Courtney Peterson: Rash Decisions Pay Off

This week’s inter­view brings us one of seem­ing­ly rare comics that pulled what they call an ​“inverse guf­faw”, mov­ing from the big­ger com­e­dy mec­ca of Chica­go to our fair city of Austin. (Ed: This is not a real term. No one has ever said it. Nice try.)

Court­ney Peter­son got a taste for per­for­mance at a young age, with her par­ents expos­ing her to TV, the­ater and stand up com­e­dy in her ear­ly years. I’ve tried to do much the same with my daugh­ter, to ingrain in her an appre­ci­a­tion for the cre­ativ­i­ty and courage that comes from the com­ic expe­ri­ence. But, so far, unlike Peter­son, my kid can’t lay claim to have been best­ed by her own par­ent in an open mic con­test. Yet.

When high­er learn­ing called her, Peter­son jumped from her birth­place of Rochester, NY to Chica­go, piv­ot­ing from pur­su­ing The­atre to earn­ing a degree in Film from the ven­er­a­ble Colum­bia Col­lege. It was there she found her way onto the stage, try­ing her hand at her first open mic in a city full of com­ic his­to­ry and oppor­tu­ni­ty. Her ear­ly attempts encour­aged her, and cou­pled with a long time desire to try out Austin, she packed up and head­ed our way to test the waters and con­tin­ue build­ing her career. 

With just a year in our lit­tle town under her belt, Peter­son has already made a big splash, with count­less open mics, co-host­ing Finite Jest, per­form­ing in Fun­ni­est Per­son in Austin, and pod­cast appear­ances like Sto­ryfellers and We Heard it First.

Peter­son has big things com­ing in the future, so sit back and lis­ten to learn more about her begin­nings, writ­ing style, ambi­tions, and a bit­ter­sweet sur­prise about her upcom­ing relo­ca­tion to con­tin­ue her quest to stardom. 

Catch Court­ney Peter­son in her remain­ing time here (for now!) at these upcom­ing shows:

• August 4: Peter­son co-hosts Finite Jest open mic, 8PM at Cenote
• August 6: Peter­son, Katie Stone, with Maria Bam­ford in San Anto­nio at Aztec Theatre
• August 8: Six Shoot­er at Bar­rel O’ Fun
• August 10: Com­e­dy at Hops & Grain 
• August 25: Spit­balling at The New Movement

And if leg­ends like Maria Bam­ford keep tak­ing notice, you can bet Peterson’s cal­en­dar is about to get even more packed. )