It seems like whenever Hollywood needs a sassy sidekick, Wanda Sykes gets the call.
Currently, she's in the CBS sitcom "The New Adventures of Old Christine," where she plays Christine's suffer-no-fools friend, Barb.
Smart-mouthing has been Sykes' onscreen M.O., from playing Jane Fonda's beleaguered assistant Ruby in "Monster-in-Law" to her recurring role on "Curb Your Enthusiasm," where she played herself. Or the persona audiences expect of her, anyway.
On that show, she was one of the few cast members who actually called out the socially retarded Larry David, whether she was catching him looking at her behind or accusing him of getting a racist dog.
But at Sykes' stand-up show today at the Atwood Concert Hall, she won't play second fiddle to anyone.
Stand-up is how Sykes got her start, trying out at a talent contest before she'd ever even set foot in a comedy club. Onstage her approach is frank, raunchy and fearless, touching on everything from "American Idol" to gay marriage to the differences between "black crime" and "white crime."
"I think I say things that people think but don't say," she told the Baltimore Sun. "I found a way to say what everyone wants to say but don't because they're afraid."
Find Play reporter Sarah Henning at adn.com/contact/shenning or call 257-4323.
Biography
Born: March 7, 1964, Portsmouth, Va.
Education: Bachelor's degree in marketing from Hampton University
Start in comedy: A talent contest in Washington, D.C.
Filmography: Includes "Evan Almighty," "Monster-In-Law," "Pootie Tang," "Nutty Professor II: The Clumps" and the voice of Stella the skunk in "Over the Hedge."
Awards: On the Emmy-winning writing team for "The Chris Rock Show"
In the news: Featured in this month's Vanity Fair cover story, "Who Says Women Aren't Funny?" •
'Yeah, I said it'
Get a taste of Sykes' style with this sampling of quotes from her stand-up shows and TV appearances in March.
On taking up snowboarding in her 40s
"Little late, huh? I wait until my hips get nice and fragile. ... I fell so hard I couldn't blink for an hour."
On the presidential election
"At first I was really torn, I'm like Hillary, Obama. Woman, black. I'm torn. I'm a black woman. So I had to go, 'What has caused me the most problems in my life? Where do I need some oomph?' I was weighing everything. OK, no equal pay, no pay. Rape, slavery. Let's see, get hit on by men, get hit on by policemen. ...
I'm going with Obama. The thing is, I'm worried because you know, if he wins, black people are gonna have to come up with a new excuse. You can't blame the man when you are the man."
On her recent birthday
"The whole getting old process -- they should have a handbook. ... All these things I would laugh at my mother about, I find myself doing it. The other day I'm coming out the mall and I'm talking to one of my friends and she's like, 'You sound distracted.' I'm going through my purse, I'm like, 'Girl, I think I left my cell phone in the store.' And she goes, 'You wanna call me back?' "
On TV
Watch Wanda Sykes on "The New Adventures of Old Christine" at 8:30 p.m. Mondays on CBS, Channel 11.
Sykes! That's a weird job
• She was the "spokesapple" for a series of Applebee's ads that launched last year. "Get it together, baby!"
• Before she pursued stand-up, she did equipment purchasing during the Gulf War for the National Security Agency.
• In her short-lived, 2004 Comedy Central show, "Wanda Does It," her gimmick was trying on other people's jobs, which included fast-food cook and hooker. (The service she offered was "a beating.")
Video
Link to Wanda Sykes giving her saucy stand-up take on racist dolphins at play.adn.com.
Wanda Sykes
When: 8 p.m. today
Where: Atwood Concert Hall
How much: $48-$55, 263-2787, www.centertix.net
Web: www.wanda sykes.com, www. myspace.com/wandasykes
By Sarah Henning
shenning@adn.com