Courtenay grew up in the shadow of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. He studied theatre at Vancouver's Studio 58 and clown at École Philippe Gaulier in France. His varied stage career has taken him all over the world including Asian and European tours of the silent, solo show 'The Pianist' (Chaplin mixed with Mr. Bean trying to play the piano). He performed two different clown roles in Cirque du Soleil's 'Dralion' touring with them for four years to over 100 cities through North and Central America, Europe, Scandinavia, Asia, parts of Africa and the Middle East. In 2019 he was asked to create the physical performance for AJ Carmichael in season 2 of the Umbrella Academy.