Review: Wanda Sykes, “Not Normal” on Netflix

The first Netflix special for Wanda Sykes also is the first for any black woman in stand-up, which jeepers creepers, should not be considered normal for 2019. And yet. Here we are.

Onscreen, Sykes has found a lengthy and lucrative career as the audience’s voice of reason — whether as the friendly foil in black-ish, The New Adventures of Christine and Curb Your Enthusiasm — or as herself speaking truth to society in series such as Wanda At Large, Wanda Does It, and her short-lived late-night talker, The Wanda Sykes Show.

At 55, she’s even more embracing of her physicality onstage.

She mocks Trump’s lack of self-awareness in even looking presidential by embodying the inflatable tube men that wobble in the wind outside of car dealerships. She mocks the Trump family’s apparent need for Secret Service details by acting out a mall cop on patrol on a Segway. At other points, she mocks herself in menopause by demonstrating how her stomach jiggles when she brushes her teeth, or acts out a more self-aware version of The Bachelor in which the man tapped his female suitors with his dick instead of handing out roses.

On the latter, Sykes notes it’s not merely bad television, but bad for society, as well. “The Bachelor cannot coexist with #TimesUp, #MeToo.”

Read my full review on Decider.com

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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2 thoughts on “Review: Wanda Sykes, “Not Normal” on Netflix

  1. I wasn’t sure what to expect from Wanda’s stand-up special, but after watching it I have zero regrets! Wanda was wittingly funny and made it clear that she was there to drag Trump through the mud before she told her first joke. Everything she said was spot on, not in a disrespectful way, but more of a comical truth. You can’t help but question some things that Trump has said and done, so Wanda made sure she answered those questions for you. A definite must see!

  2. Years later same jokes about her political review. People want to watch stuff to take there mid off the current events. Not have it told from a rich Americans view.

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