New Year’s Eve Nightmares: Stand-Up Survival Guide w Matthew Broussard- CHIT CHAT WEDNESDAY - The JTrain Podcast w Jared Freid

Summary

Podcast Summary: The JTrain Podcast – "New Year’s Eve Nightmares: Stand-Up Survival Guide" with Matthew Broussard

Introduction

In the January 1, 2025 episode of The JTrain Podcast, host Jared Freed welcomes comedian Matthew Broussard for a lively discussion centered around Matthew's latest stand-up special, "Hyperbolic." Filmed live from Boca, this episode delves into the nuances of stand-up comedy, personal experiences on stage, and the challenges comedians face, especially during high-pressure events like New Year's Eve shows.

Introducing Matthew Broussard and His Stand-Up Special

Jared Freed opens the conversation by introducing Matthew Broussard, highlighting his new YouTube special, "Hyperbolic," which has garnered over 125,000 views since its release. Jared enthusiastically encourages listeners to watch the special, praising its quality and the density of its humor.

[02:45] Jared Freed: "Your comedy doesn't match your face."

Matthew acknowledges the compliment and shares his approach to crafting jokes, emphasizing the importance of making every line impactful and witty.

[04:13] Matthew Broussard: "I always kind of like that idea of like, what's the... how can you kind of condense it so that every, every sentence is something funny?"

Analyzing the Special: Humor and Personal Stories

The discussion shifts to specific aspects of "Hyperbolic," with Jared expressing admiration for Matthew's ability to weave personal anecdotes into his comedy seamlessly. They particularly highlight a joke about a letter from Matthew's mother, which stands out for its vulnerability and genuine storytelling.

[05:27] Jared Freed: "Your fiance. It is such a fantastic joke, the way you describe it."

Matthew elaborates on the creative process behind this joke, revealing how it took him two years to perfect the delivery, ensuring it remained authentic without embellishment.

[07:06] Matthew Broussard: "I have to acknowledge how crazy I'm. This is my mom."

The Challenge of Self-Deprecating Humor

A significant portion of the conversation revolves around the common trope in comedy of making jokes about one's own appearance. Both Jared and Matthew discuss the delicate balance required to self-deprecate without alienating the audience. Matthew shares his evolution from frequently addressing his looks to minimizing such jokes in his newer sets.

[08:03] Matthew Broussard: "I've done a lot of sets in the past and the first few sets I've done on TV, late night, all that was quick, get a quick joke out the gate, I look like this."

Jared sympathizes, noting how smart, well-crafted jokes can sometimes be misunderstood if the audience focuses too much on the comedian's appearance.

[09:28] Jared Freed: "It's like, these are smart jokes. These are so well written. It's like, oh, also for you, Harvard asshole, to be in with me, I need to, like, tell you I was on the lacrosse team."

Exchanging War Stories: Bad Shows and New Year's Eve Challenges

As the episode marks New Year's Day, Jared and Matthew delve into their respective experiences with challenging performances, particularly on New Year's Eve—a time notoriously difficult for comedians due to high expectations and unpredictable audiences.

Matthew recounts one of his most challenging shows in Little Rock, Arkansas, where poor audience engagement and multiple set interruptions turned the night into a disheartening experience.

[27:12] Matthew Broussard: "The worst show I've ever done... was a college show. It was in like an old gymnasium."

He describes the frustration of performing after energetic bands had already hyped the crowd, only to face a disengaged audience who even taunted him to take his shirt off.

[36:31] Matthew Broussard: "The crowd starts slowly chanting, take your shirt off at the dude at the bad guy before me, which hurts my feelings."

Jared relates by sharing his own anxieties about hosting New Year's Eve shows, feeling a disconnect between his comedic persona and the role of counting down to a new year.

[25:09] Jared Freed: "I was like, who am I to count in someone's new year? Like, I actually felt like, self-conscious."

Impact of Production Quality on Comedy

Both comedians emphasize how crucial production elements like lighting, sound quality, and room setup are to the success of a stand-up performance. Matthew shares an insightful anecdote from his therapist, who observed that the same joke can elicit different reactions based on these factors.

[31:07] Matthew Broussard: "You have to run that by so many different people. It's timed out to the right."

Jared agrees, likening the structure of a stand-up set to an airplane's flight—starting with a strong takeoff to establish credibility and maintaining momentum throughout.

[32:25] Jared Freed: "I'm going to do some jokes to set up who these people are so they can get to the story that I want to tell. It's like taking a plane off."

Conclusion

The episode culminates with Jared urging listeners to watch Matthew Broussard's stand-up special, "Hyperbolic," praising its intelligent humor and engaging storytelling. Both hosts express mutual admiration for each other's comedic styles, highlighting the importance of self-awareness and adaptability in the world of stand-up comedy.

