The Square Life

If you type Curt Doussett in a Google search, you’ll end up with just more than 450 web links. And browsing through a few of those, you’ll learn a little about Curt. Namely, that he’s appeared in a handful of films—including Church Ball and Sons of Provo—along with commercials, TV appearances, and local theatre productions.

But for the twentysomethings who live in Utah Valley, they’ll probably recognize Curt not from his movie appearances, but as the referee for Center Street’s ComedySportz. Curt is a frontman for the improv group, and he also is owner of the Provo franchise.

And while his renown may be at a reasonable level in Utah, his face is only going to become more recognizable.

This BYU music graduate recently landed the job of hosting Hazard Pay, an hour-long show slated to premiere in March on the Discovery Channel. Curt, who lives in Orem, calls the show “Jackass for the thinking man.”

During each episode, the cameras follow Curt as he takes a stab at two or three dangerous jobs. These escapades include stints as a horse jockey, underwater welder, snake venom extractor, coal miner, high-rise window washer, UFC cage fighter, alligator trapper, and—his favorite—professional hockey goalie for the Carolina Hurricanes, the 2006 Stanley Cup champions. “Although I sucked as an ice skater, it was fun to play,” he says.

These jobs take him across the county, introducing him to new people and professions. “I pretty much fail at all the jobs because they’re difficult, and they require a lot of training, although I give it the ol’ BYU college try,” Curt says. “Almost every single person who I shadow thinks I’m going to be a joke, but I end up doing much better than they expect.”

For Curt, landing the job as host of Hazard Pay is worth all the hard work of turning his passion—entertaining—into a profession. “I never thought I was going to make a living at doing this,” he admits. “But you have to pay your dues when you’re working toward something you don’t have mapped out for you—there’s no path or routine to follow to ensure success.”

Those who follow their passion into the professional world should be prepared to give it their all, he says. “Treat it as a business, work hard, and if you’re lucky, then success will come. I know many people who are more talented than I am and are struggling to get their next job. Then there’s the people who aren’t as talented who are earning millions because they’re the flavor of the month,” he says.

Curt, who hails from San Bernardino, California, says he was “a little, shy nerd” growing up. “I was about 5’3” when I graduated from high school. I went on my first date when I was 19. I started playing music when I was seven, and I played about every brass and wind instrument. Dangerous would be the last thing I would be classified as growing up,” he says.

When Curt returned from his LDS mission in France, he had grown 10 inches. A few years later he had surgery to correct a heart condition, which let him start playing sports. “It’s interesting, I still feel like the 5’3” nerd I grew up being, but I’m not treated like that anymore,” he says.

Upon graduating from BYU, Curt was in his first play at the Hale Center Theater—after that experience he “spent several years participating in every play possible.” He says he learned so much from acting and encourages others to jump in and pursue their dream jobs. “If you want to be an actor, go audition; don’t wait. If you want to be a singer, take lessons, start singing, wherever and whenever you can. Don’t wait for the conditions to be ideal because they never will be. Just go do it.”

Curt says he loves being in front of an audience, feeling their energy and taking them on a journey. “When I hear an audience laugh I know they’re not thinking about their problems. That’s what I call an emotional bath. Especially as the MC of ComedySportz, I guess you could say that I’m able to get to see people bathing,” he says. “I feel people are most honest when they’re laughing—it’s a great equalizer.”

And as Curt dons different uniforms for his roles on Hazard Pay, he can’t help but reflect on his different jobs throughout his life. “My favorite job was as a counselor for troubled teens in the wilderness,” he says. “It was so fulfilling, and I got to camp for two years. I’ve never been more happy making $5.75 an hour.”

Another role of great importance for Curt is that of father. “As an actor, I’m often in between jobs and whenever I’m unemployed, I’m home with my three boys; it’s where I want to be. If I never worked a day again and could financially swing it somehow, I’d be with my family every day, playing with my kids.”

So while there are hundreds of links online about him—and chances are there’ll be hundreds more—there’s a lot more to Curt than Google will ever let
on.

CURT SHARES WHAT HE'S LEARNED IN LIFE

Treat every person the same—whether they’re the head cheerleader or head clarinet player. Everyone’s insecure. Everyone has their hang ups, even though you might not necessarily see them. Befriend and talk to every person on the same level.

If you’re an artist develop thick skin. I could name ten movies and TV shows that I’ve been in, and I could name one thousand I’ve auditioned for and not been in.

Your life is richer and fuller if it’s focused on relationships, not on collecting things, making money, or going places, but having people in your life. In improv scenes, they’re only really, really fun to watch if they are based on relationships.

Find your niche and then exploit it. Find out what you’re good at and what you love, and then just focus on that. Put yourself in the position to spend a lot of time and work to make it successful. It’s not going to be something that falls in your lap, and if it does that’s the exception—and you should never plan on the exception.