Wanda Sykes

At the River Rock Show Theatre on Friday, April 11

Wanda Sykes is one of the funniest people in America—or at least she was in 2004, when Entertainment Weekly anointed her one of the top 25 comics in the U.S. But if her Friday appearance at the River Rock Show Theatre was an indication of her current place in the pantheon of comedic performers, she’s slipped a notch or 50.

Sykes followed her spirited opener, Keith Robinson, almost hesitantly, without the shrill bravado she displays in almost all her work. My guess is not that she was feeling out the crowd, but that she was less than confident about her weaker material. It took her 17 minutes to get past the tired fat-people-at-buffets jokes (“Shouldn’t there be a scale when you walk in?”) and stepped-up airport-security routines (“When I fly, does everybody need to know I have a dry twat?”) to arrive at some smart political work.

The current election campaigns south of the border, featuring a black man and a white woman, is fodder for almost all American comedians these days, but it’s particularly relevant for Sykes—who, as a black woman, is torn over who to support. She weighs which group has been harder for her to be a part of: “Hangings…rape. Shit, that one’s a push. Breast cancer…sickle cell. Shit! Nigger…bitch. Fuck!” If she has reached a decision, she didn’t let us in on it, which is admirable. There’s enough proselytizing in political comedy as it is.

But beyond the impassioned politics, Sykes’s act was a series of overdone topics interspersed with some hilarious lines and the odd promising premise that fizzled. Her take on Viagra and the six-hour erection offered more of the same (“What are you gonna do the other five hours and 55 minutes?”) before arriving at an original approach: “Maybe it’s God’s way of saying you’re all fucked out.” Her rules for the drug would include: “If you’re over 68, you shouldn’t be able to get that pill unless you get a note from three women that wanna fuck you.”

More imaginative ideas went nowhere, however. As an organ donor, Sykes wondered what would happen if, when her eyes reach their new owner, she was still able to see through them. Ah, the possibilities are limitless. Her take: “What if my eyes wind up at a Hannah Montana concert?” That’s it?! Apparently so.

The year 2004 wasn’t that long ago. Sykes can do better than this.