Whitney Cummings Made a Sex Robot of Herself for ‘Can I Touch It?’ Netflix Special

If you’ve already seen Whitney Cummings‘ new Netflix comedy special, then you know that about halfway through, she whips out a very realistic-looking sex robot. A large portion of the comedian’s appropriately-titled Can I Touch It? special is devoted to a discussion of sex robots, including one of herself that she helped create. It’s a slightly unnerving choice, but on The Daily Beast’s The Last Laugh podcast, Cummings revealed that the move is meant to shock viewers (it’s very effective). “Sex isn’t edgy anymore, saying ‘fuck’ isn’t edgy anymore,” she told host Matt Wilstein. “I was like, what can I do in this special that I haven’t done before?”

About 27 minutes into the hour-long special, Cummings begins an extended monologue about the “technological advance” that accompanies moments of progress for women. In the year of our lord 2019, that advance is “sex robots.” Says Cummings, “Who’s excited?” After easing anxieties about being replaced by robots — “If you’re worried about being replaced by a giant piece of plastic, you’re not bringing that much to the table in the first place” — and explaining the benefits for men and women alike, Cummings details her visit to a “sex robot factory,” where she begins to design her own plastic lookalike. And then… she brings it out. “Washington, D.C., you are the first crowd to meet Robot Whitney,” says the comedian.

The whole thing is very weird, very funny, and very unique. When asked about the bit on The Last Laugh podcast this week, Cummings said that the idea was an attempt to bring some shock value to the new special. “Sex isn’t edgy anymore, saying ‘fuck’ isn’t edgy anymore,” she said. “I was like, what can I do in this special that I haven’t done before?” She told Wilstein that she originally “had about 45 minutes of material on sex robots,” but managed to cut it down to 25 minutes — still almost half of the special.

“Look, I’m just fascinated by the next thing,” continued Cummings. “Last special I talked about egg freezing, stuff that’s on the horizon and why isn’t anybody talking about it? Why aren’t we talking about the fact that sex robots are being made and in the next 20 years, they’re going to be like iPhones and everybody’s going to have one?” The comedian added that “during this moment of #MeToo,” she’s seen plenty of “articles about how sex robots are going to ruin society,” but that’s simply not the case. “I’m just like, no, no, on the list of things that are going to ruin society, that doesn’t break the top thousand,” she said.

As for Robot Whitney herself, she’s generated some interesting reactions from audience members. “A robot is kind of a Rorschach test in a way,” Cummings told Wilstein. “Everyone projects their own shit onto it.”

Listen to Whitney Cummings’ entire interview on The Last Laugh podcast here. Her new special, Can I Touch It?, is now streaming on Netflix.

Watch Whitney Cummings: Can I Touch It? on Netflix