Matt Matthews Brings “Boujee On A Budget” To Ocean Casino Resort’s Ovation Hall

For Matt Matthews, his comedy is all about helping a sometimes wildly chaotic world lock the doors, laugh raucously, and “make fun of everybody”! Direct from Birmingham, Alabama, Matthews has worked in other careers as a photographer and an author, but for Matthews bantering with a packed crowd from the stage is truly where Matthews truly shines. We sat down to chat with Matt Matthews (prior to his August 23rd show at Ovation Hall) about his comedy stylings, his dream gig (he needs to be on a roast immediately!) & why his husband remains his biggest cheerleader!

Michael Cook: Since TikTok helped change your life, how crazy has life gotten?

Matt Matthews: Oh my gosh, every single day. I'm like, “What is my life”?

MC: You’ve had several careers, but they all seem to have their own individual passion within you. Is there one that you get more of a charge out of doing than another?

MM: Yeah, I mean, everything is so different, everything has its place. Obviously, I don't do photography anymore because I just don't have the time. I don't think there's anything that will ever beat the feeling of being on stage.

MC: You’re coming to the Ocean Casino Resort on Saturday August 23rd with your Boujee On A Budget Tour and we're so excited that you're coming. Is this your first Jersey Shore experience?

MM: No, I played Jersey on my first tour and it was actually a pretty good crowd, I thoroughly enjoyed that show.

MC: You do a lot of crowd work and it's so fun because everybody seems to come to play. From your perspective when you’re on stage, is it ever difficult to decide who you're going to play with a bit?

MM: No (laughs).I definitely will go off of the vibe that somebody's giving me. There are   definitely people, you can tell, they’re just dying for it; they want so bad. The thing is, these people are paying money to sit in these front row seats because they want to be roasted. They’re paying to be there for that reason. Now there are some people a lot of the times, they'll bring a partner or something and they're not the biggest fans of comedy or they don't really know who I am or something like that and those are the ones that I really go after. Especially the straight guys that sit there and they're just so terrified to laugh. I will give it to them and by the end of it, they're eating out of the palm of my hands and they love it. I think if you don't laugh and you look like you're not having a good time, then it's my job to make sure that I get you by the end of the night.

MC: Is it difficult to be truly funny in today’s world which can be sometimes overly cautious in terms of what can be considered truly funny?

MM: I definitely in the last year, have even gotten more offensive, I would say that I just don't care. You know, I feel like the best comedy are the people that don't hold back. and I just don't care if I hurt your feelings; I don't care if I offend you. I know that I am a good person, I know that I have a good heart and I know that I would never be mean to somebody in real life just to be an asshole or just to be mean. I also know that we're in a really dark world and everybody is so offended over everything and I just don't have time for that. So if you come to my show and you're just easily offended…well, number one, you messed up and came to the wrong show. Number two, I'm going to offend you just because of you look like you should be easily offended. I feel like we should be making fun of everybody. I feel like we should bring bullying back because people get so offended over everything and I just have zero time for it. I feel like everybody it's fair game at my show. It doesn't matter your race, your sexuality, it doesn't matter; I am going to make fun of you, and I tell people that at my show.

When I start the beginning of my show I tell people, we're in a dark world and tonight we're gonna pull the stick out of our asses, and we're gonna laugh about sensitive subjects, and we're going to make fun of everybody. We’re going to take dark topics that would typically make us sad and make us cry and things that we would maybe shy away from and we're gonna make fun of them and we're gonna laugh about it because that's what we have to do in life.

MC: Is there anybody from the comedy world that you pattern what you do after or anybody that’s an inspiration?

You know, it's very funny to me because people will ask me this question, but I don't watch a lot of comedy. It's not because I don't think that there are people that are talented, because I absolutely do, but I am a firm believer that comparison is the thief of joy. If I watch a lot of other comics, I feel like I will compare myself to them. I don't want to compare myself to any other comics, I want to just kind of be in my lane and focus on the things that I should be doing and how to better my own craft. I absolutely love Katt Williams, and I think that he's incredible and there are other comics that I think are great.

I love the wholesomeness of Leanne Morgan. I think that she's precious and she's just up there kind of doing her thing and and making everybody happy and not offending anybody; that alone is a lot of talent right there. I really do try to just stay in my lane and not compare myself to other people.

MC: My own mother is officially a huge Leanne Morgan fan and her new Netflix sitcom is sensational. She is one of the biggest comedy names out there now.

MM: I mean, you can't not love her, she’s precious. She doesn't say a curse word and she doesn't say anything bad. Everything she talks about is just so wholesome. She's like Barney (laughs)! It could never be me, but that's why people probably love her more than they love me because I'm going to say shit that’s gonna hurt your feelings.

MC: Your comedy is in the spirit of amazing and legendary roasts, I could truly see you thrive on a roast dais.

MM: I mean yeah, ultimate goal right there!

MC:  You give your husband so many kudos and you really you give him his props for basically being the center of your world and not letting you come totally unhinged. Is he truly your biggest cheerleader?

MM: Oh, yeah. I mean, he's my best friend, he is my biggest support system, he is my number one fan always. He may tell me that I'm absolutely nuts for doing something or, you know, he may say that I need to not do this or that, but he's always going to support me in whatever I do because he knows I'm going to do it anyway. I always tell people, I'm on a level ten at all times and he's on a level zero. He is calm, he's the yin to my yang for sure because I’m the one that stays ready. Like, I’ll slash your tires, you know, I'm kind of crazy. He’s like, it’s not that big a deal.

MC: Coming from the South and I think being in the world that we live in now, it must be so surreal for you to be seeing such a divide and you're right in the middle of it. How do you navigate both sides of that world?

MM: I think at the end of the day, it just kind of comes down to being a relatable person. We do have so much division and so much hate in the world, but there's also a lot of love and there's a lot of good people out there. I think that when people see that at the end of the day, we're really not that different and it's easy to get caught up in all of the things that are happening in the world.

Laughter brings us together and laughter is the best medicine. That's kind of the reason why I will absolutely avoid topics in my show that I know will just divide people. I really try to like bring people together in my shows and just make people laugh and to forget about what’s going on outside for ninety minutes of their day. They’re coming to laugh and they're coming to enjoy their night. They’re coming to forget about the hard things that they're struggling with outside of these walls. That's what my job is, my job is not to divide people anymore.

Tickets for Matt Matthews: ‘Boujee On A Budget  Tour' on Saturday August 24 are available now.

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