Wanda Sykes to Perform at the Aronoff Center in Cincinnati, Today

CINCINNATI, OH - The Cincinnati Arts Association and Live Nation welcome WANDA SYKES to the Aronoff Center's Procter & Gamble Hall on Friday, December 11 at 8:00 PM. Wanda Sykes has been called "one of the funniest stand-up comics" by her peers and ranks among Entertainment Weekly's "25 Funniest People in America." Her smart-witted stand up has sent her career in many different directions, from TV to film to books. The show is part of CAA'S 2015-16 Season, celebrating the 20thAnniversary of the Aronoff Center.

Tickets go on sale to the public on Friday, September 18 at 10:00 AM at www.CincinnatiArts.org, (513) 621-ARTS [2787], and the Aronoff Center Ticket Office.

In 2012, Wanda joined forces with veteran producer Page Hurwitz to form Push It Productions, a production company dedicated to creating quality, comedy-based programming for network and cable television outlets. The company's diverse slate of projects includes sketch comedy, concerts, reality, talk/variety, and competition formats. Their first set of specials,Herlarious, aired in the summer of 2013 and January 2014 on OWN and was the recipient of a 2014 Gracie Award.

Sykes was previously seen on several television shows over the past few years. She was on the Amazon Prime showAlpha House created by Gary Trudeau about a group of Republican Senators who share the same D.C. rental house, she made a return to HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, and she also spent five years on CBS's New Adventures of Old Christine. In 2010, she starred on her own late night talk show on FOX, The Wanda Sykes Show. Other TV credits include Fox'sWanda at Large, which she wrote, produced, and starred in; Wanda Does It on Comedy Central; and Crank Yankers as the voice of Gladys Murphy.

Her first HBO comedy special, Wanda Sykes - Sick and Tired, debuted in October 2006 and was nominated for a 2007 Primetime Emmy for 'Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special.' It was taped in Seattle and covered everything from racial profiling to gay marriage. She returned to HBO for her second stand up special, I'ma Be Me. This time it was taped at the Warner Theatre in Washington D.C., where she tackled topics like the first black president, gay cruises, being a new mom, and aging. The special was nominated for two 2010 Primetime Emmy awards: 'Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special' and 'Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Special'. Her first special Wanda Sykes: Tongue Untied premiered on Comedy Central in 2003.

She can be heard in many animated feature films, including Ice Age: Continental Drift as 'Granny', FOX's Rio as 'the Goose', Dreamworks' Over the Hedge, and Paramount's The Barnyard.

Sykes was also seen in the feature films Evan Almighty, the sequel to Bruce Almighty, in which she co-starred with Steve Carell; the New Line feature Monster-In-Law, starring opposite Jane Fonda; My Super Ex-Girlfriend; Pootie Tang; Nutty Professor 2; The Klumps; and Down to Earth.

Her first book, titled Yeah, I Said It and published by Simon and Schuster, hit bookstores in September 2004. Yeah, I Said It is a hilarious collection of essays touching on life, family, and current events.

She spent five years as part of HBO's critically-acclaimed Chris Rock Show. As a performer and writer on the show, she was nominated for three Primetime Emmy's and in 1999 won the Emmy for 'Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Special.' In 2001, she won the American Comedy Award for 'Outstanding Female Stand Up Comic'. She won three more Emmys - in 2002, 2004 and 2005 - for her work on Inside the NFL for 'Outstanding Studio Show - Weekly'.

In 2010 she won a GLAAD award for promoting a good image of equal rights for gays and lesbians.

Live Nation Entertainment

Live Nation Entertainment is the world's leading live entertainment and ecommerce company, comprised of four market leaders: Ticketmaster.com, Live Nation Concerts, Artist Nation, and Live Nation Network. Ticketmaster.com is the global event ticketing leader and one of the world's top five ecommerce sites, with a database of over 119 million fans who visit our sites. Live Nation Concerts produces over 22,000 shows annually for more than 2,300 artists globally. Artist Nation is the world's top artist management company, representing over 200 artists. These businesses power Live Nation Network, the leading provider of entertainment marketing solutions, enabling nearly 800 advertisers to tap into the 250 million consumers Live Nation delivers annually through its live event and digital platforms. For additional information, visit www.livenation.com/investors.

Cincinnati Arts Association

Founded in 1992, the Cincinnati Arts Association (CAA) is a not-for-profit organization that oversees the programming and management of two of the Tri-state's finest performing arts venues - the Aronoff Center for the Arts and Music Hall - and is dedicated to supporting performing and visual arts. Each year, CAA presents a diverse schedule of events; serves upwards of 700,000 people in its venues; features the work of talented local, regional, and national artists in the Weston Art Gallery (located in the Aronoff Center); and supports the work of more than one dozen resident companies. Since the inception of its acclaimed arts education programs in 1995, CAA has reached more than 1.4 million students.

SEASON SPONSORS: AMERITAS (Founding Season Sponsor), FIFTH THIRD BANK (Lifetime Endowment Partner),FURNITURE FAIR, LOCAL12 WKRC, The P&G FUND of The Greater Cincinnati Foundation

SEASON PRESENTING SPONSORS: Cincinnati Herald, CityBeat, Heidelberg Distributing, Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza, Garfield Suites Hotel, Macy's, Pepsi, Skyline Chili, Ultimate Air Shuttle, Wells Fargo Insurance Services USA, Inc.

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