Magic w nda Standup/sitcom star/new mom pulls a late-night out of her comedic bag of tricks By Lisa Bernhard

“I’m always shootin’ my mouth off about Will you open with a monologue? I’m something,” says Wanda Sykes. And af- thinking about opening with a pole ter scoring in supporting roles on Curb dance. But I need to sharpen my skills. Your Enthusiasm and The New Adventures My upper-body strength is not what it of Old Christine, Sykes may finally be used to be. where she belongs—in the freewheeling You’re a new mom—you must have lots arena of late-night talk. The Wanda Sykes of strength to pick up those kids. Be- Show, airing Saturdays on Fox, hopes to sides, pole dancing goes with the new do for the network what MadTV and mom image, right? That’s why I wanted Talkshow host Spike Feresten ultimately to do it. Let people know, “I’m a new couldn’t—steal yuks from time slot rival mom, but I still got it.” It’ll be some- . Now a new mom— thing for my kids to look at down the Sykes’ wife, Alex, whom she wed last Oc- road. All the ammunition they need to tober, gave birth to twins Olivia Lou and go to therapy. Lucas Claude in April—Sykes has even Will you do sketches? More like man-on- more fertile ground to mine. Here’s a the-street type things. This weekend I taste of what’s to come. went to Adult-Con. I’m trying to get the porn industry to go green. Your first talk-show gig was as a contrib- Some journalists have grouped you with utor on HBO’s The Show. Will Mo’Nique and George Lopez, who also your show be similar? It will have some have new talk shows—the point being of those elements, where everything is that late night isn’t just for white guys grounded in reality. We’re also going to anymore. Is that a double-edged sword, have a panel—that’s a little bit of Bill preventing you from standing on your Maher, but not as heavy. I don’t want own? You have a valid point. We’re my guests to feel like they have to watch lumped [together] as “brown people” or Charlie Rose every night. females. I think it’s a dis to Leno or

00 | TVGUIDEmagazine.com Photographs by Adam Olszewski “SNL is always gonna have their audience,” says Sykes. “I hope to bring in a new audience to late night who was not going to watch SNL anyway.”

Sykes cracks wise with Julia Louis-Dreyfus on Old Christine (above) and Larry David and Cheryl Hines on Curb (top right) and gets serious, coming out at a California rally last year

Letterman to say they’re “white guys.” Will you have a live studio audience? They’re not just “white guys,” they’re Definitely. We’re gonna have audience comedians—and obviously they’ve done participation. We’re gonna play inap- something to get to where they are. propriate games. Defending the “white guys!” I’m not sure Drinking games? No, like trivia, just in- I’ve heard that take before. Well, now that appropriate. One we tried is, “Gay, we have a black president, at least once a Black or Crippled.” “Know Your week I like to defend white guys. Asians.” “Homeless or French.” I’m not With this talk show, your roles on Old going to be able to go home because my Christine and Curb and your recent HBO wife is French. Maybe I’ll buy her some- standup special, you’ve got a lot of jobs. thing pretty. I’ll just tell her, “Look, this Don’t blame me for the recession! is working toward our home in the How will you manage to juggle all these south of France.” gigs? [Curb] is all shot. When we wrap Has your career changed since you an- [Old Christine]—I’m outta there at, like, nounced last November that you had mar- three o’clock—I come over to my show. ried a woman? If anything it has helped When I’m on hiatus from Old Christine, my career, because creatively I don’t I’m here full time. When I was preparing have anything to dance around. Now it’s my HBO special, that’s when I was crazy. just out there. I’m pretty much free to There was a lot of alcohol going on. say whatever I want. It’s been What’s your poison? I’m a fan of tequila, liberating. Patron Silver. You know my favorite Let’s circle back to the “white guys.” What thing about Patron Silver? The next do you think of the Letterman extortion/ morning, other alcohols leave you with affair scandal? It’s just creepy. I would hangovers. With Patron, you’re still rather not know any of it. drunk! Like the bed Letterman supposedly has in If we mention Patron, I you’ll get free his office? cases. Oh, nice! Make sure you write Oh, that’s creepy! The only bed that’s that down then. And there will be alco- gonna go in my office is a crib. hol on the show. That section when we So you don’t plan on dating interns on your have the panel, that’s when the bar is show? Uh, lemme get a look at ‘em open.We have a bar onstage. It’s like a again and get back to you. giant “W.” That’s the only reason I took The Wanda Sykes Show, Premieres Nov. 7,

GUTTER CREDIT TK CREDIT GUTTER the gig! 11/10c, Fox; fox.com, hulu.com

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