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Sick & Tired

Wanda Sykes

HBO · 2006 · 69 min

An aggressive hour of stand-up covering unaccompanied minors, cashiers, and plane crashes.

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Wanda Sykes’s first HBO hour finds her in peak cranky form, armed with a deep well of annoyance and zero patience for the public. The centerpiece of the special is a drawn-out, increasingly unhinged bit about surviving a plane crash and immediately resorting to cannibalism before rescuers can arrive—even if the flight only went down three minutes prior. Whether she is complaining about unaccompanied minors abandoned by their parents to sit next to her, or outlining her own failings in bed, Sykes leans hard into the persona of someone completely done with daily inconveniences.

Filmed at the Moore Theatre in Seattle, Sick & Tired premiered in 2006. At the time, Sykes was a reliable television presence thanks to Curb Your Enthusiasm and The New Adventures of Old Christine, but her stand-up remained far more aggressive than her sitcom output. The set earned a 2007 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special.

The set list

8 bits

  1. Gay marriage debate

    Argues the government should not be involved because the solution is simple: if you do not believe in same-sex marriage, do not marry someone of the same sex.

  2. Supreme Court appointments and abortion

    Mocks the panic over appointments by joking she had two abortions on the way there to stock up, pointing out women do not have casual abortion parties.

  3. Comparing men to dogs

    Insists women must stop calling men dogs because dogs possess loyalty.

  4. Racial profiling at traffic lights

    Decides to treat everyone like criminals by pulling up beside well-dressed white drivers and locking her car door as soon as they look over.

  5. Exasperation with the Iraq war

    Predicts that even if Iraq establishes a government, they will eventually elect an asshole who ruins everything, noting 'we did it.'

  6. Federal budget and Department of Personal Shoppers

    Suggests putting working single mothers in charge of government spending to find bargains instead of spending two billion dollars on bombs that could come from Target.

  7. Investing and the dot-com crash

    Rejects the notion of making her money 'work,' insisting her money stays home 'barefoot and pregnant.'

  8. The space program

    Characterizes space exploration as a giant welfare program for smart people who are so smart they are useless.

How it plays

Tone
Adult, blunt, populist, tired bemusement, and candid without malice.
On stage
Relaxed, in-control, bold, and gruff 'everywoman' comic acting as a candid, trustworthy reality broker.
Pace
Slow-to-anger cadence with a bemused, striding delivery and deliberate pauses.
About
politics, gay marriage, karma, healthcare, racial profiling, the pressure of being a woman

What the critics said

Received positive reviews from AllMusic and PopMatters praising her confident presence and unforced populist humor, while the New York Post dismissed it as brainless political commentary playing to a friendly crowd.

In the room: Enthusiastic, smart, and appreciative Seattle theater audience.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: womensmediacenter.com, allmusic.com, popmatters.com, npr.org, nypost.com.

Backstory

Material developed from a 32-city national tour, taped against the backdrop of the Bush Jr. administration, the Iraq war, and contentious debates over same-sex marriage and Supreme Court appointments.

Details

Released
Taped
Moore Theatre, Seattle
Runtime
69 min
Where
HBO
Honors
Nominated for a 2007 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special
Topics
Before
Tongue Untied (2003)
After
I'ma Be Me (2009)

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