November 18, 2023
www.ParkerPlayhouse.com
The Parker
By Denny Patterson
Matt Mathews never intended to pursue social media fame, but we’re sure glad it happened!
Hailing from Birmingham, Alabama, the TikTok star, comedian and award-winning boudoir photographer is bringing his debut national stand-up tour, When That Thang Get Ta’ Thangn’, to Fort Lauderdale’s Parker Playhouse on November 18, 2023. Skyrocketing into the spotlight during the COVID-19 pandemic through his hilarious posts and videos, Mathews is celebrated for his relatability and situational humor while discussing a variety of topics and personal experiences, including his daily life of living on a farm, growing up gay in Alabama, his career as a boudoir photographer, relationships, and taboo sexual encounters.
Mathews’ live show is nothing short of a bonafide barn burner, guaranteed to provide bountiful belly laughs for audiences. He will also bring his ever-popular “Confessions with Matt” video series to the stage, where he provides a real-time comedic take on audience members who voluntarily spill their deepest, darkest secrets.
OutClique had the pleasure of catching up with Mathews ahead of his South Florida appearance.
Denny Patterson: Let me begin by asking, how excited are you to bring your When That Thang Get Ta’ Thangn’ Tour to South Florida?
Matt Mathews: I am very excited! Florida has been one of the most popular places so far, and it’s always exciting to just be in the south. Being from Alabama, anytime I get to do shows in the south, I feel right at home and it’s so much fun. We’ve got a couple Florida dates this year, and they are getting litty titty! They’re ready to go.
Denny Patterson: What can we expect from this performance?
Matt Mathews: A lot of people think that this show is going to be about a bunch of farm chores and things like that because that’s what people know me for the most, but this show is quite the opposite. It’s about my life. It gives people a deeper side of me, and people get to learn more about Matt Mathews the person. Not just the farm chores guy.
Denny Patterson: With this being your debut tour, what are you hoping to gain from this experience?
Matt Mathews: You know, I have no idea (laughs). I don’t have anything specific set in mind or anything that must happen after this. I really had no plans to even do a whole tour. I was only going to do a couple shows, just to see how it was and have fun doing something different, but it took off. It blew up in a way I never in a million years expected to happen. So, we went from doing a couple shows in August to performing in theaters across the world. It definitely turned into something way more than I thought it would.
Denny Patterson: You skyrocketed into social media stardom during the pandemic after you started posting videos on TikTok about your daily life and living on a farm. What was the decision behind doing this?
Matt Mathews: Well, I didn’t really plan to post on TikTok, and honestly, I didn’t even want one. Everybody kept saying I needed a TikTok, and I was like, look. That’s for kids. TikTok is for kids that just dance, sing, and lip sync. That’s not for me, but everyone kept pushing for me to get an account, so I finally made one and posted my first video, and it got around 13 million views. I was like, what is happening? So, I kept posting, just to see what would happen, and people would reach out saying, your videos bring me so much laughter and they make me feel good. The more I posted, the more they blew up.
Denny Patterson: You gave people a glimmer light when they needed it the most during the pandemic.
Matt Mathews: Yes, for sure!
Denny Patterson: I honestly couldn’t imagine having to get up at the crack of dawn and doing farm chores. Has this always been a part of your life?
Matt Mathews: No! I grew up very poor in Bessemer, Alabama with an alcoholic mom. I lived in the projects and I was the only white kid in my neighborhood, so it was definitely a struggle for me. When my dad remarried when I was nine years old, to the woman that I call my mom, she had horses, and I have always been obsessed with horses. I always had a passion for them. I would go to the local barn and go on trail rides when I was kid, and when I found out she had horses, it was amazing and everything I had ever wanted. When I moved out on my own and moved into a trailer park when I turned 18, I bought my first horse. I saved about $800 and I boarded her at a boarding facility, and then when I bought my first home in 2015, which is our farm, it has 11 acres, it started out with just our dogs and horses. Then we got the chickens, the goats, the pigs, and it just kind of evolved into this whole thing.
Denny Patterson: Can you tell us how becoming social media famous led you to doing comedy shows and this new tour?
