Changes in store for Sykes’ character

You probably know Wanda Sykes from her roles on CBS' "The New Adventures of Old Christine" and HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm." But I bet you didn't know she used to buy spy equipment for the National Security Agency.

"I was there under Daddy Bush," she says, "under the first Iraq war."

As an ex-NSA pro, she is not surprised at all that the terror-crazed government has been tapping your phone and reading your e-mails.

"They've been doing that for years. It's just now we know about it," Sykes says.

Her NSA "contracting specialist" job did not mean she bought "Get Smart" shoes with secret phones in them.

"I wish it could have been that cool," she says. Her chore was "finding intelligence for some kind of listening device or some secure phones. ... I was bored silly."

If the government is listening in on Sykes' phone calls, they know the plot twist coming to "Old Christine" in the fall. Her character, Barb, will marry Julia Louis-Dreyfus' character, Christine, in a ploy to keep Barb from being deported.

"I didn't even know I was illegal!" Sykes says. "But I figure it's great because it touches on so many things that are relevant right now: illegal immigration and gay marriage.

"I hope there's some domestic violence in there, too," she jokes. "Slap her around a little bit. Show her who's wearing the pants."

Are Sykes and Louis-Dreyfus going to make out and sleep together?

"I hope so. That'd be fun. If you're gonna do it, you gotta do it. The more awkward, the better," she says.

Sykes knows what awkward is because she works with Larry David on "Curb."

"He's just as awkward and uncomfortable" off camera as on, she says. "And it makes you awkward and uncomfortable" unless there's someone else around as a buffer.

"If Jeff Garlin isn't there, I always find something I have to go get: 'Where's that?' Then, I take off for the crafts service table."

But you can see Sykes at her original, more relaxed form, doing stand-up at 10 p.m. tonight and Saturday at Planet Hollywood ($72.60; 785-5000). She loves Vegas but doesn't perform here much.

"It's probably good for my liver and my wallet that I don't come to Vegas more," she says. "Maybe they can work something out and get me on the transplant list. You know, Dick Cheney is on the list for a standby heart. Maybe they can get me a few standby livers."

Doug Elfman's column appears on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Contact him at 702-383-0391 or delfman@reviewjournal.com. His VegasLand blog is at reviewjournal.com/elfman.