I’ve got to come clean, right way.
Before diving into a review of “Bright Beautiful World: The Infectious Joy of Pat McCurdy,” I must admit that for the better part of the past three decades or more, I hadn’t at all understood the commotion surrounding McCurdy, his music and the popularity surrounding his long-standing solo career.
I’ve caught bits and pieces of McCurdy’s shows over the years, mainly during his long run of performances at Summerfest, when I’d stop by for a few songs or he’d be on stage prior to an act I really wanted to see. The portions of McCurdy’s shows that I saw were entertaining enough, but it’s become crystal clear that I should have given McCurdy and his music much more of a chance, not because McCurdy needed to add another “Pathead” to his legion of followers, but for my own musical enjoyment.
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“Bright Beautiful World,” from directors Peter Matsoukas and Benny Kaplan, is a joyous, funny, outrageous, uplifting and, at times, even poignant portrait of a musician who found success on his own terms, leading to a long-lasting love affair between him and his fans. Audience participation and interaction are key to his shows.
I was fully drawn in by the enthusiasm of the massive crowd that packed the Oriental Theatre for the documentary’s premiere on April 25. McCurdy himself was seated in the crowd that night seeing the film for the first time.
Those in attendance boisterously sang along to the songs that made up the soundtrack of the fast-moving 94-minute film and cheered loudly for the people that they recognized on the screen, perhaps even themselves. It was one giant party, apparently much like McCurdy’s shows that I snubbed my nose at for all these years. When the film concluded, the crowd rose in unison for the longest, loudest ovation I’ve ever witnessed at a Milwaukee Film Festival screening.
McCurdy’s career has spanned more than 50 years and an astonishing 12,000 performances. He even performed a Sunday afternoon show at Shank Hall following the second screening of “Bright Beautiful World” that morning.
McCurdy is funny and amusing but he’s no joke, as it is aptly presented in the film. His humor is often charmingly self-deprecating (he points to Benny Hill and Gilbert and Sullivan among his musical influences). His song catalog is massive, so much so that he admits in the film that he’s forgotten many of them.
Among his most popular tunes are “Hey, Paddy,” an Irish drinking song, “Monkey Paw,” “I am Wonderful,” “My World of Love,” “Ruin my Life,” and “Tiny People (With Enormous Heads),” just to name a few. His songs can make you think or laugh uncontrollably, like I did during the film when McCurdy performed the innuendo-laced “I’m Chokin’ the Gopher.”
McCurdy’s a smart and prolific songwriter, as well as a talented musician with a good voice, and I’m not sure there’s anyone in the industry who has worked harder. At his peak, McCurdy once performed 366 shows in one year – yes, even my rudimentary math skills tell me that’s an average of one show per day for an entire year – from Milwaukee to Madison, Chicago to Minneapolis, and points beyond.
McCurdy spent the early part of his career fronting several bands, including Yipes!, The Men About Town, Mankind, and The Confidentials before finding his niche as a solo performer.
The film introduces viewers, like me, who are not in the know, to his longtime sound and light guy and right-hand man “Pipe Jim” Schaufelberger, who has driven tens of thousands of miles in a van shuttling McCurdy to his shows, and manager Brian “Murf” Murphy, both entertaining in their own right.
After thinking his career was at the end of the road around 2019, McCurdy had a renaissance during the COVID-19 pandemic when he began performing virtual shows from his living room, which gained him a legion of new followers, locally and around the globe. At 70-something, McCurdy continues to perform around 150 times per year.
From the film, McCurdy appears to have a supportive and wonderful family. His wife, Bethany, whom he lovingly dubbed “the mistress of alcohol” during his pandemic shows, seems to have as good of a time as anyone else at the shows, as do his sons Miles and Julian, who often take the stage with their dad, something they’ve done since early childhood.
You’ll not likely see me up on stage singing and performing the gyrations that go along with McCurdy’s classic standard “Sex & Beer,” but who knows. It seems like everyone gets caught up in the moment at McCurdy’s shows.
What is certain is that Pat McCurdy and his followers sure do know how to have a good time. In these troubled times, shouldn’t we all want that?