Matt Mathews: Social media is a crazy thing. I got on social media just to share my everyday life and whatever comes to my mind. If something comes to my mind, it’s coming out of my mouth. I’m very blunt and transparent, so I would basically say what everybody else wanted to say. Everybody kept saying I should do comedy, and I never in a million years had a plan to do comedy. I never wanted to do comedy, and I never had a goal to do comedy. It was never a dream, but I decided, well, if everybody else thinks I’m so funny, maybe I should give it a shot. So, I started writing with a local writer here in Birmingham, Alabama, and then I opened for a couple comedians that came through at the local comedy club. They were then like, let’s give you a show and see how it goes. All three shows sold out in two minutes, and it just kind of spiraled from there.
Denny Patterson: Your tour will also include a “Confessions with Matt” segment, where you will provide a real-time comedic take on audience members who voluntarily spill their deepest, darkest secrets. Care to share some secrets you’ve been told before?
Matt Mathews: It’s so wild. The confessions are anonymous, so we don’t know who sends them. We have a QR code on the screen at the shows, and people can scan the QR code and tell us a confession that they have. I mean, they can get pretty spicy! A couple that stand out to me include someone’s daughter who divorced her husband so she could marry her cousin, and a woman who really wants to have sex with her father-in-law. Like, what is happening?
Denny Patterson: I also love how you also open up about growing up as a gay man in Alabama. What was that like for you?
Matt Mathews: It was what people think it is, but it’s also what people don’t think it is. Of course, there were kids that bullied and made fun of you, and while I was growing up, being gay wasn’t okay. It was definitely a stigma, and it wasn’t as widely accepted like it is today. So, it was a struggle, but at the same time, I’ve always been unapologetically myself, and I never cared about what people thought of me. I always worked very hard to be the best version of myself that I could be and do the things that brought me happiness and joy. If you didn’t like me, then too bad, but it was a struggle, especially being made fun of all the time. Walking through school, people would ask me all the time, are you gay? Are you gay? I’m like, are you straight? When people ask when I came out as gay, I always ask them, when did you come out as straight? You don’t have to come out. You know what I mean? You are what you are, but it wasn’t easy. I think it all comes down to how you handle situations. For me, I was able to take those feelings and the things people said to me and put it into a sold out comedy show that’s touring the world. All the straight football players that made fun of me want to come to my show (laughs).
Denny Patterson: What advice or words of comfort can you offer to other queer people who live in small farming towns and don’t feel like they can authentically live their lives
Matt Mathews: At the end of the day, you have to be willing to live your life for you. People’s opinions of who you are doesn’t matter. What they say about you doesn’t matter. If you’re happy with yourself, then you’re going to be a better person because of it. It may be very difficult to come out to your family and friends, but I always say that living a life of truth and authenticity is way better than living a life full of lies and being somebody that you’re not. If that means losing contact with your family or losing contact with a specific person, then so be it because if people can’t love you for you, then they don’t deserve to love you.
Denny Patterson: You also have a passion for photography and are one of the most sought-after boudoir photographers in the Southeast. How did that begin?
Matt Mathews: I started photography in 2011, and I started doing boudoir sessions for brides. I was photographing a lot of weddings, and people were asking me to take pictures of them getting ready and things like that for their husbands. I realized these women were truly getting something out of this and they felt beautiful. They were seeing themselves in a different light. So, I kept doing boudoir, and I photographed a boudoir session for my mom in October 2014. She told me that was the most beautiful she’d ever felt, and she had never felt that comfortable or confident in her skin. She passed away the following year, so those photos kind of lit a fire in me. Like, this is what I’m supposed to do. I want to make people feel good, so I quit weddings and everything else to solely focus on boudoir, and it exploded. I’ve been doing it for 10 years or more now, and I have one of the most successful boudoir studios in the country.
Denny Patterson: What are some future goals you hope to accomplish with your career and platform?
Matt Mathews: My tour is heading to London next year, so we’re going international and I’m very excited about that. We’re going to end my tour in Birmingham, where it all started, and I’m going to film a special here, then hopefully, another tour will happen after that. Who knows where it will go? There’s been talks of TV and a sitcom, different things like that, so I’m always open to positive things in my life. I never want to say no or that will never happen because if it’s meant to happen for me, it will happen!
Stay up-to-date and connect with Mathews by following him on Instagram and TikTok @matt_mathews, or visit MattMathews.com. For more information and to purchase tickets for When That Thang Get Ta’ Thangn’, visit ParkerPlayhouse.com.
