Not Normal

If you voted for Donald Trump and bought a ticket to see Wanda Sykes in early 2019, she has a simple message: you made another bad decision. Recorded at The Town Hall in New York City, the hour targets the absurdities of the late-2010s political climate. Sykes focuses on the Mueller investigation and the visual of the president boarding Air Force One with toilet paper stuck to his shoe. While other comics of her generation approached the era with panic, Sykes treats the political chaos as a bizarre administrative error, relying on her signature disbelief to carry the jokes.

The performance shifts from national politics to the domestic friction of her home life. Sykes talks about her white wife and their biracial children, contrasting how white families are taught to play with the more disciplined upbringing she experienced. She also touches on the opioid crisis, aging, and a pitch for a PR campaign to get Black people to recycle.

The special arrived at a pivotal point in her career, marking her return to Netflix after she publicly rejected their initial, lower offer for her 2016 hour. Her gamble paid off, earning her two Primetime Emmy nominations for the special, including one for outstanding writing.