Wanda Sykes chats with Greg In Hollywood: “I still feel like me, maybe a little free, a little more liberated”

Wanda Sykes just killed during her routine at Saturday night’s Human Rights Campaign dinner. She is a very funny woman. I got the chance to chat with her before the dinner started.

She came out very publicly shortly before the Nov. 4 election after being very private about her personal life up until then.

“There really wasn’t a big decision behind it,” she said. “I was in Vegas working at Planet Hollywood and I knew there was a national rally going on and I wanted toi be a part of the rally. I was just in the crowd with everyone else and I guess the word got around that I was there in the crowd and they asked if I would come up and say a few words. And you know the rest.”

I wondered how her  life has changed since being out “because we all love you even more now.”

“Oh thank you!” she said. “I still feel like me, maybe a little free, a little more liberated – more fired up. It’s great.”

So what does she think of the Prop. 8 case currently before the California Supreme Court?

“I think they did an amazing job with the rebuttal,” Wanda said. “But then again there was something very sad about watching what should not be argued in front of a court like that. But my theory is that in the end, what’s right always wins. It might take some time.”

She and Julia Louis-Dreyfus are such a brilliant comedy team I told Wanda that they remind me of Lucy and Ethel (Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance).

“It makes me very proud, very happy because we absolutely love our show,” she said of such comparisons. “We are actually fans of our show and we have such a good time working together. Hopefully we’ll do a lot more.”

I wished her a happy birthday (she turned 45 about 10 days ago) and said goodbye then overheard the next questioner ask what advice her parents had given her growing up:  “Don’t show your ass!”

Photo: Chris Hatcher / PR Photos