No self-respecting Washingtonian doesn’t have an Ann Hand pin in their repertoire so it is with great excitement that we reveal her Inaugural pin which also benefits the USO. It is the 4th Inauguration pin she has made, and last year there was a real scramble in the final days to find one. Please notice Vice President Biden is on it as well. 2016 is on everyone’s mind. Haddad Media’s current favorite Ann Hand item is the flag bracelet. You can order both now at http://annhand.homestead.com/new.html
Dennis Miller, Bush 41 WHCD Comedian, on Wanda
From transcript of “The O’Reilly Factor,” May 12, 2009.
All right. White House Correspondents’ Dinner. My man Miller here actually emceed an event for Bush the elder, and you were pretty tame. I mean, you didn’t go after anybody, did you?
MILLER: Oh, I was scared witless. I mean, you know, I was just a kid trying to make it, and it was Bush 41. I thought Wanda Sykes was kind of funny, for a girl. That’s a joke, Wanda. You know it. That’s all she’s doing today is explaining that. It was a joke. And the way I look at Wanda Sykes, man, I thought he was going to bring Reverend Wright in. So Wanda Sykes seems — that seems like a respite from the sturm und drang. I thought he might do Jeremiah down to do the gig. I thought Wanda was probably eager to please. I mean, you’re a black comedienne, and you’ve got a black president. I mean, can you imagine how much she needed to make him approve of her? So he went for it, and it looks like it worked. He was laughing his butt off, especially at the — you know, the…
O’REILLY: It all went south. Taken from somebody who was there in the front row, and I was. It all went south in the last 10 minutes. The first 15 minutes were fine. But then she got mean. And here’s my question to you. The remarks about Limbaugh, about Sarah Palin, Cheney to some extent — that wasn’t over the top — were mean. And then they flashed to Obama laughing at the meanness. I don’t think that does him any good there, Dennis.
MILLER: Well, listen. Cheney thrives on that stuff. It’s like Dennis Hopper with the mask in “Blue Velvet.” He just eats that stuff up. But I would say this. I don’t think she was a pro that night. You know, a comedian’s judged by somebody whether they’re a pro or a non-pro. I don’t know how funny or funny it wasn’t. But I do know it wasn’t pro, because at some point you get hired, and she didn’t fill the requisite out for what they needed. They needed it to be edgy but to not make it feel weird. [Read more…]
More Sykes Reaction: What Do You Think?
Wanda Sykes told the WHCInsider Saturday night that she was told not to use the F or N words, but was her comedy routine too tough on Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and others?
“Lost in the frenzy is the more important matter of our thin-skinned intolerance and our reflexive lurch to take offense. We might remind ourselves that it’s always the fanatics who can’t take a joke”, from the last line of Kathleen Parker’s, Washington Post column today.
Why Is That Man Smiling?
by Kathleen Parker (Washington Post)
Which is why we probably shouldn’t quarterback a comedian over coffee when she was performing for a crowd primed on cocktails.
That reasonable rule seems not to apply, however, when the venue is the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner and one of the revelers happens to be the president of the United States. Whether he laughs, smiles or frowns carries political freight far beyond the moment.
Washington buzz lately has become a buzz saw.
In the days since the correspondents’ dinner, reaction to Barack Obama’s reaction to Wanda Sykes’s one-liners has resembled a confederacy of scolds. What dreary, sensitive wretches we’ve become.
Do I think Sykes was a monument to hilarity? No, but she was funny much of the time. Do I think her now-infamous Rush Limbaugh jokes were over the top? Yeah. That’s a comedian for you. Do I think her performance — and Obama’s apparent amusement — marks the decline of civilization? This is hardly a new development.
I do think we take ourselves far too seriously — and literally.
For those who’ve somehow managed to avoid the controversy, Sykes joked that Limbaugh, whom she compared to Osama bin Laden, might have been the 20th hijacker, but was “just so strung out on OxyContin he missed his flight.” She also suggested that Rush might be guilty of treason for hoping Obama’s policies fail.
In a final flourish, she said: “Rush Limbaugh, ‘I hope the country fails’ — I hope his kidneys fail, how about that? He needs a waterboarding, that’s what he needs.”
Ho-ho-ho. The audience did not, in fact, roar with laughter, at least not compared to other jokes during the evening. From where I sat, most who laughed were reacting to the outrageousness of the “joke.” Even Sykes acknowledged that she’d gone too far, but noted that we’d be talking about it later. She got that part right. [Read more…]
RNC Chair Gives Obama Speech a Thumbs Up
Michael Steele, Chairman of the Republican National Committee, told WHCInsider that he thought Obama’s speech was great. Steele said he thought the ribbing was “fine and fair.”
And Wanda’s?
“Wanda is Wanda, she comes real and you got to be prepared. But there will be news made later this week, I guarantee you,” said Steele.
