Comedian Wanda Sykes (Vivien Killilea / Getty Images for GLAAD)

Comedian Attacks Trump During Act and It Quickly Backfires

By Kara Pendleton September 28, 2018 at 4:51pm

Nine-time Emmy nominee and comedian Wanda Sykes may be used to hecklers, but what happened at her latest performance may have caught even her off guard. And it reflects the growing disgust Americans are expressing with the left’s Trump Derangement Syndrome.

Although there wasn’t a lot of response to it, when Sykes announced her upcoming comedy performances on Twitter, those who did respond did so positively. Some even asked about when she was going to be in their area:

CATCH ME!!!

TONIGHT!!! 9/27 Count Basie Theater, Red Bank, NJ!

FRIDAY!!! 9/28 Keswick Theatre, Glenside, PA

SATURDAY!!! 9/29 The Music Hall, Tarrytown, NY

❤️

— Wanda Sykes (@iamwandasykes) September 27, 2018

Sykes, known for being outspoken and politically-vocal, would have had no reason, based on all of that, to expect what would come next. According to the Ashbury Park Press, she opened her set at the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, NJ by tearing into President Donald Trump.

Among the jokes she made at the president’s expense, she said that “while other presidents seemed to have aged at a faster-than-typical rate while in office, the general public seemed to be aging more quickly during Trump’s administration. Trump hadn’t aged a bit.”

As other comedians have learned since Trump took office, the constant bashing does not always go over well. Perhaps Sykes thought she would be safe, given her fan base, but if so, she thought wrong.

While she was in the midst of her opening political commentary, the heckling began. The Ashbury Park Press wrote that at least two attendees hit her on her topic choice:

“‘Do some comedy!’ one attendee shouted. ‘Too political!’ another yelled from the crowd.”

Bunch of people heckled @iamwandasykes at her Count Basie Theatre for doing a significant amount of material about our…current political climate.

Her response: “What do you expect? I’m a black lesbian.”

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/6wQMr5QnKL

— Courtney Marabella (@CourtMarabella) September 28, 2018

Are comedians wrong to be heavily political in their comedy sets?

Skyes responded to her critics by asking what they expected from her show. She then carried on with her set.

However, that was not the end of it. Some attendees claimed that several patrons, one of which was a heckler, were kicked out of the show. Others claim that when that happened, they voluntarily walked out in protest over people being kicked out.

Wanda Sykes heckled at #NJ show with opening series of Trump jokes — more than a dozen fans walked out or were thrown out. https://t.co/us2QHlLYJ0

— NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) September 28, 2018

From there it gets worse, still. Once out of the show, some attendees demanded refunds, but did not get them at that time, wrote the Asbury Park Press. Some engaged in “yelling and heated arguments as attendees turned against staff and against each other.”

For some, it wasn’t so much about the Trump-bashing, per se, as it was the disrespect for the president, specifically. Christine Delancey of Old Bridge told the Ashbury Park Press, “I paid for a comedy show, not for a political venue.”

She added, “First of all, you don’t bash our president. I am not a Trump supporter, but he is my president, and I would never bash my president.”

But not everyone had a problem with Sykes’ brand of comedy. For those who stayed, it was pure entertainment.

https://twitter.com/StacieSays/status/1045492083803529216

Some, whether they were at the show or commenting about what happened, pointed to the what Sykes herself had said in response to the hecklers. Those who were unhappy should have known what they were going to get.

Do they know who Wanda Sykes is? What the flying bananas did they think she was going to joke about? Triggered much?

Wanda Sykes' jokes about Trump lead to heckling, walkouts https://t.co/oV1uIuQYGy

— Mennonite Mom(she/her) (@mommy97giraffe) September 28, 2018

Wanda Sykes is "political"? Which comedian hasn't mined that bottomless pit of stupidity?

— Christine Hamilton (@Christi11489706) September 28, 2018

But the whole thing points to the fatigue many in the country are experiencing over the seemingly never-ending bashing of conservatives and Trump. Although comedians in general are known for being controversial, fewer and fewer fans are finding the TDS-based attacks framed as “comedy” to be such, or even funny.

It's hard for Hollywood liberals to overcome "⁦@realDonaldTrump⁩ Derangement Syndrome." But they keep forgetting half the country loves the man! https://t.co/LWnfpIYSdQ

— Wayne Root – Wayne Allyn Root – TV & Radio Host (@RealWayneRoot) September 28, 2018

When are these Celebrities going to learn to keep Politics out. Just do Comedian Wanda.#FoxNews https://t.co/FEq0640hgH

— MichaelM (@Mikey808Reeves) September 28, 2018

According to MRCTV, this is not the first time Sykes has attacked Trump and been heckled for it at one of her shows. In 2016, after he was elected, her comments about him being a “confirmed” racist, sexist and homophobic president were met with a lot of booing from the crowd. Her reaction was an immediate f-bomb-laden attack on those booing her, all caught on video.

It would appear that even though fans have, on more than one occasion, responded negatively to her attacks on Trump and political “comedy,” Sykes has no intention of reining it in. This may be a clear message to her fans who are tired of it, that she is going to keep doing it in her sets regardless of how they feel about it.

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