Sick & Tired: Grade B

B

Sick & Tired

Wanda Sykes

This is an HBO stand up comedy show, the second of Wanda’s that I’ve seen. Her material is very intelligent, funny and socially incisive. Her street syntax and intonation add another layer to the stories that increases their value. A lot of the stories are on socially sensitive topics, like racism, sexism, abortion, homosexuality, and the incompetence of the Bush administration. Her material is far more political than last time, making some heavy handed liberal political “points,” and while still funny, they are more clever than insightful. Perhaps the hot button social topics are already worn thin by the time the comics get to them. I like her best when her material goes surrealistically loopy, like the bit about the detachable pussy. That kind of stuff is totally original, unexpected, satirical, and LOL funny.