I'MA Be Me - A Review

As promised here is this week's review. This week I took a look at the latest offering from Wanda Sykes.

I’ma Be Me

Filmed in Washington, D.C. at the Warner Theatre

August 2009

There are very few comedians that I put into the elite category. For my money it’s not about being the flavor of the month or year but someone who continuously puts out quality material year after year. Wanda Sykes is an elite comedian and her latest HBO special “I’ma be me” only further solidifies her as one of the funniest and smartest people doing stand-up today.

As my girlfriend and I sat down to watch Wanda’s latest offering of thoughts we both had similar expectations: This is going to be funny. However what we were met with was one of the funniest hours we had ever seen. This caught us off guard. Looking back I think it’s easy for the average viewer to forget about Wanda Syke’s the comedian. She’s in sitcoms, she has her own show and she never seems that far out of the public light so in a lot of ways, I think we take her for granted.

In “I’ma be me” Wanda talks about changes. She talks about Obama and racism with the first black president. She talks about her physical appearance and those changes. She talks about what it’s like being a parent of twins and  most importantly (arguably) she talks about her own sexuality and how she made the decision recently to come out of the closet. This leads to a piece of material that I’m comfortable labeling ‘pure genius’ called “Coming out Black”.

Needless to say at this point I think anyone who considers themselves a fan of comedy should watch this. Is it safe for the whole family? No, the language and descriptions are definitely R rated however the language and descriptions used will likely only shock or offend someone under the age of 16 or those who get easily offended. In that respect the language is used only for emphasis and not just for the sake of using it.

Regardless of the all the award nominations, the television appearances and HBO specials I personally feel like Wanda Sykes is a bit of a buried treasure in the mainstream stand-up world and my hope is that “I’ma be me” puts her right where she belongs in the stand-up world…near the top.

What You Really Want To Know:
Is it safe to listen to in public? NO! Under no circumstances should you upload this to your ipod and listen to it on the street or subway. You will look ridiculous as you wipe a tear away because you’re laughing so hard.