About
COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns, raising Gen Z teenage twins, marriage to a white French wife and racial privilege, politics and liberalism, homophobia and transphobia, public restrooms

What the critics said

Universally praised by critics (holding a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score) for its raw vitality, ferocious wit, sharp physical comedy, and skillfully weaving personal family anecdotes with serious social commentary on race and politics

In the room: Enthusiastic and responsive, laughing loudly at her pantomimes and impressions as Sykes feeds off the energy in the room

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: broadwayworld.com, thewrap.com, bbfc.co.uk, variety.com, pastemagazine.com, decider.com, rottentomatoes.com, edgemedianetwork.com, en.wikipedia.org, goldderby.com.

Backstory

Filmed in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and political turbulence including the January 6 Capitol insurrection; Sykes explores raising Gen Z twins and being married to a white French wife in a politically charged climate

Details

Released
Taped
Miller Theater, Philadelphia
Runtime
62 min
Where
Netflix
Director
Linda Mendoza
Honors
Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Best Variety SpecialPrimetime Emmy Award nomination for Best Variety Special WritingPrimetime Emmy Award nomination for Best Variety Special Directing (Linda Mendoza)
Topics
Before
Not Normal (2019)
After
Legacy (2026)

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