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Can I Touch It?

Whitney Cummings

Netflix · 2019 · 59 min

Whitney Cummings shares the stage with her own sex robot.

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Whitney Cummings brings a life-sized, customized sex robot that looks exactly like her onto the stage for the second half of her fourth stand-up special. It is a bizarre physical prop that anchors her arguments about modern dating, gender roles, and the future of human intimacy. By framing the robot as a household appliance that might actually liberate women from emotional labor, she finds an unusual, high-concept angle on the exhausting state of modern relationships.

The performance, which marked her Netflix debut, was recorded at the Sidney Harman Hall in her hometown of Washington, D.C. Coming off a period of writing and producing network television, Cummings returns to a familiar lane of analyzing how men and women misunderstand each other, but with a more cynical, tech-focused edge than her previous hours. Before the robot makes its entrance, the set focuses on modern rules of engagement. She pitches the idea that single women should wear neon service-dog vests to prevent unwanted approaches, and walks through a self-defense class she took in her twenties where the only suggested move (gouging out an attacker’s eyes) proved far too difficult for someone who struggles to open an Amazon package. While some of the relationship observations cover well-trodden ground, the physical integration of her robotic double elevates the hour into something distinct and slightly uncanny.

The set list

5 bits

  1. Resisting the urge to pet a service dog at an airport terminal.

    Compares men claiming they cannot control themselves in the workplace to her overwhelming impulse to pet a working dog wearing a 'Do Not Pet' vest, arguing that if she can manage self-restraint, men can avoid unwanted touching.

  2. Defending oneself against attackers and the walk to the car at night.

    Jokes about women clutching keys between their fingers like a 'shitty Wolverine' and recommends trying to out-weird an attacker or using a tube of lipstick as a weapon.

  3. Entering an elderly male director's trailer as a 19-year-old television extra.

    Reflects on her naive younger self and how women internalize and normalize harassment, using the memory to offer perspective on handling unexpected sexual assault.

  4. Strategizing in a post-#MeToo huddle with imaginary women.

    Squats down to urge women to 'level up' now that society is listening, suggesting they retire slogans like 'Rosé All Day' and stop casually calling each other 'hooker.'

  5. The closer (spoiler). Show it

    Bringing out a custom-made sex robot double. closer

    Introduces an animatronic silicone sex robot made in her own image to argue that robots are appliances that relieve domestic burdens and could teach men about consent and caretaking.

How it plays

Tone
Irreverent, witty, analytical, and confessional.
On stage
Urgent, energetic, highly expressive, animated, and candid.
Pace
Delivered with momentum, urgency, physical tempo, and wild gesticulations.
About
Modern feminism and the #MeToo movement, Workplace sexual harassment and consent, Sex robots and technology, Body image and eating disorders, Gender dynamics and relationships

What the critics said

Critics highlighted Cummings' urgent, energetic performance and praised the inventive use of a sex robot prop to discuss consent and modern womanhood, even while noting that some workplace and dating premises felt familiar.

In the room: Engaged and responsive to the live demonstration, actively reacting to and asking questions about the sex robot double on stage.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: imdb.com, screenrant.com, vulture.com, decider.com, wired.com, dailydot.com, en.wikipedia.org, glamourmagazine.co.uk.

Backstory

Performed in the wake of the #MeToo movement amidst shifts in gender dynamics and sexual politics, paired with public conversations surrounding sex robots, as well as Cummings reflecting on her personal past with eating disorders and workplace harassment.

Details

Released
Taped
Sidney Harman Hall, Washington
Runtime
59 min
Where
Netflix
Director
Marcus Raboy
Topics
Before
I'm Your Girlfriend (2016)
After
Jokes (2022)

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