Logo

Dirty. Comedy. Bluegrass. N Stuff.

  • MEET COURTNEY
    • FAQs
  • News & Blog
  • PRESS
  • PHOTOS
  • VIDEOS
  • PODCAST(S)
  • THE DIRTY CURLS
  • CONTACT

Listen at work! (NSFW) and go buy on iTunes

SHOWS!

Check back often!

12/15 7:30pm
Canteen Points Comedy Show
The Good Nite
10721 Burbank Blvd,
North Hollywood, CA 91601
FREE! (but buy a drink or two)
(link to FB invite coming soon!)

12/29 8pm
Lucent Enchantment Society
Clifton's Cafeteria
Los Angeles, CA
BUY TICKETS HERE

TWITTAH!

My Tweets

FACEBOOK!

FACEBOOK!

INSTAGRAMZ

No Instagram images were found.

Join 2,377 other followers

McCleaniacs & Curlfriends

Category: Live Performance

0 Thank you, El Cid! … forever?

  • December 15, 2016
  • by dirtycurls
  • · Courtney McClean · Live Performance · News · Really Deep Thoughts · Upcoming Shows

First – SHOW TONIGHT! 7pm doors at The Good Nite on Burbank Blvd in North Hollywood. Show at 7:30!

canteen-points-12-15-16
TONIGHT!

Secondly – EL CID IS CLOSING!! Connor, the super cute white Prince who runs the sound there, told me that this coming Monday – Dec. 19 – is the LAST El Cid Open mic EVER! I did notice that the main sign was not lit up this past week. I am pretty bummed out; I love the El Cid stage. It’s a beautiful proscenium with professional lights and sound. Kinda better than an open mic deserves, but it’s important for practicing musicians and comics to know what they look like on a fancy stage (assuming they’re taping themselves).  Although, El Cid definitely became my comfort zone. And I need to step the fuck out of that.

But here’s why I really wanted you to read this post… for some gooood viiiiibes:

On Dec. 12, for the second time, I played a 30-minute feature set before the El Cid Open Mic. We started a few minutes later because Michael, the host, wanted to get more people in (thank you for being there!!). It wasn’t a full house and the crowd was kinda subdued, but I could see in people’s faces that they were having a great time. I love it so much when I connect with specific audience members and they just *get it* and have fun with me. When I can, I thank those people for being great audience members after the shows.

I brought my merch out on Monday night because I finally got more CDs in hand! And my merch maleta (that’s suitcase in espanol. I just like the alliteration) looks better with CDs in it. I need new shirts too. I need all kinds of merch.  I’m making pins! I’ll come back to those later though. I made a handful for El Cid, but I freaking forgot them at home. It was one of those worked-on-it-all-day-and-then-forgot-it situations, literally.  Annoying AF I believe the kids say.

cds
shit yeah you want

Anyway, I have CDs now (so come get one at Thursday’s show)! I gave a copy to the ID-checkin’ gentleman at El Cid – whose name I just learned is Terrence, and who I also learned is having a birthday Thursday -today! – and also to Tina (Teena?), who works the door. And they both asked me to sign their CDs. It was adorable and made me feel fucking cool! On Tina’s I wrote “Thank you for letting me in and not 86ing me.” She read it and said, “Never! I love it when you come here! It makes my night when you play,” and then continued for the next minute, along with Terrence, to bathe me in what would be uncomfortable praise if I never learned how to take compliments. The bartender overheard Teena’s effusive speech and joined in to tell me that he used to avoid picking up Monday night shifts, but Mark ,the regular Monday night server, had talked me up so much (thank you, Mark!! Missed you on Monday), he had to come in and check me out himself. And he’s picked up a handful of Mondays since then.

I think receiving verbal love is akin to bathing because, and I don’t know about you, but I get a gooey warm feeling all over my body, like chocolate being poured directly on top of the sundae, so that gravity pulls it almost evenly down its sides to the floor. I’m not gonna lie – I was uncomfortable for a few nanoseconds. I got over it. And thank goodness, because receiving a compliment has gotta be in the Top 10 of Best Things About Being A Human.

But… it’s deeper than that, isn’t it? It’s not just that you’re being told your art is great by someone that’s not your mom, the thing – that *thing* – is knowing that your creation has hit someone deep inside of their soul to the point where they look forward to subsequent creations.

I want to make an abundantly lush living from this ridiculous vein of performance I insist on perpetuating. But if that doesn’t manifest, the worthiness of my endeavor will live in how it made people happy, excited, and anticipating awesomeness. I think that’s really what drives me: knowing that I have the power to make people laugh and love, as cheesy as that sounds. I mean, laughter and love are two of my favorite things and I want more of them in the world.

sf-selfie-2016
I SAID LAUGH AND LOVE. DO IT.

