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Wanda Sykes stopped by Late Night with Seth Meyers this week. They chatted about her Netflix special, Not Normal, which is up for two Emmys, including one for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-recorded). Seth pointed out that Beyonce is one of the other nominees in the same category because of the way that stand-up specials are categorized. Seth and Wanda also talked about the Democratic candidate debates, Trump, and had an extended conversation about their mutual dislike of the beach. Wanda had just returned from a vacation to France with her family and some friends, and they stayed on the Mediterranean:
On the debates
At one point I was like ‘did the Russians hack this too?’ It was weird.On people thinking it’s easy to write jokes about Trump
There really isn’t anything we can write that’s funnier than the things he actually says.On her vacation to France
It was hot in the south of France on the Mediterranean. This time my wife picked an apartment [with over] 100 steps [to the beach]. Some days I was like ‘I ain’t going to the beach. You can look at it from here.’Seth doesn’t like the beach or sand either
What do you do? You sit on the beach and you’re just annoyed. Either you’re in the water or you’re not in the water. And if you’re not in the water you’re just burning up.How she tries to get her kids to leave the beach
I try to go ‘ooh I think there’s some ice cream inside.’
I am with Wanda and Seth when it comes to the beach. I burn really easily, so need to constantly reapply sunscreen. Inevitably, it ends up running into my eyes at some point, which is the worst. I’m also not a fan of sand, generally. It gets everywhere, and I feel like I spend more time brushing it off than I actually spent at the beach. I do like walking on the beach when it’s a bit cooler out and the beach isn’t packed, though. I prefer Wanda and Seth’s suggested summer plans: Being inside with the AC turned on, a good book in one hand and a bowl of ice cream in the other.
I just looked at Wanda’s fellow nominees for her categories; the other is Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special. Beyonce is nominated for both, too, and so are Hannah Gadsby, James Corden and the other Carpool Karaoke folks for the Paul McCartney special. (I was going to say that maybe Wanda could get one Emmy and Beyonce could get the other, but I’d love for Hannah Gadsby to win one, too.) Wanda shared a video on Instagram in which she’s standing at the edge of the Mediterranean looking toward a cluster of yachts and is yelling congratulations to Beyoncé on her Emmy nominations. At the end, Wanda gestures to the boats and says, “I know you probably own one of these,” as an explanation for why she’s yelling toward the water in the first place. It’s been a while since I watched most of an awards show live; I may actually try to catch the Emmys this year.
Here’s the interview!
photos credit: Getty
I agree 100%, I hate the beach. I like to swim, and then leave. You just end up getting sand everywhere, there’s always too many people around, and it’s generally just annoying.
Agree! And I live in Florida. I haven’t been to the beach this summer. At all.
I thought I was the only one!
I love the beach VIEW, SMELL, SOUND from my shaded non-sandy balcony.
I like the beach, hate the way I look in a swimsuit. And I have to have a beach umbrella.
I loved the beach as a kid from sun up till sundown& didn’t think @ my body, just felt sand waves & sky. Now I’m a fussy ol codger w flab & cleanliness issues& now never opt to go….Sigh.
I’m with y’all. I live near the water and I still don’t go to the beach except to occasionally walk and look for beach glass. And definitely when there aren’t a lot of people around. We’ll go around sunset to watch sometimes, which is nice. And no sunscreen is needed!
I honestly cannot relate to people who enjoy spending an entire day at the beach. If I ever happen to be on vacation somewhere that has a beach and a pool, I’ll take a chair by the pool (under an umbrella) hands down.
Yep. I’d like to sit it with all of you, please, if I may. I’ve never understood the appeal of baking for hours in the sun, slathered in sticky, smelly oil or cream that attracts bitey flying crawlies, or taking your chances in the water with those bloody (and sometimes deadly) jellyfish that wrap, whip and torture you with their vile, stinging tentacles, and the breeze blows sand that clings obstinately to your greasy skin and finds it’s way into even undiscovered and unmentionable crevices and takes days to remove. Bleerrrgh. No thanks. Besides, the beach is … outdoors. And I don’t do outdoors.
I never liked any water where I cannot see the bottom. As a child, there was a popular small lake / park near our home with a sandy beachfront. I could not stand the murky water, and was not crazy about ocean waters, either.
The sand and sun did not bother me. Now none of the three appeal to me.
I hate the beach (especially oceanfront – saltwater is nasty).
I live on the Great Lakes and in my neck of the woods you never swim in the water which is fine by me. I prefer pools anway.
I hope she means 100 stairs down to the beach, 100 stairs up to go home, and not 100 steps from her doorway to the beach.
I remember going on my first holiday with my friends, instead of family, and we paid for beds on the beach. What a difference! able to lie down without getting sand EVERYWHERE and a parasol to stay in the shade when it’s hot. It’s expensive, but i’m a complete convert.
