Alyson Court once described her experience on "The Big Comfy Couch"
as "oppressive." Does that mean a reboot is out of the question?
Alyson Court was quite young when she landed the role of Loonette on "The
Big Comfy Couch." While she wasn't as young as her target demographic,
she was only a few years older when she auditioned — "about 15 or 16," as she explained to E! News.
Court told the outlet that "the audition process was a bit strange" as she didn't exactly show up
to an open call. Instead, the show's creator, Cheryl Wagner, became convinced she was right
for the role after working with the young actress on "Mr. Dressup" — a show Court appeared
on as herself from 1984 to 1994. Wagner had the actress tape a demo, after which she went through
"a small audition process" at the request of the broadcaster, and the rest is history. Court said,
"In the end, my experience from 'Mr. Dressup' really sealed the deal. And that was that."
It turns out that Alyson Court had a good reason for leaving "The Big Comfy Couch." In
an interview with E! News, she opened up about her experience on the show and revealed that
it was a pretty stressful work environment. During her time as Loonette the Clown, both
her on-screen and off-screen images were under constant scrutiny. While Court explained that she
understood the need to be careful about how she appeared in public as the star of a kids' show,
she was only in her early 20s at the time and frustrated by the restrictions placed on her.
"I was finding it was very oppressive because I'd never experienced that kind
of control before. So, I was like, 'I can't do this anymore. I need to go.'"
Everyone thought that was it, but Court explained that she was ready to revisit
"The Big Comfy Couch" for what would be her last season because she was older. She said,
"I was married by this point, and pregnant. So, I was a responsible adult."
"I haven't got time for dolls and tea parties!"
As a result, there was a big gap between Season 5 of the show, which aired in 1996, and Season 6,
which aired in 2002. Per PopCrush, she left the show for good in 2003 to raise her son,
and Ramona Gilmour-Darling took over the role of Loonette the Clown for the final episodes.
Don't let Alyson Court's amazing skills of flexibility fool you — she's no natural
clown. While she may have had us in awe with her clock stretch,
the trained dancer admitted to E! News that she isn't skilled when it comes to other clown antics.
"I'm incredibly klutzy. To this day,
I can't really juggle despite years of being around awesome jugglers."
As for the famous clock stretch, Court confessed,
"It probably looks way more impressive than it actually is."
We're inclined to disagree, but we're even more in awe that she can still do the trick to this day.
However, she admitted that it's a lot harder on her body than it used to be
and that recent attempts left her with some aching limbs. She explained,
"It takes me about two weeks to recover."
It turns out that the clock stretch is a pretty effective stretching routine though;
Well + Good notes that it addresses almost all muscles in the body.
So if you're looking for a full body warm-up, take your cue from Loonette.
Alyson Court is quite an accomplished voice actor.
Her voice can be heard in kids' shows like "Timothy Goes to School," "Braceface,"
"Inspector Gadget," and even the "Resident Evil" video games. Talk about a big change from her
days as Loonette the Clown! And if you ever watched the "Beetlejuice" cartoon and "X-Men:
The Animated Series," you'd recognize her voice as Lydia Deetz and Jubilee, respectively.
"Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!"
In 2016, Alyson Court reprised the role of Loonette the Clown on the Canadian comedy
program "This Hour Has 22 Minutes." Loonette was a clown correspondent on the show,
giving an update on creepy clowns. At the time the segment aired, creepy clown sightings seemed
to be reported everywhere, providing the perfect opportunity for her iconic character to resurface.
While playing Loonette on "The Big Comfy Couch" might be Alyson Court's most memorable
job in the entertainment industry, it's far from her only one. Aside from her various
acting and voice acting roles, she's been involved in other sectors of show business.
She has racked up credits in casting and sound departments, has worked in visual effects,
and has also served on some productions as a casting director, voice director, and producer.
Some of the titles she's worked on include "My Little Pony:
Tell Your Tale" as a voice director; "Him Indoors" and "Look Both Ways" as a producer;
and the video game "Resident Evil: Outbreak – File #2" as a motion capture director.
While fans may miss seeing her on screen, they can at least rest assured knowing that
she's still active in the industry and bringing other stories to life.
