Growing up in Northern Minnesota, Denis Winkelman was always interested in being an entertainer.
“I used to go in my room and listen to Shania Twain and Garth Brooks and those folks, and I really would love to have been a singer," she said. "But then I heard myself sing, and there's a reason I'm not a singer.”
Instead of singing, Winkelman moved onto wrestling. At the time she was in high school, it was an especially hot period for professional wrestling — wrestlers like Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock became household names. She moved to Cincinnati and wrestled for five years on the high-level independent scene.
After Cincinnati, she moved to Denver and tried wrestling again, but she said it hurt too much to continue. She still sought out a creative outlet.
At a fundraiser hosted by friends, Winkelman got on stage and did stand-up comedy for eight minutes in front of a crowd of about 300 people.
“I was definitely shaking the mic, but I got enough laughs where I was like, ‘Oh, this is it. This is what I wanted to do.’”
Winkelman said she always loved stand-up comedy. She listened to the Bob and Tom Show, which featured comedians like Mike Birbiglia and Roy Wood Jr.
Winkelman also credits wrestling in helping her to be prepared for stand-up. You can fall on your face in a wrestling match. Then you pivot to something else to win the crowd back. A similar approach can be brought to stand-up. If a joke isn’t connecting, pivot.
Winkelman’s approach to stand-up isn’t just going on stage telling jokes. It’s talking about real stuff with a humorous bent. It wasn’t until she did it for two years that she started to talk about her background.
On her new special Bougie on a Budget, she gets personal. She talks about being a transgender woman, growing up in Minnesota and dating in Los Angeles — adding the latter could have filled a comedy special on its own.
While the special is called Bougie on a Budget, she hopes people see the real message of the show.
“The actual theme of the special is be yourself. Just be real, be you ... as long as you're not Jeffrey Dahmer, be yourself.”
Winkelman said she decided to release her first stand-up special when she felt the time was right. She had plenty of material, and she knew it was up to her to get the ball rolling.
“Nobody's going to pat me on the head and say, ‘Hey, you're funny enough and go do a special.’ So, it's like, I got to create this on my own. So, I did. But I put a lot of work into it.”
Winkelman said she likes having goals, and this special helped her become a better comedian. She worked on this special for a year-and-a-half, and she learned who she really was on stage.
She also likes having structure for her stand-up. She sets aside time to write and edit her material. She’ll sometimes go on stage and just wing it at a smaller show, but she likes to keep the show more like a conversation.
Her new special Bougie on a Budget is available on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, YouTube and Vimeo to rent for the next 90 days. The album will be available Friday, Aug. 22, on Spotify and Apple Music.
If you want to keep up to date on upcoming shows or any news from Winkelman, visit her website, Instagram, X or TikTok accounts.
Tell us about upcoming arts events where you live in Northern Minnesota by emailing psa@kaxe.org.
Area Voices is made possible by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.