I wish more places here in MA offered an option like beds or cabanas. I’m normally a beach minimalist, but I would be all over a cabana or bed if it was offered.
I always have a comfy chair and a big umbrella. Then I can read comfortably, look out over the waves..heaven. I don’t do it to tan.
Well, in Croatia we have rocks, not sand, and the beach and the sea are great!!! #goingonvacationtomorrow 🙂
A lot of the beaches around where I grew up have lots of rocks instead of sand. It’s fun!
Love the beach. Enjoy your vaca!
We only have sand. Really nice sand. We have to import rocks from other states if we want rocks. I grew up thinking rocks were a luxury item.
This is so cool to read. It really does show how different we are all over the world and how different everything we grow up with can be.
Coming from a country of rocks myself, and I find beaches luxurious!
I love the beach, the sand, the ocean, every thing about it, every day of the year. Feels like home to me.
YES. I love it. I could be out on the beach all day.
I love the beach too. I have a skin color that gets beautiful tanned and I rarely get sun burn. I don’t want to make it about race but white people do not always have a great time at the beach. My best friend is white and he gets sunburnt easily no matter who much sunscreen he applies. He still loves the beach though.
Here are my people 🙂
Same here @babsjohnson. I chose the university I went to based on the fact that the town is only 30 minutes from the beach, and fast forward 22 years later, it’s why I still live & have a family here. There’s a beautiful state & federally-run National Park called Assateague Island that we get an annual pass for. It’s famous for it’s wild ponies and being able to get an OSV pass (on the federal side) to drive right out onto the beach. That’s what we do, and it’s also such a huge convenience with having small kids (no lugging all their crap and yours out onto the beach, just drive out, pick a spot, park and unload). And of course there’s a max number of vehicles allowed on the beach at one time so that also eliminates overcrowding. Everyone has plenty of space. Ocean City is the nearby resort town that we avoid like the plague during the summer. Assateague is heaven on earth compared to that place!
My heart melted at wild ponies. How lucky!
I hate sand, I hate being hot, and the kicker? I’m allergic to salt water. I have to take a Benadryl before I get in the water (safe, I know). I rarely make it more than an hour or two at the beach before I pack up and head back to shower, nap, and then hit the pool.
Whoa! I didn’t know that was a thing. That’s awful!
Because I no longer olive near the beach, I try to convince myself that I hate the beach. But I LOVE the beach. I could live on the beach.
Dreamed of living on the beach for the first half of my life. Now I’m in my Awesome Forties it just means “WORK” especially when you factor in kids. It’s invariably me who has to organize drinks, food, sunscreen, toys, beach tent, books and tablets for car …apply the sunscreen to myself the kids and the parts of my husband he can’t reach… then haul all the junk from the car to the beach itself. Kids complain the entire time about wanting whatever food I didn’t pack, salt in their eyes, sand in their junk etc. Sand in your food. Haul it all home, wash the sand out of the kids’ hair, wash towels and swimsuits. Vacuum up sand. Like I said – WORK! We live in FL about 50 miles from some gorgeous beaches, but we rarely go. I’ll go if I can sneak away by myself and just walk on a cool day. I so want to be a beachy person!
The best time to go is in late October after 7 PM. Cool and deserted.
To me, the only thing worse than the beach in the summer are the people at the beach in the summer. October in California is still super warm, and everyone has gone home!
We go to Florida every October for vacation instead of summer. It’s not too hot or crowded. And it’s cheaper b/c offseason. Perfect for fall break.
@Rosie, I totally am with you. I live in a beach town and the amount of work it takes to take three kids to the beach, monitor their safety while there, and problem solve the inevitable sand in the eye/touched by seaweed “I’m going to die”/ the water is too cold/“I don’t want to be here anymore; can we just go home?”while the other two are blissfully playing is more than I have in me most days. Is it wrong that I live 2 miles from the beach and go maybe three times a year with the family? (I do take my dog to Dog Beach when it’s just him and me in the early mornings and the tourists haven’t descended yet.)
I don’t like sand or sun or salt water. I’ve lived 40 minutes from the beach for 53 years and I never go. Give me a shady mountain stream anyday. Still don’t go in the water, but at least it’s shady.
The beach thing I like, but not too much of it at once. I will say though that I LOVED her Netflix special Not Normal! She is absolutely right, this is NOT Normal. Highly recommend it (not for the children but very cool.) Have watched it a couple of times. Similar to coming here on CB – it just helps during this bizarro world time.
As if I need a reason to love Wanda Sykes anymore.
Hello to all my fellow beach haters! I hate sand, I hate being in direct sunlight, I hate being hot. And I don’t swim. I love LOOKING at water. From afar.
If I could do the beach without my two young kids (10 and 15 months) then it’s hands down my favorite place in the world. My in-laws have a beach house that’s literally steps from the sand and water. The few times my husband and I have been there just the two of us have been absolutely wonderful. I love the salt water and the sand and swimming and all of it.
