Unless you’ve had your television turned off, it’s impossible to have missed comedian Wanda Sykes. From her memorable five-year run as a featured writer and performer on The Chris Rock Show to her hilarious stint on Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO) to producing, writing and starring in last year’s Fox sitcom Wanda at Large (now canceled), Sykes has been ultrabusy stirring things up everywhere but, well, The Food Network.
So what does the opinionated star tackle next? Penning a book, Yeah, I Said It (Atria Books, $23), a collection of comical essays that cover a range of topics from transsexuals to the death penalty. “Writing a book is one of the great American dreams,” says the Portsmouth, Virginia, native, who now lives in Los Angeles. “It’s right up there with finding your soul mate, or buying a home, or raising nonsociopathic kids.”
Yeah, I Said It teems with Sykes-isms, especially on relationships, an easy target for the comedian, who divorced her husband after a six-year marriage.
“As soon as you say, ‘I do,’ you will discover that marriage is like a car. Yeah, both of you are sitting in the front seat, but only one of you is driving,” explains Sykes from the Los Angeles set of the upcoming film Monster-in-Law, in which she plays Jane Fonda’s assistant. “In my marriage, we totaled our ride because two people can’t drive at the same time. Luckily I was able to walk away from the crash.”