The Travails and Triumphs of a Standup Comic

Courtney Pauroso on being heckled, and being invited to create a TV show

By Molly McLean

This article is part of the Stage Raw/Unusual Suspects Youth Journalism Fellowship

Courtney Pauroso is a well-lauded physical comedy performer. She honed her voice in two solo shows, Gutterplum and Vanessa 5000. She has performed them in Los Angeles, New York, London, and in Edinburgh. She was invited to turn Vanessa 500, about a robot, into a television special for Dropout TV. She has devised with the physical theater company Synetic theater. She was a member of the Groundlings Sunday Company. She has performed in TV shows like Jackass, Key & Peele, and 2 Broke Girls. She was named one of Vulture’s Comedians You Should and Will Know in 2024.

Stage Raw: You perform your TV special [based on Vanessa 500] in L.A.’s Elysian Theater. It’s a strangely shaped stage. How was that? 

Courtney Pauroso: For Vanessa, a raised stage works better because it gives me instant status. And I like the wideness of the stage. It’s great for physical theater. I’m already comfortable playing to all sides. [At the Elysian], if you’re dead center looking down the middle, that’s actually an aisle. I want to start with status.

SR: What was a bad experience you had performing that show?

CP: The worst one that comes to mind is a show I did in London where because the previous show ran over, I was starting really late. London audiences can get really drunk. We had to kick people out.

It only happened that one time—and it’s an interactive show—But they were being so rowdy at the beginning that, in character, when I was like, “Okay, shut the fuck up,” I had to be, like, “No, actually, shut the fuck up.” And then they were still talking. And then the ushers stopped them, and it was so awkward, because they were walking right in front of me. I’m a clown, so I had to acknowledge what’s happening. And then there were other people who got kicked out.

When they were yelling, they were trying to interact with me, but they were ruining my timing.

So, then I would say, “Thank you so much for ruining the timing of that joke.” They would shout out. They were just drunk. But then they wouldn’t stop. When I was in character, trying to scold them, and then breaking character too early in that show, it doesn’t make sense. But as a clown, you have to play the room over your material.

I was so upset by the end of the show that, in the sad part, when I start crying, I was bawling. And then, that part, I was like, “Oh, here we go. At least this part’s was really good.” Because I was so raw and connected because I was so pissed off. And then after the show, I finished the show, and I had to go out to the back staircase and get the rest of my tears out.

SR: Have you ever seen someone lose control of the audience? How does that play out?

CP: Yeah. You’re inviting them to shout nonsense. You’re playing their games instead of them playing your game. No, it’s my game. It’s my show. I’m the boss. We’re going to play—we’re gonna have some fun. I like it when they’re a little scared of me.

SR: I liked that Vanessa 5000 was a magic show, horror, sci fi, comedy, tragedy, and a musical.

CP: I am writing the show around my little tricks that I like to do. I like to sing, I like to dance. I feel stupid when I do that. Oh, I learned a magic trick. I’ll throw it in, you know? I like to be scary. In Gutterplum, one of my favorite parts is like that one where the blackout happens and I’m running around. I’m writing the show towards my desires as a performer.

It’s an hour, so I like it to have these multiple levels. When I was writing Vanessa, I was like: I need a still moment where no one’s laughing. The show needed that pause. That’s something that I know I can do, and that’s something that I like to do, because I really am just an actress at heart.

SR: Is there anything that you miss about performing with other people, or advantages that you have performing by yourself?

CP: I like performing with other people. I think it’s so fun, but I think I’m better by myself. In a group, I tend to defer. In a group, I’m like, “whatever you want, let’s have fun.” I prefer my experience in the group over the final product. I’m more powerful on my own, and I can do whatever I want. Alone, I don’t have to negotiate with anybody else. But I love acting with other people. I love the play of it. I find it fun. I just don’t think that’s where I do my best.

SR: [Your pregnancy] makes me happy, because I know in the play you say you wanted a baby.

CP: That was very true. I was just saying my real anxieties.

SR: That’s something that has frustrated me with performers recently: they’re quick to drop any sort of artifice. I like how it came at the end.

CP: You don’t want it to be cheap, especially when you’re using yourself. This structure of Vanessa is so strange. I think of that moment as an energetic bridge. I thought it needed it. Even if it’s somewhat confusing, I understand it. I was talking to my director… “Why should I say these things? — I’m 38, I’m in credit card debt, and I want to have a baby.” They somehow related to me, for some reason. To me, it’s this anxiety of modernity, within these things. These are the things that made me do this.

SR: What was it like converting Vanessa 500 into the special for Dropout TV? Do you like how it turned out?

CP: I’m really happy that it’s able to be seen by more people and, especially now, I can’t tour it. Touring is exhausting. Hard on my system. Especially when I wanted to have a baby. Traveling is not grounding. Dropout came to me, they wanted to work with me…they let me get in there with the editing.

