Wanda woman

Photo Illustration: Jamie DiVecchio Ramsay

At the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in May, Wanda Sykes responded to Rush Limbaugh’s professed hope that Obama’s administration fails by saying, “To me, that’s treason…. I hope [Limbaugh’s] kidneys fail.” Recently, when I asked Sykes if she had any second thoughts about that media-riling quip, she simply said of it, “Funny. Very funny.”

On November 7, the very funny stand-up debuts her late-night talk show on Fox, The Wanda Sykes Show. That date will fall between two one-year anniversaries for Sykes: On October 25 last year, she and her wife were married, and weeks later, on November 15, Sykes came out to an anti–Prop 8 crowd in Las Vegas.

Time Out Chicago: It’s pretty early there on the West Coast. How’s your morning going?
Wanda Sykes: I’m actually in traffic on my way to my show. I’m gonna go shoot a little piece.

TOC: What’s the piece?
WS: I’m trying to get the adult industry to go green.

TOC: And what would that entail?
WS: You know, reusable condoms. Wash ’em out, dry ’em, use ’em again! I’m tired of walking around parks and seeing all these condoms. That stuff just ends up in the middle of the ocean. I don’t want to see Flipper with a condom on his nose. That’s not right.

TOC: Reusable lubricant, too?
WS: Homemade lubricant. Bacon grease.

TOC: What else is pissing you off these days, Wanda?
WS: There’s a lot of stuff I really don’t want to hear about. I don’t want to hear about David Letterman having sex. I don’t want to hear about Jon and Kate and Jon running off with the money.

TOC: Speaking of Letterman, can we have your word: no sex with female workers on your talk show?
WS: Not on The Wanda Sykes Show. No way! Uh-uh. None of that’s going down.

TOC: The wife would not be too happy, I imagine.
WS: Oh, no. And she’s French, so I’m sure she’d fight dirty. Then again, she’s French, so she may not fight at all: “All right. Go ’head. Whatever.”

TOC: Will your show be more than the monologue-and-guests routine?
WS: Yeah, we’re doing some remote pieces, we’ll have correspondents, a panel element like on Chelsea Lately or Bill Maher, but it’s not gonna be as serious as Bill Maher. We’re gonna have alcohol, a bar on stage. I don’t want the guests to feel like they have to read…well, I was gonna say three newspapers, but I don’t think three newspapers even exist now.

TOC: What’ll be your drink of choice?
WS: While I’m doing the show, I’ll probably keep it light—a Ketel One club soda. After the show, I’ll probably do a shot of Patrón Silver. I know you never should mix your liquors, but I do enjoy a nice tequila.

TOC: Vodka’s light for you?
WS: Red wine is like water for me.

TOC: There’s been some press about the sudden little burst of diversity on late-night TV: you, Mo’Nique, George Lopez. Any thoughts on that?
WS: About fucking time! [Laughs]

TOC: Anything else you’d like to add?
WS: Well, look at the comedians you just named. We’ve all been at this probably 20-plus years, so yeah, man. People are staying away from scripted stuff, so it gives us more opportunities. Is it a coincidence? Is it an Obama factor? I have no idea, but I’m happy about it.

TOC: The title of your recent HBO special: I’ma Be Me—when was that ever in doubt?
WS: [Laughs] Well, so much has happened over the past year: I got married, I publicly came out, I have kids now. I’m finally just relaxed and comfortable with who I am. Genie’s out of the bottle.

TOC: How’s being a new mom of twins?
WS: Awesome. People say it ruins your life. It does. The old life is gone, and you get this new life. But I’m really digging it. I wish they would get to know each other. Right now Olivia looks at Lucas like, Look at that big dumb boy. And he’s so much bigger; he’s a brute. He’s really a sweet baby, but sometimes he looks at her like, Aw, man, if I can just get close enough, I want to eat her.

TOC: How has publicly coming out affected your life?
WS: Nothing but positive, very liberating. It’s really cool when the younger kids come up to me and thank me for it.

TOC: What’d your parents say?
WS: Well, you know, my parents—they’re raised in the church and pretty religious, so they’re having some difficulties, but they’re dealing with it. It just takes some time. It took me 40 years to get here, so…

The Wanda Sykes Show premieres November 7 on Fox at 10pm.

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