0:01
All right.
Search this video
0:01
You are going to get some fan. There you go. Crank it up.
0:03
Put it on setting two if you have to.
0:11
Hey, what's going on everybody?
0:11
From First We Feast, I'm Sean Evans and you're watching Hot Ones.
0:14
It's the show with hot questions and even hotter wings.
0:17
And today I'm joined by comedian Wanda Sykes.
0:19
She's an Emmy Award winner with over two decades in the stand-up game.
0:23
You know her from TV shows like Black-ish and Curb Your Enthusiasm.
0:25
You can catch her latest project, Face Value, Wednesdays on BET, 10:00 9:00 Central.
0:32
Wanda, welcome to the show. Well, thank you.
0:33
Thanks for having me here.
0:36
How are you with hot food?
0:37
I enjoy hot food, but I like to enjoy it.
0:39
It's not a challenge for me.
0:42
You're sort of hacking the game already.
0:44
You have the powered fan ready to go.
0:46
You're in a good position right now. a great position.
0:47
Yes, I feel good about this.
1:05
I like how you mix up the little uh you know the flaps flaps, the nib the nib drops, yeah. Uh-huh.
1:19
You got a little smoke to it. Okay.
1:22
So, I want to start by taking it back to your career before show business because I know that you worked for the federal government, the NSA.
1:27
What do you remember about Wanda Sykes, the government operative?
1:33
A lot of the people who were like getting close to retirement, they all had side jobs.
1:36
Like somebody like selling candles or uh you know, fruit.
1:43
I knew early on that that's not where I wanted to be for a long time.
1:48
WikiLeaks, do you think it's making the world a better place or worse place?
1:51
They're picking and choosing what they want to release.
1:53
You know, yeah, okay, if it's something that we find entertaining and it and it takes down someone that we don't like, then yay, good for you know, we're happy.
2:01
But then what who were they protecting?
2:03
You know, it's like I don't like that they pick and choose who to go after.
2:16
Is this a race or something? Damn.
2:19
I'm personally not winning.
2:20
You're eating it faster than me.
2:20
You've already cleared it.
2:22
I still have some meat on the bone.
2:24
Don't come after me like that, Wanda. I'm winning, too. Okay.
2:29
So, despite your many successful projects and storied stand-up career, I have to imagine that it's Curb Your Enthusiasm fans that are some of the biggest Wanda obsessives.
2:36
What sort of pitch did you get?
2:39
Was it like It's like Wanda Sykes, but you yell more, you know, like Do you remember what it was like?
2:45
Um I was friends with one of the producers on the show. She called me.
2:49
She's like, "We're shooting at this car dealership.
2:50
Come down here and meet Larry." I was like, "Okay."
2:53
I was like, "Well, I'm not auditioning."
2:54
She's like, "No, no, you're just going to meet him."
2:56
Cuz Wanda I hate auditioning. I I suck at it.
2:59
I probably would never get a job if I had to audition.
3:02
So, I get down there and there's like six other black women sitting at this car dealership.
3:08
And you're like, "Wait a second."
3:08
I'm like, "What the Come on. Am I auditioning?"
3:11
And then she go, "Hey, you're here. Come on in."
3:13
And she just pushed me in the room and there's Larry and Jeff.
3:16
And And Larry was like, "You're out for a walk and I drive by and I go, 'Hey, I know that tush anywhere.'"
3:23
And I was like, "Why the [ __ ] would you say something like that?"
3:26
And he just fell out laughing.
3:26
He just thought it was the funniest thing and then we just went back and forth and he was like, "Okay, yeah, you you you you you have the job."
3:33
He kind of tricked you into a Curb Your Enthusiasm scene. Right.
3:38
You know, like you kind of fell into his trap and it worked out pretty well.
3:42
I'm surprised he didn't ask me to come back. Ooh. We'll see how that goes.
3:48
What the hell Portland knows about hot sauce? It's Secret Aardvark. What the hell? Mm.
3:56
Is the crazy eyes killer episode the best ever in your opinion?
3:58
Do you have one that's a favorite?
4:01
Everyone loves that episode.
4:01
That's uh not one of my favorites.
