Comic Wanda Sykes To Open 2008 PrideFest
Milwaukee - Following the success of last year's laugh-filled Kathy Griffin kick-off, PrideFest will open its three-day festival with another top-notch actress-comedian. The festival will present Emmy Award-nominated Wanda Sykes on the Miller Lite Main Stage on Friday, June 6. As a long-time supporter of the LGBT rights movement who chimed in denouncing Oklahoma lawmaker Sally Kerns' recent anti-gay diatribe last week on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, organizers believe Sykes will be a perfect fit to open PrideFest's celebration of LGBT culture and community. My Life On The D-List star Griffin's appearance set an all-time Friday attendance record at last year's PrideFest.
  The announcement, made initially on festival media partners Milwaukee's "Jammin' 98.3" WJMR-FM and Madison's "The Mic 92.1" WXXM-FM on March 20, came a day after the festival's town hall meeting held March 19 at the Hillside Family Resource Center, 1452 N. 7th Street here. 
  Wanda Sykes has been called "one of the funniest stand up comics" by her peers, she ranks among Entertainment Weekly's 25 Funniest People in America, and she was featured in the April issue of Vanity Fair as one of the "Queens of Comedy."
  It's hard to watch any form of media today and not run into Wanda and her sassy wit. TV sitcoms, stand-up comedy specials, movies, Jay Leno's favorite guest, the voice of Crank Yankers AND Applebee's commercials . . . Wanda Sykes is doing it all and she's doing it with her unique, no-holds-barred comic style.
  A multiple Emmy winner, Wanda can currently be seen on the CBS comedy "The New Adventures of Old Christine." Her latest HBO comedy special, Wanda Sykes: Sick & Tired, was nominated for a 2007 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special, featuring a wide range of topics: politics, gay marriage, karma, health care, racial profiling, the pressure of being a woman and the perks of getting older.
  Sykes has recently been seen in the feature films "Evan Almighty," co-starring with Steve Carell; the New Line feature "Monster-In-Law," starring opposite Jennifer Lopez and Jane Fonda; and the romantic comedy "My Super Ex-Girlfriend," with Luke Wilson and Uma Thurman. She's also been heard in the animated features "Over The Hedge" and "The Barnyard."
  Sykes also recently starred in and produced the Comedy Central show, Wanda Does It, where she tried various non-showbiz jobs. In the fall of 2003 she was seen on Fox's Wanda at Large, which she wrote, produced and starred in. She also has a one hour Comedy Central special called Wanda Sykes: Tongue Untied. In addition, she can be seen on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, heard on Comedy Central's Crank Yankers as the voice of Gladys Murphy, and heard as the voice of Applebee's commercials.
  For more information about this year's PrideFest, visit the festival website at: www.pridefest.com