Years active 2002 to present Role Singer Name Wendy Smith | Website wendyexperience.com | |
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Other names Wendy Ho (stage persona) Occupation Comedian, singer, and rapper Albums Greatest Shits, The Gospel According to Ho, Number 2, Ho for the Holidays, Yes, I'm a Ho! Similar People Kelly Mantle, Tammie Brown, Lydia Murdock, Pandora Boxx, Michelle Visage Profiles | ||
Wendy Jo Smith, better known as her stage-name Wendy Ho, is an American rap-artist, singer, and comedian.
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Early life and career
Smith was born in Toledo, Ohio, and spent much of her childhood in Kansas City, Kansas. She moved to New York City in the summer of 2002, where she participated in the cabaret scene and performed in regional theatre shows. She acquired the nickname "Wendy Ho" while attending college at Missouri State University, where she was the recipient of the Kathleen Turner Performance Scholarship.
Smith began her career in the straight comedy clubs of New York, eventually playing a Christmas show at a gay-oriented venue. From that point forward she began focusing her much of her act on gay audiences. The persona used in the act used her college nickname "Wendy Ho", which has been described as a parody of a prostitute from Harlem as well as a "female drag queen". Her act contains both stand-up comedy, rap performances, and singing. She has stated that she uses the word "Ho" in her stage name in order to reclaim the word from its negative connotations.
Entertainment career
Smith's first release was the rap album The Gospel According to Ho, for which the music video for the track Bitch, I Stole Yo’ Purse was produced. The video earned its way into circulation on the cable music video channel Logo TV. Logo viewers voted the video the "ultimate funniest video in February 2008. The television series Nip/Tuck also hired Jennifer Coolidge to play a parody of the Wendy Ho persona called "Hot Coco", who sings a song entitled Yo Stank from an album called The Gospel According to Coco (the name of which parodies the title of Smith's first album). After the performance Coolidge stated that, "Wendy Ho is about as cool as it gets. I’d never seen anything like her."
The song Fuck Me became a favorite among drag queens in the United States, who began commonly performing to the song after its release. Smith later released a remixed version of the song on her album Number 2 in the summer of 2010 and released her second full album Yes, I’m a Ho! in October 2010. Television appearances for Smith have included her appearance on the Showtime series I Can't Believe I'm Still Single. In 2014 her album Greatest Shits entered the Billboard Comedy Album top ten chart, hitting number eight for the November 1, 2014 list.
Personal
Smith has been married to cinematographer/cameraman Stas Tagios since 2009; Tagios was a cameraman on Eric Schaeffer's I Can't Believe I'm Still Single for Showtime, wherein Smith made a second-season appearance.