For her third Netflix stand-up special, Wanda Sykes performed for her alma mater, Hampton University, which lent a more sentimental flair to the proceedings, along with actual flair courtesy of the HBCU’s marching band and choir.
The Gist: You could argue Sykes already has an established comedy legacy.
Four of her previous stand-up specials have earned Emmy nominations across HBO, EPIX and Netflix. Sykes has enjoyed a couple of her own TV shows in primetime and late-night, and been a recurring part of our small-screen lives over the past two decades, appearing regularly on Curb Your Enthusiasm, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Black-ish, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Other Two, The Good Fight, and most recently with Netflix’s own The Upshaws.
In this new hour, Sykes continues to take aim at both the powers-that-be in Washington, D.C., as well as the powers taking aim at her at home among her wife and children.
What Comedy Special Will It Remind You Of? She might not dress like her, but much like the comedy icon Sykes portrayed on Maisel in Moms Mabley, there’s a lovable take-no-prisoners quality to her comedy.
Memorable Jokes: After an opening montage where she’s joined by the Hampton University Marching Force, Sykes emerges onstage sporting a blue-and-white jacket of her alma mater, and reminds the audience in the theater how much she is still one of them, joking about how much the dining options have changed since she were a student four decades earlier. “Only one option when I was here: gravy, baby?”
She remarks that being back on campus was a relief in more ways than one. “I feel like I’ve been stuck in the sh—iest escape room ever,” she cracks about American politics writ large in 2026, which she claims is following even less logic than the plot of Stranger Things. The crowd gives Sykes an applause break for suggesting the Justice Department ran out of ink crossing out Donald Trump’s name, as if that’s the only explanation for how poorly they’ve redacted the Epstein Files.
The current chaos has even made Sykes nostalgic for 2016 Trump, with the catchphrases that never became reality; it feels quaint to her compared to the violence of ICE and the women in Trump’s orbit who have “put Karens to shame.” Sykes calls out the names of the innocent protesters killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis. She wonders if lesbians can rally by convincing Subaru to armor their Outbacks. At one point, she asks: “You really think we’re gonna survive to the midterms?”
It’s not all so serious. Sykes has joked about her French wife and her white kids before, and this time, she’s noting how the kids are 16 and rebellious, while the family’s attitude toward washcloths has gotten her wondering.
And Sykes also goes after Big Tech by reminding us what they’ve already destroyed by persuading us all to use self-checkout, or giving us screens begging us to round up for charity. There’s nothing about these capitalists that’s charitable. They’re killing jobs and morale alike. No wonder shoplifting is on the rise!
Our Take: But perhaps the biggest theme of her new hour: Her willingness to act out premises. From Trump’s infamous old video where he’s dancing and pointing out young women to Jeffrey Epstein, to suggesting people prepare for protests by walking through a car wash, Sykes ramps up the energy and physicality. By the 35-minute mark, after Sykes has re-enacted her friends “acting a fool” trying to mimic New Edition dance moves, she has to stop to catch her breath.
“The f— I write these jokes for, good lord!”
That New Edition bit isn’t so much about the middle-aged nostalgia or the passing of time, so much as it’s also about the state of our economy, where musicians have to tour to make a living.
It’s hard out there for everyone, it seems. In her opening montage, Sykes shows us a celebration of black American women through the years, a testament to keeping on, with the Hampton choir singing “no matter what we do, we are one.”
Our Call: STREAM IT. Sykes is a legend. Continue to celebrate her.
Sean L. McCarthy works the comedy beat. He also podcasts half-hour episodes with comedians revealing origin stories: The Comic’s Comic Presents Last Things First.