LaWanda Page — Replica Comedy Show Souvenir Tee Live. Loud. Legendary.
Before stand-up was streaming content, before “blue comedy” was a marketing label, there was LaWanda Page (1920–2002) — fearless, filthy, and fully in command of the room.
Yes, television audiences knew her as Aunt Esther on Sanford and Son. But in nightclubs and on her party-record albums, LaWanda was something else entirely: uncensored, razor-sharp, and gloriously unfiltered. She built her career in Black club circuits in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s — commanding stages where women, especially Black women, were rarely handed the mic.
And queer audiences noticed.
LaWanda Page became beloved in LGBTQ spaces for the same reasons she shocked mainstream America: theatrical delivery, over-the-top insult comedy, religious parody, dramatic timing, and a wink that said she knew exactly what she was doing. Her humor leaned into camp before “camp” was a cultural keyword. Drag performers quoted her. Gay men collected her records. Her rhythm and read-style delivery feel like cousins to ballroom shade and nightclub banter.