4:04
It makes me so [ __ ] nervous.
4:06
It really does because whenever a white person comes up to me and says, "Oh man, crazy eye killer."
4:14
And I'm like, "This don't say it. Don't say it.
4:18
Oh Jesus, is he going to say it? Please don't say it."
4:20
And I'm just waiting for him to say, you know, "Are you my ni-" And I'm like, "Don't Come on, man. Don't say it.
4:26
I don't want to fight you in this airport."
4:29
scotch bonnet and ginger sauce.
4:33
It even had a little hair on it right there. Okay. You leave the hair on?
4:39
That's the YouTube red carpet treatment, Wanda. Welcome to my world.
4:43
All right, so on your new show, Face Value, contestants are rewarded on their ability to profile total strangers.
4:47
So now I'm going to turn the tables on you, Wanda.
4:52
What I've done is I've pulled up some pictures of people who work behind the scenes here at Hot Ones.
4:57
What I'm hoping you can do is identify their role here, Okay.
5:04
maybe a character trait or two, and maybe their most annoying habit.
5:05
I'll keep it kind of quick. Just from a picture. Oh, wow.
5:10
Straight from a picture, Wanda. Okay.
5:12
Not a lot to work off of. Okay. It's okay. I can do this. You can do it.
5:19
Here we have Chris Murphy doing Chris Murphy things.
5:22
Chris Murphy still lives at home.
5:22
He goes and get takes the lunch orders and and he and he and he [ __ ] it up a lot, too. I can tell.
5:33
And he's always kind of like hang out after work.
5:36
And you guys are all like, "Nah, man, we going home.
5:38
And I I got this thing I got to do." So he's like, "Okay."
5:40
And then you guys get together without him.
5:44
You drew back the arrow and just bullseye. Bullseye.
5:49
Kristen slaying on a boat in Portugal.
5:53
That's a powerful black woman right there. Yeah.
5:56
She is she's not taking any lip.
5:59
She will put you in your place.
6:02
Uh she's probably the receptionist.
6:06
That's That's the gatekeeper right there.
6:08
Here we have Chris Schonberger. Oh boy. This guy is sad. Might be gay.
6:14
His dog Ruggles over here.
6:16
And his dog is like, "Don't jump, buddy. You got me."
6:19
That's what the dog is saying. This is um kind of Yeah.
6:28
So it seems like comedians who love their craft they're yearning for nothing more than the microphone.
6:32
As somebody who is a political satirist and somebody who focuses on political humor, have you noticed a difference in the way that these rooms are received in different cities throughout the country?
6:43
I mean, I would hope and what I've what I've what I've experienced, if you come to see Wanda Sykes, you should know what you're what you're coming for what what you're going to get.
6:52
Now, every now and then you get a few people who like, "Oh, let's go see Barb from The New Adventures of Old Christine."
6:58
And they get in there and that then they're like, "What the hell is this?
7:02
What you know, what is she talking about? She's gay? What the fuck?"
7:05
You know, and they cursing and screaming they run out with their hair on fire.
7:12
So this one's Dirty Dick's, very aggressive brand name. Dirty Dick's. Ooh. All right. Mhm. Mhm. Oh, I like this.
7:22
It's got a nice little sweetness to it. Mhm.
7:25
Oh, it's like it with the tropical twist. That's what it is.
7:28
So I recently heard you cracking jokes about Jay-Z's ashy penis, which I think may be your most haunting phrase to date. I don't know.
7:35
Of all the things I've said, that that one just landed.
7:37
That one It was a bomb that went off my brain. Okay.
7:42
Are you beehive till you die?
7:42
Are you a little suspicious of the new Beyoncé?
7:47
Get the sense that you're a fan in limbo. I am I am all in. I'm 100 Beyoncé. I'm beehive. Yes, I am.
7:55
That the the last album the Lemonade, that that won me back.
8:01
Would you let your kids watch the Drunk in Love video? Hell no. Why would I do that? No. Okay. Okay. Hello. Hello. Mhm.
8:33
Cuz you couldn't like do a little gradual increase. I mean, this is uh Ha.
8:43
This is kind of like a hot I don't I'm not enjoying.
