We need to de-normalize punching down at trans people during your comedy sets and start normalizing turning them into weird social experiments. Aaron Westberry has become one of my favorite comics for this precise reason, injecting his open mic appearances with one weird twist after another.
That said, if your goal is "make literally every single one of your performances unique in some cool meta way," it's weird that Westberry hasn't stumbled onto this particular twist sooner. Guilting the audience into giving you some sympathy laughs is the last resort of every amateur comic, but if what if it was actually your first resort? And, indeed, your only resort?
The line between genuinely painful and gloriously bittersweet second-hand embarrassment comedy is a thin one, but Westberry walks it well. I'm sure Tim Robinson would be proud.
I wish I could fast-forward his career ten years and see him doing full-on Nathan Fielder-style psyop shit to his audience like he's clearly building towards.
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