Wendy Jo Smith wanted to be a singer and performer from a young age but she never imagined that her party girl alter ego, Wendy Ho, would be her ticket to success.
Six years ago, Smith took the stage at a Broadway director’s New York City party for an impromptu performance as the fabulously flamboyant Wendy Ho. After receiving a standing ovation from a room full of people in the entertainment industry, Smith began to think for the first time that perhaps she could create a career out of her over-the-top character.
“Singing is my first love and when I learned how to execute the act in a way where I could use singing to make people laugh, that was like crack,” Smith said. “That was an immediate addiction.”
Smith began to write songs and raps laced with comedic lyrics. Soon, she found herself performing in comedy clubs, gay bars and other establishments that appreciated her humorous yet raunchy act.
“I have this side of myself that’s crazy and loud and all sorts of over the top and naughty and nasty and sexual and I want to bring that out,” Smith said.
Finding her way in the entertainment business proved to be a scary task at first as there were no exact role models for Smith to follow but she looked at her act as a modern day version of Bette Midler or Cher.
“I love a wig and I love that theatricality and incorporating comedy into it,” Smith said. “But I didn’t really have anybody in the way of how a white girl was going to take on this persona of a straight thug.”
Her act, which features equal parts singing and comedy, highlights the best of both talents and combines her past experiences into a hilariously honest performance.
While growing up in Toledo, Ohio and Kansas City, Kan., Smith aspired to be a singer and entertainer but the road to success wasn’t easy. Although she had the talent, her soulful voice didn’t fit into the mold, causing her to be kicked out of her high school choir for not meshing with the other singers.
“My voice stuck out like a sore thumb because it wasn’t a choral sounding voice,” said Smith. “I wanted to sing the blues. I wanted to sing gospel.”
Inspired by several strong black women early in life, Smith has always had a soulful vibe.
“I was told growing up that I not only sounded soulful or black but I also had the build of a black woman,” Smith said. “I had a best friend in fifth grade who was black … for whatever reason, we would hang out and I would end up talking like her.”
During college, Smith began to write and perform rap songs about professors and students to get a laugh at parties. The other students decided to change her name from Wendy Jo to Wendy Ho to reflect her colorful alter ego.
Once she decided to make the persona of Wendy Ho into a career, she quickly found a strong following in the gay community.
“There’s a rite of passage that you have to go through as a gay person where you have to come to terms with (who you are),” said Smith. “And that’s a big part of my act. I had to go through that act of kind of coming out of the closet like, ‘Yes, I’m a ho.’”
Smith owes at least some of her success to the many drag queens across the country who perform her music at local bars and help keep her name in the spotlight.
“The theatricality of what I do lends itself to being like a drag queen,” said Smith. “I’ve always called myself a female drag queen and people do sometimes ask me, ‘Are you a drag queen? Are you a man or a woman?’ I like to say I’m a handsome woman.”
Watch Wendy Ho perform live at the Hillcrest Mardi Gras on March 8. She also returns to San Diego for a concert at Urban Mo’s on April 29. For more information on Wendy Ho, visit wendyho.net.
