Patti Harrison has been in the comedy game for the better part of the decade, but she made a sensational splash just last week when the trans comedian appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” and took on Trump for his non-trans military rule. This weekend, Harrison is on the Wonderful News bill at Good Good Comedy with Ana Fabrega (from “Portlandia”), Lorelei Ramirez (featured at “VICE”) and Amy Zimmer (a writer for The New Yorker).
PGN: Do you get along with the women that you’re doing the show with in Philly, or did it just happen to be that you could share a ride?
PH: I love them all very much. Even though some days we do not agree on everything, our time together is beautiful and pure.
PGN: Everyone is hot on you now because of the Trump bit on Fallon, but you’ve been at this for a minute. And yet, all I really know about you is that you kind of come from Ohio. Do you mind if I ask when you knew that you had to/were ready for transitioning? And was comedy a thing for you before that?
PH: One day I was in my backyard, staring into my reflection in the water of our creek. Through the surface of the water poked a small salamander. “It’s time to transition!” it shrieked. That’s when I knew it was time to start doing comedy.
PGN: Who in the arts or entertainment industry did you identify with growing up?
PH: I always admired Margaret Cho, Kristin Wiig, Anna Faris, Fiona Apple, Annie Lennox. I guess offbeat women with very distinct points of view. And also Jackie Chan.
PGN: When you started comedy, was it live or filmed, improv sketch or stand-up?
PH: I started doing long-form improv in college and that was really exciting. Someone suggested I audition. Before that, I never really thought I’d do comedy. And I never imagined I’d be doing solo stuff.
PGN: What was your initial comic voice like?
PH: I used to exclusively joke about basketball.
PGN: How do you believe that voice changed or blossomed with the transition?
PH: I now joke exclusively about nail polish.
PGN: When you moved to the NYC/Brooklyn area, were crowds there immediately open to the “you” you were becoming?
PH: Crowds were hesitant at first. They were uncomfortable when they first saw me with just my beak. Now that I have feathers, I think they are more comfortable with me being an enormous predatory flightless bird.
PGN: Was your stand-up always political, or do you feel as if the last year and a half pushed you toward such?
PH: Never on-the-nose political, per se, but intrinsically political because my creative brain is filtered through the lens of being a part of a marginalized/underrepresented/disenfranchised community.
PGN: Do you recall the first real socio-political joke you did?
PH: I used to do a bit where I pretend to talk about coming out/my transition that is really about me finding out my parents are addicted to improv. It was a joke commenting on how often I’m asked as a trans person to talk about my transition. It went well! I did it a bunch more times but I don’t really do it anymore because it hinges on being a surprise, and if you’ve seen it once it doesn’t really land again as hard.
PGN: As you tour, how are people reacting to you — the whole package, who you are, what you’re saying?
PH: I think people react better to me than they would have even two years ago. Perceptions have changed a lot. Perceptions, of course, of big flightless predatory birds.
PGN: You have won some big notice with the Fallon thing. How did you get it?
PH: Jimmy called me himself, believe it or not. He calls me and he says, “Patti, I saw you on the street and you are a huge flightless bird, correct?” And I said, “Yes, queen!” And then he air-lifted me to his studio, which a lot of people believe is in New York but is actually located inside the great pyramids! And the rest is he/history.
PGN: What is the personal motto?
PH: I sincerely believe in the golden rule: Treat others how you want to be treated. It’s really simple but it truly has had a positive effect on my life. I also live by, “Don’t eat ricin. Ricin is poison.”
Patti Harrison performs 8:30 p.m. Aug. 5 at Good Good Comedy, 215 N. 11th St. Tickets are $10; www.goodgoodcomedy.com