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Based on their web podcast Insensitivity Training on All Things Comedy, Joe Bartnick and Cort McCown have teamed up to bring their brand of politically incorrect comedy to The Ice House. Both comedians showcase a variety of high profile, lowbrow guest comedy artists of every ilk.

“We’re not sensitive comics and we just want a place where people can come and speak their mind,” said Bartnick. “We don’t censor anybody.”

Including themselves.

Bartnick, a comic and serial roaster who has appeared on Comedy Central and the Discovery Channel, is also a hardcore Hockey fan who has merged his passions with his other Podcast, Puck-Off. But the comedy team of Insensitivity Training has had a variety of guests stemming from the hosts varied interests as well.

“We’ve had musicians, and we’ve had playmates and we’ve had strippers…and we just had the top five hair dresser in the world, but he was also one of the top five goaltenders in the world,” Bartnick said, referring to Canadian hockey player Eli Thomas.

A Pasadena resident whose heart is half in New York, Bartnick works the comedy club circuit and is one of the headliners in Bill Burr’s All In Comedy Tour and was recently on Live at Gotham. But Bartnick is best known for his work with Lisa Lampanelli (The Queen of Mean), writing and performing for her roasts, including that of William Shatner. His sharp-tongued Battleground Earth roast of Tommy Lee featured infamous quips on the Mötley Crüe rock star’s famously large appendage.

“The funny thing about roasting Tommy Lee is that Tommy is known for so many things. That most of what you roast him on are actually kind of compliments,” said Bartnick. “Nobody’s going to be mad about how much God has given them!”

McCown got his start doing open mic nights on Sundays at the Comedy Store, which evolved into a regular gig for the last 11 years.

The two comics got to know each other while performing at the Comedy Store and other venues, and the idea for the podcast came from a post-show conversation.

“We worked on Playboy Radio together,” said McCown of Bartnick. “We were standing on the patio of the Comedy Store one day and I said you know, we should do a podcast. And that’s kind of how it started.”

“[We went into it] to not have any reservations or opinions. To be absolutely as free as possible,” said McCown. “The world is so politically correct today. It’s so PC. And for what? Why? Who’s really getting angry about all this stuff. It seems like everybody is apologizing.”

Both Bartnick and McCown credit a favorite podcast that was conducted casually during a golf game of guest comedian and actor Rob Riggle. Riggle was a first responder on 9/11 and is a lieutenant colonel in the Marine Reserves.

“Rob’s schedule was so hectic. He had just wrapped filming on Dumb and Dumber II. So it was like ‘Look, let’s go hit some golf balls and we’ll do a podcast!,’” said Bartnick.

The podcast is often shot in locations convenient to the guests, making scheduling on the go easier for all, enhancing the comfort level for guests to speak their minds. The comedy is unhindered.

PCC student Marissa McNutt works at the Ice House part time while she is finishing up her prerequisites to nursing school. She has been working at the Ice House since June of 2013 and looks forward to the line of top comedians who cross the threshold passed her box office.

“It’s pretty cool,” she said. “Maz Jobrani comes her all the time and Jo Koy…he’s an awesome guy!”

The PCC Stand-Up Class Grad Show was just recently at the Ice House in October, an annual event as well.

Insensitivity Training will feature hot and new comics, such as Bill Burr, Nick Youssef, and Kevin Shea.  But fair warning: the show will likely have the no holds barred approach and promises equal color in language and subject matter.

“[The show] is not for the faint of heart either,” said McCown. “This isn’t an audition for the Tonight Show. Its Insensitivity Training. Don’t be sensitive or you won’t have fun!”

Insensitivity Training with Cort McCown and Joe Bartnick at The Ice House begins Tuesday, December 2, 2014, at 8 p.m., and continues every first Tuesday of the month.

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