09-08-2025
Northome's Denise Winkelman reflects on conservative upbringing in comedy special
Aug. 9—BEMIDJI — She's a Minnesota native who's California living.
With her roots planted in Northome, Denise Winkelman currently resides in Los Angeles, where she waters her career as a stand-up comedian. As a fruit of her labor, Winkelman's debut comedy special, "Bougie on a Budget," is set for release by Comedy Dynamics on Tuesday, Aug. 19, and will be available on Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video and YouTube among other platforms.
While comedic, the special includes an all-encompassing message of self-acceptance.
"I grew up very different than I am right now," Winkelman said. "When it comes down to it, the real theme is to be yourself, be authentic. We blend some serious between the funny, and I'm really proud and excited to share it with the world."
She drew inspiration for the special from personal life experiences.
According to a release, Winkelman playfully reflects on her conservative Midwestern upbringing and how these roots continue to shape her journey as a transgender woman living in Los Angeles today.
"With a gift for turning struggle into comedy, Denise delivers hilarious and heartfelt takes on identity, acceptance and enjoying the little luxuries in life," the release said, "even when on a tight budget."
Marked by simplicity, Winkelman enjoyed her childhood.
She attended Squaw Lake in her elementary years before being homeschooled until her senior year, during which she would graduate from Northome School with a class of 18.
"I did not finish in the top 10," Winkelman joked, "but it was a good way to grow up."
Winkelman and her family spent a good deal of time in Blackduck and International Falls, the latter in which she would attend two years of community college.
Winkelman's next step led her to Oak Hills Christian College to play basketball followed by two years at Bemidji State University, leaving with a mass communication bachelor's degree in hand.
The recent graduate would find work at PBS and transition to a financial career for a number of years.
A longtime fan of wrestling, Winkelman would become a professional wrestler herself and did so for five years in Cincinnati, Ohio. Winkelman partially credited her athletic pursuits to "feeling different" growing up, as though she was born in the wrong skin.
"I knew very early on that I was different and I couldn't really quantify it," Winkelman said.
Through talk shows of the 1980s and 1990s — namely Maury Povich and Sally Jessy Raphael — Winkelman figured out what that difference was.
"It was through those talk shows that I realized I was trans," Winkelman recalled. "I had never heard of the term before because, in the 90s, it wasn't talked about a lot. When it was talked about, it was more derogatory."
Winkelman noted a religious upbringing, attending church and Bible camps regularly growing up.
"At the time, it just didn't feel like it was OK or would be accepted, so I really got into sports," Winkelman said. "I tried to overcompensate and became a professional wrestler. I thought, 'if I'm really tough, big and strong, then all of this will go away.' It did not."
Prior to coming out, Winkelman compared her experience to a dying smoke alarm.
"When the batteries are dying and you hear that constant beep, that's what being trans was like for me," she mentioned. "Thinking, 'I don't feel comfortable in my own skin, this isn't right...' It was this constant beeping in my head."
Winkelman began coming to terms with herself by the late 2000s. By 2011, she would make a monumental decision following her efforts to "overcompensate" what she was feeling.
"I remember laying in bed thinking, 'I've tried all this stuff, I'm not happy,'" she said. "I was either going to drink myself to death — and I wasn't even a drinker — or I was going to give myself a chance at being happy, and I decided to give myself that chance."
Winkelman transitioned between 2012 and 2013 around the time that she moved from Cincinnati to Denver, Colo., as part of her day job.
After breaking the news to her family, a bit of time would pass before Winkelman's parents could come to terms with their daughter. The pair were devout Christians, Winkelman's father even serving as a local pastor.
"There was this serious side (of coming out) where they were very worried about me going to hell," she recalled. "If they're right, it's going to happen. But it doesn't hurt anybody to be nice to people."
Winkelman noted an added layer of difficulty with coming out as transgender and undergoing a physical transition compared to other LGBTQ+ identities.
"It's not like being gay in the sense that (being trans) is such an external thing, trying to have your insides match your outsides," Winkelman said. "Everybody can see the transition and it's hard for some people to not remember the person you were before."
Through it all, she clung to a pertinent phrase.
"Treat others how you want to be treated. My parents were really big on that," Winkelman said. "My family is exceptionally strong and were very cool with (me being trans). Maybe being away from them helped in that sense."
Winkelman's wrestling career would end shortly after her transition, but her fellow wrestlers' support would remain.
"My wrestling buddies were the coolest people when I came out to them," she said. "I was really worried about it."
It was in Denver where Winkelman began her switch to comedy.
"I tried to wrestle after transition for six months," Winkelman detailed, "and it hurt too much."
Winkelman completed a year of fitness modeling in lieu of wrestling and performed her first comedic set for a fundraiser in Denver. Much like the city, Winkelman was a bit green.
"There were 300 people and I had never done a set before, didn't go to any open mics," she said, "but I worked really hard on it. I was nervous and shaking the mic, but eight minutes in, I had gotten enough laughs where I was like 'I want to do this.'"
Starting her stand-up career in 2017, Winkelman would later move to her current stomping grounds of Los Angeles in 2020 — a mere two weeks before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
"Timing is everything and my timing is impeccable," she said sarcastically.
Emerging from the pandemic, Winkelman has performed throughout southern California and has scored multiple appearances at the Burbank Comedy Festival and Boston Comedy Festival where she was named a semi-finalist.
She also co-wrote the semi-autobiographical pilot, "The Authentic Step," which was named a finalist or semi-finalist in several prestigious competitions including the New York Film Festival.
Life in Los Angeles provides a stark contrast to Winkelman's roots.
"(L.A.) is just busy. Everybody's got a side hustle of some sort," she said. "I do talk about growing up in a small town in the special, and it's a much different lifestyle for sure."
Still, Minnesota has her heart in more ways than one as she never misses a KFAN radio segment or a Vikings game.
"I'm a lifelong Minnesota fan, so I'm used to heartbreak when it comes to sports," Winkelman added lightheartedly.
Winkelman hopes to provide a comedic parallel of her experiences through "Bougie on a Budget," a product of determination.
"I put a ton of work into (Bougie on a Budget)," she left off. "I'm very proud of it and excited."
The show is intended for mature audiences and is available for pre-order. To learn more about Winkelman and her work, visit
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