 

0 Performance Achievement Unlocked: LUCENT DOSSIER!

  • December 13, 2016
  • by dirtycurls
  • · Courtney McClean · Guest Performances · Live Performance · News · Upcoming Shows

MCCLEANIACS!  I am beyond stoked to tell you that I am performing with the literally awesome Lucent Dossier Experience/Lucent Enchantment Society (I don’t know if there’s a difference) for their New Year’s show a few days early on Dec. 29 at the incredible Clifton’s Republic in downtown Los Angeles.  Buy tickets here! 

If you don’t know the Lucent Dossier Experience, it’s like Cirque Du Soliel meets Steampunk meets a great psychedelic drug trip.

lucent-dossier-experience-2016-2
None of these people are me physically, but probably yes metaphysically.

How did I get this amazing opportunity? It’s who ya know, bro!

The story: a long time ago I met a gal at my college in my acting class and our professor said we were like sisters from another universe or something. We of course became great friends till we graduated and we kinda lost touch. Till Facebook, of course! I found my pal Erin about 7 or so years ago and reconnected with her and discovered she was performing with this really cool performance collective called Lucent Dossier. I was an instant fan. The costumes and makeup and the talent! I never saw a live show, but just from what I saw on the internet, I knew I would love to be involved with Lucent someday, but I didn’t really think of how, nor did I put it to the front of my mind.

e4433f59ab80f05165998a6f71a4379c
Erin! I’m sure not her character’s name. That’s probably Space Baby or some shit. 

Then I moved back to California and a little under a year later, Erin contacted me to ask me if I wanted to collaborate with her and another performer, a musician named Ursula, to create an experience station at a Lucent Dossier Experience show. Of course I was like HELL YES, and here we are a couple months later, about to premiere our station at Lucent’s End of the Year show!

I know, you’re like “station?” what the heck is that? Well, without giving too much away, the 3 of us are hopefully going to be in a hidden part of Clifton’s that a roaming Lucent performer will lead you to. We’ll be playing music, singing… and washing your hands. I know, what? If you can make it, please come out. It’s going to be such a unusual and amazing experience.

Dec. 29! Tickets are here. Kill 2016 with us.

Pre Show Lucent Dossier in Dublin, Ireland
Lucent performer in Dublin. NOT ME! But looks like me, right? WEIRD. 

 

 

0 SHOWS! And… ooops.

  • December 9, 2016
  • by dirtycurls
  • · Courtney McClean · Live Performance · Upcoming Shows

Hey SoCal McCleaniacs!

I have TWO shows this upcoming week!

dec-2016-shows

I’m so excited to tell you I’m BACK at El Cid as the featured performer on Monday!! Get there by 7:30 to get a good seat. It’s only $5 cover and there’s no drink minimum, but you shouldn’t deny yourself the incredible sangria.

If you miss Monday, I’ll be back at Canteen Points at The Good Nite in North Hollywood on Thursday, Dec. 15. That show starts around 8pm, and if you’re a comic, you can sign up for the open mic! It’s a lottery for 5 slots. (get there at 7:30 for that… you might have to wait outside for a second if they don’t haven’t opened the doors yet)

So, remember when I was committing to a shitty first draft each day? And how it lasted 3 days until the election and then I went into a kind of anxious depressive shell like a lot of us did? And I recorded 2 more, wrote 1 more after that? And it’s been crickets since?

I’m sure the only person counting on me doing this every day was me. But… fuck it. Butt-fuck it, even.

But now  I have 6 shitty first drafts of brand new songs. And now I know that I can write a song really quickly within the creative limitations . I did realize after the first couple that most of my creative time was towards brand new stuff, and not working on the drafts to develop them or practicing anything else, mostly because I didn’t make the time for anything else. But I have to remember that even the shitty first drafts are practice: getting my hands on the banjo, writing, singing. “No practice is wasted.”

Old Courtney used to beat herself up about not being able to commit to something like this, but now I realize that is a waste of energy, and if I’m not feeling that kind of creative output, I’m not going to do it well. We all do things our own way, no matter what books, people, assholes are going to tell you differently.

But seriously, I better get to some practice for Monday’s show. Keep your chins up, McCleaniacs, and keep fighting the good fight. See you soon?

Page 1 of 3
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

  • Amazon
  • iTunes
  • SoundCloud
  • Bandcamp
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • RSS
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Courtney McClean
    • Join 2,377 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Courtney McClean
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...