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As summer 2025 rolled around, transgender comedienne, podcaster, and amateur ghost hunter, Roz Hernandez, found her calendar wide open and decided to embark on a 13,000-mile road trip throughout the United States, performing 50 standup comedy shows at various gay bars, clubs, and comedy spaces. 

Roz noted that there is a framework or a map laid out for people to follow to have a career as a comedian, and as far as Roz is aware, that never involved driving yourself around the country to perform at gay bars/clubs. However, she decided to take a chance on this idea and see what could happen. 

It wasn’t just the unconventional nature of this tour that made it stand out, but also the political landscape in which it was occurring. As Trump’s first year of his second presidential term continued, attacks on transgender people increased. 2025 ended with 126 anti-trans bills passed, a record high (though that will likely be surpassed this year). Due to the scary political landscape, some of Roz’s friends expressed concern for her safety, especially in smaller towns and red states, but Roz decided to go regardless. 

Roz documented her journey in ‘Peeing in an Empty Bottle and Other Glamorous Shenanigans of an Almost-Famous Transgender Comedienne on the Road,’ an audiobook read by Roz that comes out today. The audiobook includes interviews Roz recorded with folks she met at venues throughout the country, from sad to funny moments to times of inspiration and connection. The audiobook expertly intersperses interviews, voice notes, and Roz’s writing. The result is a personal tale that feels like listeners are brought along for the ride right beside Roz. 

“It was the first time I was like ‘I have to document this,’” Roz explained. “It was nice to do that, to feel like I was kind of keeping a diary.” 

Through the highs and lows–the scary moments, the great shows, the rough shows, and the moments of human connection, it’s all unflinchingly documented. It is an important testimony of what it’s like to be transgender in America today. 

The tour was born out of Roz’s decision to no longer attempt to appeal to everyone, after years of trying. She reached a point where she decided to create and share comedy for the LGBTQ+ community, rather than performing comedy at more traditional spaces. This also meant that, on this tour, she was the first person to perform comedy in many spaces that were more accustomed to drag shows. 

“With the way our world is, particularly our country is, the people that are going to hate me for being trans have made their mind up. They’ve dug their heels in, and they continue to, and it doesn’t matter how funny I am, they’re not gonna give me the time of day,” Roz said. 

Rather than spending time on people like that, Roz has decided to focus on having fun and performing for people who see her for who she is and who love and appreciate her comedy. 

As the tour progressed, Roz performed at various historical locations, including Dallas’s Rose Room, which has a long history of transgender showgirls. Throughout the tour, Roz learned about the spaces and the queer community at various locations like the Rose Room, and in turn shared that history and those experiences with listeners. 

“I try to think about the lineage that I get to be a part of, of trans women performers that are fabulous and funny, I am like ‘I wanna know it all’ because it’s not like I can just go watch episodes of an old TV show that’ll show me, it’s not as easy to know that history,” Roz explained. 

At the end of the day, Roz hopes that this book encourages others, especially those who can see aspects of themselves in Roz and her story. 

“I want people to know that there is somebody that is trans and has dreams and is going after them and has a sense of humor about it,” Roz notes. 

Additionally, with the DIY nature of this tour, and some of Roz’s other projects, she hopes it resonates with others as well: “You can chase your dreams even when it feels like it’s completely up to you, and there’s a lot of forces against you.” 

In addition to  ‘Peeing in an Empty Bottle,’ which is out today, you can find Roz’s YouTube channel, ‘The Haunted Doll,’ in which she goes to haunted hotel rooms and skeptically ghost hunts them with guys she meets on Grindr. She also has two podcasts, ‘Ghosted,’ a queer comedy podcast about ghosts, aliens, psychics, and the like. And the other podcast is ‘For a Good Time Call Roz,’ where Roz is sitting on her bed giving advice. 

For a time, Roz was selling merch that said ‘Roz Hernandez should be more famous,’ and after listening to the audiobook and seeing how many DIY projects she dedicates her time to, I tend to agree that the world just hasn’t caught up yet to just how incredible Roz is. 

Cover image by Wiley Images