Add in two kids and it becomes pure misery: constant sunscreen application, putting hats back on, never even five seconds when you can relax because you have to have your eyes on the kids every moment. The beach with kids is kind of awful, though they love it and have a blast so it’s kind of almost worth it? Maybe?
The beach by myself is the best.
I love the ocean and I love walking on the beach next to the water – if it’s not hot! I hate tanning, I don’t like being hot, and the kids are always kicking a ton of sand on the towels so I’d rather just go for walks along the beach and then get out of there!
The ocean is good for your soul. So beaches are necessary 😄
Non-issue, there’s no such thing as a ‘soul’.
She is one of the funniest women alive. Just a burst of sunshine and laughter. Thank you, Wanda, for doing what you do.
I love being at the beach BUT I need a decent sun lounger and an umbrella, when we go on holiday (in Europe – we live in England) we end up spending up to 20€ a day to hire them but then it’s comfortable and relaxing.
You skipped that Bruce Springsteen is also nominated for Springsteen on Broadway on Netflix. Even if you aren’t into his music, you should watch this. He will make you laugh and cry. It’s a on one of a kind unique show. He does his songs accoutically, but the stories are the bones of the show and he’s an amazing storyteller.
Im not a big beach person either. I dont mind it once in while…but Im definitely dont choose it for a vacation/day off. I also burn really easily, and even outside of that….lying around just doesnt interest me. I’d rather be doing something/seeing something…you know?
Sounds like you don’t like suntanning. Which I find boring too. I burn easier the older I get.
I prefer lakes and rivers. Maybe if you went jetskiing, boating, rafting, kayaking or floating in a tube might be fun way to experience the water?
I also bring my dog to the water (rivers, lakes – were far from the ocean beaches now), we have picnics and I read my book while my dog swims. Just some suggestions!
I live in a town that has booth kind of beaches: with sand and with small rocks. I love going at the ones with rocks. It’s “clean”. I love the salty water, the waves, swimming, reading (when my friends allow me). Now the problem is that from July to the end of August here we have a LOOOOT of tourists and is hell on earth on the rocky beaches because although the space is very limited it’s where the water is blue and the waves are better and the best hotels, bars and restaurants are. Unless you go early at the beach, let’s say 08.00 am, you won’t find a parking space and the traffic gets crazy. Like 2 hours for 10 km. Then it’s not a vacation if you have to go that early. Then there are the prices of the facilities. You can’t bring your own umbrella anymore. The “owners” won’t allow you to plant your own anywhere because they pay some shady taxes to someone for the beach which is state property. So you end up spending a small fortune between the car, drinks, umbrella and maybe some food.
Sooooo we go to the other side of the city where we have the sandy beaches that have more space for parking, playing, cheaper umbrellas (still can’t bring your own) ,cheaper drinks and where the kids enjoy the most as they can’t get hurt. I go there because I can actually enjoy some beach time at least till the tourists go away and I can go and leave in a short time but my God the sand. The sand goes everywhere. There is no escape. And also because the beach is bigger a lot of families with small children come there…and well….half of the fun is gone as soon as a mother with 3 toddlers under 5, two of which still in daipers come sit next to you and on the other side comes a double family with around 10 kids of all ages with 100 kind of toys, towels, food.
Oh well. I needed ti vent. I got sunburned today on my whole body. I didn’t apply my cream because together with the sand it turned into a scrab for my skin.
I love the beach and ocean! I’m very fair and always burned until I saw a photo of Nicole Kidman wearing a rash guard at a beach. Life changer! I was worried it might be too hot but it isn’t for me, at least. A big hat, sunglasses, and a rash guard over my swimsuit = my beach wear! Sunscreen on my face, legs, and hands. And talcum powder to get the sticky sand off when necessary. Can’t wait to go somewhere tropical soon!
I love beaches of all sort. But I prefer less crowded beaches.
I like lake and river beaches (Lake Tahoe, Folsom Lake, Truckee River, Sac River for example) and northern California beaches that are typically colder and more mountainous. Nor cal beaches are not really swimming beaches, the water is freezing.
In my opinion you have to be able to let go of control and be fine with being dirty, sweaty, sandy and stinky in order to enjoy the beach. The enjoyment of the beach and water has to outweigh the comfort of looking good or being clean. Kind of like camping or backpacking. Really depends on the person.
I love love love the beach! My family would drive to Florida every summer from when I was probably 1-13 to go stay in my aunt’s beach house in a sleepy little beach town. It’s a peaceful little spot where we would go scalloping and crabbing at night (for the latter, just catching them, flipping them over to see their gender and then letting them go. I’m not sure why we did this but I loved it.)
So the beach was a huge part of my childhood and I can’t think about thinking of growing up. If I hadn’t done that all those years maybe I would feel differently.