Patti Harrison

Patti Harrison is a transgender comedian, actress, and writer who has been openly trans throughout her public career and whose work spans underground performance art, prestige television, and independent film. She began performing stand-up in New York before moving to Los Angeles, where she built a reputation for a ferociously funny and emotionally raw style that drew heavily on her experience as a trans woman navigating a world not built for her. She had early television appearances in "Broad City," "Search Party," and "High Maintenance" before landing series regular roles in "Shrill" (2019–2021) and "I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson." Her film work has been particularly striking: she earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her lead performance in "Together Together" (2021), a tender comedy about a woman hired as a surrogate by a middle-aged man, in which she brought unexpected depth and humor to a complicated emotional dynamic. In 2024 she appeared in "Problemista" and "Bottoms." Harrison has spoken about the challenges facing trans comedians in an industry that still often reduces trans identity to spectacle or tragedy, and about her determination to create and inhabit comedy that simply treats trans women as full, funny, complicated human beings.