SR: What were the notes you had about the edit?

CP: The editors were great…When I’m on stage, I have a real sense of my timing. Some places, I was like, “no, that ruins the joke, you can’t move the camera here, you have to wait for this.” And they were so happy to do it. Jokes that worked better when you see my body. Helping to be picky with physical comedy.

I had to get them to add more audience. We pulled a couple moments of audience reactions from the first show, though we used the second show for the special. We needed to remind them the audience was here. To feel the danger of what’s about to happen.

SR: I read all the reactions to the special on the Dropout Reddit. They were all positive, except people who were scared to be in the audience.

CP: I’m glad those nerds are able to watch it on TV. You think it’s gonna be so scary, but I try to do a good job taking care of the audience. Especially when I vet them — I’ve fucked it up before. Choosing someone who’s too down to play, who will take over — that’s the worst. You want someone who’s a little hesitant, I try to send them love, like, “I’m trying to make you look good.” I’m trying to choose someone that the audience will love.

SR: You’ve made mistakes before picking audience members?

CP: The one that comes to mind is—I wasn’t doing the full show, thank God, I wouldn’t have made this mistake in the show. I was doing a Vanessa set. I’m trying to keep my eyes open, scanning for people—it’s a physical trick…and the guy, the second one, was wearing a fucking top hat. I asked the guy his name and he said “Hangman.” And that completely erased the name of the other guy from my brain. And so, when I needed to call for someone, I had to say “Hangman.” And this motherfucker comes up in the top hat. He’s scary. He takes off his belt to hit me. I had also, weirdly, turned the wrong way. I made technical mistakes. I didn’t know he had taken off his belt. He was way too scary.

SR: You need to be the scary one.

CP: So, I had to change the end. Usually, he spanks me, and I say, “you’re such a good stepson, how ‘bout you give mommy a kiss?” For this one, the audience hated him, so I said, “I don’t want to kiss you, get off my stage.” That was the worst one. If I had to deal with him in the full show—I would’ve switched him out.

SR: What do you think theater companies could learn from the comedy community in general? 

CP: Don’t be boring. [laughs] I feel like theater can have that reputation, but sometimes it’s fucking true. But also, comedy is so much easier to do for cheap. I think theater is hard to produce.

I was in a theater company in DC [Synetic Theater] before I moved to LA. It was devised movement theater. It was adaptations. We devised it together. We didn’t devise in front of an audience.

SR: What was your favorite piece at Synetic Theater?

CP: I originated a Juliet role in wordless Romeo and Juliet. Also, we did Macbeth, and I played the porter. It was wordless, so it was like a little clowning number. I didn’t know it was clowning. That was fun, but I love that. They’ve taught me all my physical skills. I had two years of intense physical training to where, like, now I have the muscle memory to kind of do some stuff. I loved working with them. I got so much out of it. And then, when I moved here], it was like, “Why did I waste two years doing physical theater?” And now I’m like, thank God. I love them.

SR: What is the most useful feedback that [Vanessa 5000] director Corey Podell would give you?

CP: Corey has been my best friend for 15 years, so it’s always so fun. When we’re working on a project, we brain share. I bounce everything off of her. And just having someone that I really trust to just listen to me talk. But in terms of a note, I like notes like slow down. Or like, we can’t understand that. Or just like, letting me know when something works, too. Sometimes the best note is: speed up, slow down. It’s so simple: louder.

She gave me notes like when to take a pause, or “You can even milk this far longer.” Like, you’ve got us here, hold us. Go slower. Don’t rush. Really rudimentary stuff. Somebody that can really tell is so helpful because it is technical. Pacing.

SR: Here’s a question from my boyfriend: Is God a clown?

CP: I’m interested. The archetype of the fool is kind of holy. I do get into like, thinking about, like the archetype of a clown, but I don’t really know. I kind of brand with [clowning] for branding purposes, but I don’t know the fuck I’m talking about.

I mean, my show isn’t a pure, pure clown show. Vanessa [5000] especially is so verbal. But I think the principles are there. It’s a hybrid. When I took my first clown class, it blew my mind. It does feel like it’s a much more spiritual practice than other types of performing. That’s why it’s hard to teach. And hard to do.

SR: What do you mean clowning is a spiritual practice? 

CP: It’s a practice of the spirit, you know what I mean? It’s a kind of presence. And that principle of being so bad it’s good. There’s no right or wrong. It’s energetic. When I’m teaching it, I try to make it concrete, but it’s existing a little bit outside of literal rules. Improv is, “you do this, you use your brain,” and that’s not what clown is. You walk on stage, what is your energy? What are people already seeing? It feels like an energetic practice. Even dealing with the audience, you have to tap into this presence.

The FX series Two Pink Doors she created with a cohort of clowns is available to stream on Hulu. Her comedy special, Vanessa 5000, is streaming on Dropout TV.