8:47
That's the road I think we're going to take to the finish line. Oh, really? Yeah. Ooh. All right.
8:53
You are going to get some fan. There you go. Crank it up.
8:54
Put it on setting two if you have to.
8:59
Pricking my tongue there.
8:59
Just uh I ate I'm still eating it. I would eat it.
9:05
So, in 2009, you did a White House Correspondents Dinner, which is an event I always find fascinating, especially from a comedian's perspective.
9:11
Do you have to get jokes approved?
9:13
Do you have to jump through different hurdles? How is it different? I was shocked, too.
9:17
That I thought I would have to send in all my jokes and they'd tell me what I could say and couldn't say. Nothing.
9:25
I kept asking, uh do they want a recording or do they want a script? Nothing.
9:31
Is there anything that bricked that you thought would play well and it just kind of fell flat?
9:35
I think it's because the first lady put a bust of Sojourner Truth in the White House.
9:40
I told her I said, "Look, when you guys leave, make sure you you nail it down, you know."
9:46
But because you know, the next white people who get in the who who who are there, they're going to move her to the kitchen. So.
9:58
And And that one was a little flat.
10:01
That one was a little flat.
10:01
Didn't take good care of that one. So far. No big Oh, there it is. Okay. Ooh. Oh, boy. Oh. Ah. Okay. Shit's getting real. Yeah.
10:37
Is there a piece of parenting advice that everyone thinks is really good advice, but that you've decided is not particularly good advice? Is spanking a thing?
10:48
Uh yeah, we we didn't spank, but Well, actually I I did.
10:51
I did spank them a couple of times.
10:52
I don't I got a couple of pats off. Oh. I got you, Wanda. Thank you, sir.
11:07
How do you tell your kids that they suck at something?
11:09
How do you let them down easy? I do a big loud boo. Just a boo.
11:23
Actually, we I mean, that's the thing.
11:25
It's It's thumbs up, thumbs down. That's what we do. That's what we do.
11:28
Everybody always wants to feed all the Oh, Oh, so great. You're so this. You're so that.
11:31
No, like sometimes you just need to get into them real. Mhm.
11:36
My kids do it to me, too. Thumbs up, thumbs down. How you feeling?
11:46
I'm You don't want to know how I'm feeling right now. Oh, boy. I think I'm tapping out. You want to tap? I'm just chill. Just chill. Just chill, Wanda. Okay. Ooh. You know, I'm I'm 53. Yeah.
12:14
I can't eat this crap anymore. Right. Right.
12:17
My stomach is like, oh boy. Uh-uh.
12:19
It's It's kind of going a little bit crazy over there.
12:23
This But this is the problem.
12:24
It's It goes like from 1 to These are like threes. And then you go to 18. Right. Right.
12:33
And then this is like a hundred. Right. Right. So because now Mhm. I can say anything.
12:39
It's you know, I'm ready to, you know, confess to [ __ ] I haven't even done. That's That's the show. my mind is right now. I Yeah, I did it. I [ __ ] Kevin Hart. Yeah. IT WAS ME. WHAT?
13:00
AND THIS IS ACTUALLY THIS IS indeed hotter than Or they're all on the same Here's what I would say to you.
13:07
Guests always have the hardest time with this one. Okay.
13:12
If you can get on top of this one, you can get on top of this one, you can get on top of this one. I would say this, Wanda. Don't try to be a hero. You know what I mean? Don't Okay. go there.
13:22
You've been cleaning wings all the way through.
13:24
I think you You lulled into a little bit of a of false security, you know?
13:27
I'm I'm Crystal you were like there's not enough on. There's not enough on. There's not enough on.
13:32
And then now we're at a point where you're just sort of hitting a wall hard.
13:40
This is a this is not a peer pressure situation. Okay.
13:43
I'm going to take a bite and ask a question.
13:44
If you want to go swimming you can go swimming.
13:46
If you want to tap you can tap.
13:49
It's not the end of the world. Wow. Be careful. Can I call my mother?
14:29
So your wife is French and I imagine that you have a lifestyle that's a little more continental than it used to be.
14:35
France I feel like is romanticized by everyone.
