Whether performing on Curb Your Enthusiasm, in HBO comedy specials or at the White House Correspondents' dinner, Wanda Sykes always brings her sassy wit. Now, after playing Miss Hannigan in a production of Annie, Sykes takes her standup to Durham for the first time. While it might seem that Sykes has always entertained, she actually worked for the National Security Administration for five years before finding comedy. Dissatisfied with a laughless career, she slowly moved into standup and performed for the first time in front of a live audience in 1987. —Lauren Shute