Copyright © 2009 Ed Bagley

Wanda Sykes: Tongue Untied – 4 Stars (Excellent) Wanda Sykes: Sick & Tired – 3 Stars (Good)

After experiencing a Wanda Sykes comedy routine for the first time, you might ask yourself, “How could a college graduate in a secure position with the National Security Agency degenerate into a foul-mouthed, unladylike joker with no job security.

Then again, you might quickly realize that you have just been listening to and enjoying the most original, funniest female comedian in America today. There is currently no second to Wanda Skyes if you want unrestrained, pure laughter. If you cannot filter out language and put it into perspective, your experience will be slightly less funny. Wanda Sykes does use the f-word.

Sykes is the counterpart to Chris Rock, the most original, funniest male comedian in America today. Both Sykes and Rock have something in common—their humor has a nasty way of unmasking the truth of our life. It can hit so close to home that you have no alternative but to laugh.

Between the f-words, sexual images and raw emotion, Sykes is really handing out some needed social commentary for society’s ugly underbelly.

So how did the daughter of an Army colonel father and a banker mother earn a marketing degree from Hampton University and end up at the National Security Agency? Who cares? What matters is that an appearance at a Washington, DC talent showcase convinced Wanda that comedy was her true calling.

She got a break opening for Chris Rock and was soon hired to write for “The Chris Rock Show”, and took advantage of the opportunity to win a writing Emmy. That led to winning the American Comedy Award for Outstanding Female Stand-Up Comic in 2001. The rest is history, including another Emmy.

Two presentations will make you quickly aware of Wanda’s sassy, squeaky delivery and sharp tongue. The first is “Wanda Sykes: Tongue Untied” when Wanda takes on the stock market, national security and some Catholic priests among others. The second is “Wanda Sykes: Sick & Tired” at Seattle’s Moore Theatre, where Wanda turns comic truth and common sense into some thought-provoking humor.

Please do not buy or rent either of these presentations unless you are willing to laugh so hard that you might fall off of your chair. If laughter is truly the best medicine, then you may address Wanda as Dr. Sykes.

One thing is for sure: Wanda Sykes is the best current female comedian.