Trans comedian and ghost hunter Roz Hernandez on her comedy tour: ‘I’m just a messy, silly b**ch’
Roz Hernandez’s new show Roz Hernandez Does Comedy in a Gay Bar runs until August. (Getty)
Roz Hernandez's new show Roz Hernandez Does Comedy in a Gay Bar runs until August. (Getty)
For comedian and ghost hunter Roz Hernandez, laughter is more than entertainment. It’s an act of resistance
Her latest comedy tour, Roz Hernandez Does Comedy in a Gay Bar, which she has entirely self-produced, is criss-crossing the US through to August. It’s not a glitzy big-budget affair but a labour of love, grit and spreadsheets. From booking LGBTQ+ venues to hauling her own gear, Roz is doing it all herself. And she’s doing it for one reason: to make queer people laugh.
Known for her podcast Ghosted! and the delightfully campy YouTube show The Haunted Doll, Roz blends the supernatural with the personal. And while her ghost hunting often involves a Grindr date and a supposedly haunted hotel room, her stand-up is firmly rooted in the realities and absurdities of being a trans woman in America.
“I love my life. I love being me. I find my life really silly and ridiculous,” Roz says. “And I like to lean into it.”
The tour, hosted in LGBTQ+ bars across the US similar to the ones Roz once called home as a drag performer, is somewhat of a response to the deeply hostile political landscape for trans people. Yet Roz insists the show is not about fear but freedom. She describes the experience of being on stage as a kind of joyful protest. Each show is a declaration that trans people are here, they are hilarious, and they aren’t waiting for permission.
Roz is quick to point out that the tour wasn’t a strategic career move. Hollywood wasn’t calling and she wasn’t going to sit around and wait. “If there’s something I want to do, I’m going to do it,” she says. And what she wanted to was tell jokes to queer people in spaces where she could feel safe doing so.
Despite years in the comedy scene, Roz knows what it’s like to be the punchline rather than the one delivering it. Her current set looks at the trans experience with a voice that’s neither sanitised or self-depreciating. “I try to talk about being trans in a way that’s funny and relatable, whether you’re trans or not.” she explains. “Because usually when people are joking about trans people, it’s not trans people doing the joking.”
Roz is also one of the featured performers in the upcoming documentary We Are Pat, premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival. The film revisits the infamous Saturday Night Live character ‘Pat’ from the 1990s, a punchline based entirely on gender ambiguity. It reflects on the legacy of that character and what it means for today’s trans comedians.
But don’t get it twisted: Roz isn’t setting out to be anyone’s role model. “I’m just a messy, silly b***h who loves to talk about sex and make fun of stuff,” she laughs. Still, her visibility on stage, on screen, in haunted hotels, is undeniably powerful.
And her paranormal side hustle is still very much alive. On Ghosted Roz has interviewed the likes of Kritsen Stewart, TS Madison, Bob The Drag Queen, Margaret Cho and Sasha Colby. “You don’t have to believe in ghosts to enjoy it. It’s about stories, community and camp.” Meanwhile The Haunted Doll gives ghost hunting a queer lens, often involving a stranger from Grindr, an allegedly haunted hotel and some spooky happenings.
While Roz is often communicating with the dead, she believes in being present. Touring is hard, touring as a trans woman is harder. But she’s not letting fear run the show.
She’s too busy being funny.
Roz Hernandez does Comedy in a Gay Bar runs until August. For tickets and tour dates, head to her website.