"The Big Comfy Couch" is a show many '90s kids grew up watching,
so it makes sense that loyal fans would ship its star with another popular kids'
show personality from that era: Steve Burns. Alas, while rumors have flown that Alyson
Court and the former "Blues Clues" host tied the knot, there's no truth to the gossip.
Court joked to E! News that Burns "said no to the proposal," then explained why she thinks
people believed she and Burns got together. Even though they both starred in '90s kids' shows,
the two hosts didn't meet until she began working on "Blues Clues & You" as a voice acting director
and casting director. She posted some pictures on Twitter of her and Burns with the caption,
"No biggie, just hangin' with my buddy Steve."
She told E! News,
"Someone read my tweet, thought it said hubby and there you go. The Internet was changed forever."
While Loonette and Steve Burns may not be a couple,
Alyson Court is happily married. She announced her nuptials in a tweet on July 1, 2019, writing,
"Getting married. Happy Canada Day!"
She revealed in another tweet that she was marrying Z.M. Thomas, who writes and publishes
stories through his company Trepidation Comics. As noted by Game Informer, Court was previously
married to video game producer Erik Suzuki, who has worked on several "Resident Evil" video games.
Court and Thomas seem to lead a relatively low-profile life,
though they have been known to appear together at fan events. Marrying the comic writer/publisher
also made her a stepmom, and she seems to relish the role;
she revealed in a tweet that she taught her husband's son how to tie his shoes. How cute!
While Alyson Court may be keeping a relatively low profile these days,
she's fairly active on Twitter. A big sports fan, her Twitter feed shows her
frequently attending games and cheering on the Toronto Blue Jays, the Buffalo Bills,
and the Toronto Raptors. But it's not just sports she's passionate about.
Court frequently uses her platform to advocate for causes she believes in.
Just scroll through her Twitter feed and you'll see everything from posts
encouraging people to vote to campaigns that help students.
In 2021, she notably spoke out about the discovery of unmarked graves
at Canada's residential schools, which attempted to erase Indigenous
culture by forcing children to assimilate. As Global News reported,
"First Nations, Métis and Inuit children were placed in residential schools across the country,
often against their parents’ will. They were forbidden from speaking
their language or maintaining their culture.
Many were subjected to abuse of all kinds, and the schools saw high mortality rates."
Court voiced her opinion online, asking her fans to educate themselves on the tragedy and
calling out Canada's prime minister for the government's role in covering it up.
"This is something I care about deeply. [Justin] Trudeau, our current PM, continues
to be a fraud and embarrassment with respect to racism, human rights and meaningful change."
While many kids grew up watching Alyson Court on "The Big Comfy
Couch," she's not easily recognizable these days. Of course, the fact that
she doesn't walk around wearing a big red nose in her daily life makes it easier for
her to fly under the radar, but she's not afraid to don one for interviews.
That's not the only way she's keeping her time on the show alive. In her conversation with E! News,
Court confessed that she also snagged some memorable items from the set of "The Big Comfy
Couch," including a Loonette costume that she wears for charity events. Additionally, she said,
"I may or I may not have one of the couches. And it may or may
not be in storage right now because my house is not big enough for it."
Fans will be excited to know that the couch is massive in real life,
standing seven feet tall. Unfortunately, she doesn't have a clock rug to match it, though;
in the same interview, she revealed that the clock rug she stretched on in every episode was not,
in fact, a real rug, but the work of a talented artist who painted the image. She explained,
"It looks like a nice, soft, fluffy rug, but it's cement."
"The Big Comfy Couch" has been off the air for a hot minute, but we do live in an age of reboots.
While one hasn't been announced for the beloved children's show, if such a project were to happen,
Alyson Court would be down to participate. In a 2019 interview with ET Canada, she said,
"It's not mine to reboot. I would happily be involved in whatever
capacity they thought appropriate [...] maybe I could direct a few episodes."
Three years later, she spoke to E! News and once again said that she's on board with the idea of
a "Big Comfy Couch" reboot. While she said she'd love to reprise her role as Loonette, she thinks
that a reboot would be better served with a young new star taking over the couch. She explained,
"I could certainly still be Loonette, but, you know,
Loonette has grown. And that way you could have consistency with the old episodes into
the new ones. And then a new young character, I think, would be a lovely thing to see. A new,
very childlike character, where you're not trying duplicate what somebody did before."