14:38
But as we know one does not always so easily impressed.
14:40
So what I'm going to do is bounce some French things off of you and you can tell me if they're overrated or underrated. Does that sound good? on top of that. Okay. Escargot. Underrated. I'll say underrated.
14:50
Even if you don't eat the escargot it's that bread in the It's a good dip action situation. Yes. Yes.
14:58
Don't don't don't sleep on the dip. French wine. It's better.
15:02
Uh it doesn't hit you in the face with you know alcohol.
15:04
But I mean their their vines are older.
15:06
It's older so it's yeah a little more complex. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. I love him. I love him. Monfils uh annoys me. Oh yeah? Yeah.
15:16
Cuz cuz he he he it's it's like this.
15:19
He he sucks you in and you're like oh I think Monfils is going put it together.
15:23
This He's going to do it."
15:24
He's like and then he does something dumb, you know, jumping up in the air, hitting it between his legs.
15:28
Like, "What the man, come on.
15:30
Just get get get the ball back over the net. Just focus on that." French sense of humor. Oh, uh overrated. They're They're awful. Oh, boy.
15:45
My brain is like melting right now. Is that normal? It's It is.
15:50
Like my mind is just gone. Mhm. All right, Wanda. What are you doing?
16:03
So, this is the last dab. dab. That's right.
16:06
Its reputation has preceded it, I see, Wanda.
16:08
All right, so it's tradition around here to put a little extra on the last wing.
16:13
You don't have to if you don't want to, Wanda.
16:16
I know you're going through it a little bit.
16:17
You don't have to if you don't want There it is. There it is.
16:21
I you know, I'm a I'm That's good.
16:22
That's I'm here for the sport, for the Respect. Yeah. Respect. All right.
16:31
Is that a little little publicist staredown?
16:33
We've had many of those on Hot Ones. Oh, man.
16:43
It's It's I mean I mean yeah yeah. Listen, listen.
16:45
You know You know where it's going.
16:47
You know where it's going.
16:48
You don't have to go there.
16:48
You don't have to go there, Wanda.
16:49
You don't have to go there. I'm going there. All right. All right. Going there. All right.
17:02
This one like this Send me to the ER.
17:08
All right, Wanda, you started your career alongside Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock, an Emmy, countless TV shows, movies, and comedy specials later, somehow you ended up in front of me eating the wings of death on Hot Ones. Yes.
17:23
So, if this is your undoing, if the last dab is in fact the last chapter, I wonder which comedian would you want to deliver the eulogy at your funeral and why? Keith Robinson. He knows me best.
17:35
I know he'll make it funny.
17:41
He'll He'll give me a nice send-off. If today or tonight Mhm.
17:50
you're walking home a large black man jumps out of an alley and kicks your ass I had nothing to do with it.
18:01
All right, that sounds like an open invite to me.
18:02
And look at you, Wanda Sykes, you made it through.
18:05
I know that it was a little bit of a trying moment here at the bomb, but you fired up the You fired up the fan. You got another one out.
18:14
Going in for a second bite.
18:16
Wanda Sykes, what a legend.
18:16
Now there's nothing left to do but roll out the red carpet for you, Wanda. Well, thank you.
18:23
This camera, this camera, this camera, let the people know what you have going on in your life.
18:27
We have a show premiere on September 27th BET called Face Value hosted by Deon Cole and Tiffany Haddish.
18:36
We talk show to game show on truTV.
18:41
Got picked up for the second season.
18:42
That'll be back with Guy Branum. I'M ON THE PACKAGE. THANK YOU.
18:50
YOU REALLY LIKE LIKE lose your mind. Yeah. It's crazy, right? put it together.
18:56
I was just like uh uh Good lord.
19:01
Hello world, Sean Evans coming at you to say thank you for watching.
19:03
If you like what you saw, please subscribe.
19:05
We're hovering around the 3,000th ranked YouTube channel in the world.
19:09
It has been a childhood dream of mine to be somewhere in the mid-200s. We're so close.
19:15
Help make an adult bald man's dreams come true. Please, please, please. JK, JK, no pressure.
19:21
But if you do subscribe, I appreciate it.