Watch Wanda’s routine below.
Ludacris Looking Forward to His 2nd WHCD, Hopes Wanda Doesn't "Hold Back"
Ludacris at the Pre-WHCD Garden Brunch
Rapper and actor Ludacris says he’s looking forward to the big correspondents’ dinner tonight, and, noting that he’s been a longtime fan of Wanda Sykes (tonight’s entertainer), adds that she shouldn’t “hold back… there’s too much seriousness in this town.”
Ludarcis attended the 2006 WHCD, when Stephen Colbert was the evening’s entertainment, and said he’s taking his mom tonight,”kind of an early Mother’s Day present.”
How Local Girl Wanda Sykes Made Good Using Bad Words
D.C. Comedy Impresario Richard Siegel Hosted First Contest Sykes Entered
Wanda Sykes — the emcee of this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, who is known for her often raw, blush-inducing commentary — has a lot of inquiring minds wondering just how raw her routine might be this Saturday night.
Richard Siegel, veteran producer on the D.C. comedy scene.
One of her biggest fans thinks that, when time comes for her to address her high-powered audience, “she really should tone it down. Audiences here are a lot more conservative generally,” Richard Siegel tells WHCInsider.com. “They don’t like things getting too edgy.”
The longtime producer of the annual “D.C.’s Funniest Celebrity” contest, Siegel knows a little about what kind of comedy works in this town. He’s also known Sykes since the late 1980s, when he was managing a local stand-up comedy contest at the Comedy Cafe, located above a strip club that enforced a dress code. [Read more…]
White House Press Corps Needs "Somebody to Yell at 'Em," Letterman Writer Says
Bill Scheft Hails Wanda Sykes as Great Choice for WHCD Entertainment
If the elite gathering of A-list journos, politicos and celebrities that make up the White House Correspondents’ Dinner
Bill Scheft, right, on the "Late Show" set with Dave, left.
can’t loosen up when Sykes starts her monologue, it’s likely to get what it deserves, says Scheft, a veteran scribe for “The Late Show with David Letterman.”
“If they take Wanda too seriously, she’s going to let ’em have it,” Scheft tells WHCInsider. “I’ve know Wanda a long time. She’ll really give it to ’em, and I think that’s what they need — somebody to yell at ’em.”
Scheft says that Sykes was a great choice to book for the entertainment, noting that Stephen Colbert — who raised as many hackles as he did laughs with his controversial routine at the 2006 dinner — is altogether different. “Colbert was a character playing a character playing a character at that dinner. He’s very character-oriented. Wanda is much more joke-oriented.” [Read more…]
Wanda-isms: Which is Your Favorite?
Barack Obama is known to prepare his speeches skillfully and, when appropriate, with an occasional shot of humor. Doubtlessly he’ll be working up some good lines for his address to the 2009 WHCD — cracking jokes is part of the tradition. But for Wanda Sykes, the dinner’s entertainment this year, cracking on something — or somebody — just seems to come naturally.
Below are results from a quick Web search for some of her recent one-liners.
To a Los Angeles audience welcoming her with a standing ovation: “Oh, come on, it ain’t like you never seen a black lesbian before.” -The Advocate
On people opposed to gay marriage: “Why do you care that Bob and Jim are getting married, unless you were planning on [having sex with] Bob or Jim?” -The Advocate
On fame: “I guess because of my act, people think that I say things they want to say, and that they can just come up and say anything to me. That bugs me. But I’d rather have people come up and want to meet me than have them ignore me. It’s just timing. Don’t bother me while I’m eating, or when I’m coming out of the crackhouse or something. Just let me get going.” – The Onion
On random searches at airport security: “There’s nothing random about it. You get to the gate and they’re standing there with their Sherwin-Williams paint chart. If your ass is darker than khaki, you’re getting searched.” -Entertainment Weekly
On President George W. Bush: “Either he’s retarded or he thinks we’re retarded” – The Advocate
Got a favorite Wanda-ism? Maybe from a movie or TV show she’s been in, or maybe you caught her stand-up act and remember one or two that made you really laugh?
Let us know in a comment.
Wanda Psychs Out Washington?
Sick and Tired
Is Washington ready for Wanda? That’s the question posed by Politico style reporter Patrick Gavin over the weekend and one that underscores the incredibly sensitive nature of selecting the “official entertainment” for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner each year.
When it was announced earlier this year that Sykes would be the headliner for the 2009 dinner, it seemed a non-controversial choice on the surface. While traditionally the actress/comedian has not been a politically active force by Hollywood standards, she was vocally opposed to California’s Proposition 8 and it’s fitting symbolism for President Obama’s first major Washington dinner.
But as the event draws nearer, expect the nerves to grow. There’s a thin line between edgy comedy at these events and that which borders on the offensive — either politically or in terms of taste.
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