[37:10] Jared Freed: "Everyone go follow Matthew Broussard. Go watch the special. It is called hyperbolic. It's on YouTube."

Key Takeaways

• Crafting Dense Humor: Matthew Broussard excels at packing multiple jokes into each line, ensuring that every part of his set is meaningful and entertaining.

• Self-Deprecation Balance: Both comedians navigate the fine line between self-deprecating humor and maintaining audience engagement without overreliance on personal appearance jokes.

• Challenging Performances: High-pressure environments like New Year's Eve shows can present unique challenges, from unresponsive audiences to unfavorable setups.

• Production Quality Matters: Elements such as lighting, sound, and room arrangement significantly influence the effectiveness of a stand-up performance.

• Authentic Storytelling: Genuine personal anecdotes, when expertly delivered, can resonate deeply with audiences and elevate a comedian's performance.

This episode of The JTrain Podcast offers a deep dive into the intricacies of stand-up comedy, enriched by personal stories and professional insights from Matthew Broussard. Whether you're a comedy enthusiast or aspiring comedian, the conversation provides valuable lessons on perseverance, creativity, and the art of making people laugh.

Transcript

[Jared Freed]

Hello and welcome to the jtrain podcast. This is Jay Train Jared Freed coming to you live from Boca. That's right. It's a chit Chat Wednesday and today's guest is Matthew Broussard. He is a fantastic comic with a really awesome stand up special that is out right now. It's been out for a couple weeks. The link to the stand up special you're watching on YouTube is right in the description of this episode. So go save that link, go watch it now, then come back here and meet Matthew or meet him first and then go watch the special. It's so, so good. We talk about some of the jokes in it, the ones I love the most. He has a joke about a letter from his mom that is just fantastic. And we talk about what most comedians end up talking about, and it's bad shows. We exchange war stories, so to speak, about shows that we had to do. And I only brought it up because it's New Year's Day. Happy New Year. Welcome to the new year. Welcome to 2025. So on a day like today, you like to talk about bad shows because New Year's shows are usually generally pretty tough. So Matthew and I talk about bad shows and these excruciating circumstances we have gotten into just to, you know, get a check and do the thing that we love to do. And then we talk about a special which is so good. Go watch it. The link is below and enjoy today's episode. Boom. Welcome to the new J Train podcast. Hello and welcome to the J Train podcast. This is J Train Jared Free coming to you live from Boca. That's right, every Wednesday is a chit chat Wednesday where I chit chat with a friend. Very excited for today's guest. They have a new special out on YouTube. You can watch it right now. It has over 125,000 views. It's already crushing. Been out a couple weeks and you are going to love it. It's called hyperbolic. Matthew Broussard, thank you for coming on.

[Matthew Broussard]

Thank you for having me. I. I specifically haven't been watching the View Count. Yes, I know. How.

[Jared Freed]

I'm sorry to do that to you. Oh, no, I. It's like when the doctor announces your weight and you're like, not looking at your weight.

[Matthew Broussard]

Well, my weight has gone down, so I'm, I'm happy about that. That's great. That's great.

[Jared Freed]

I think you've done well. This is good. I was excited for you. I was like, hundred thousand to me is like, you've done it.

[Matthew Broussard]

Me too. I Might. I had like, specific. I've like set dates on my calendar at which I can check it. Because I will, I will check it. Like, I'll make graphs of like, how did the last three minutes compare to the last three minutes before that? Is it downward?

[Jared Freed]

This is exactly what I wanted to talk to you about. Your comedy doesn't match your face.

[Matthew Broussard]

Ah, thank you.

[Jared Freed]

Do you get that a lot? Do you feel that? Do you? I mean, like, you are meticulous. This is like if you know, if someone knew comedy or thought, you know, again, judging books by covers. And you do this a lot during the special, you make fun of your looks. You make you acknowledge that you look a certain way. And I. And the special is great. Everyone needs to go watch it. It is. I watched it while playing golf today. I had it like, I have the magnet on the back of my phone and I put it on the cart and I was like, I just enjoyed. I was like, wow, I'm living in the 21st century. I'm like, I'm like killing it right now. I'm like, I'm playing golf. I'm watching a great special. So it is perfect. You can watch it anywhere. It is edible. Because I don't think a lot of stand up specials, like, the jokes are really well done. So well written. There's not an ounce of fat. Let me take a comment. I know you don't want to look at the comments, but I found one comment and it like, nailed it. I didn't know you could. This is a comment. Okay. On your special, I didn't know you could put that many jokes into each joke. So good.

[Matthew Broussard]

That's nice.

[Jared Freed]

Isn't that a nice comment?

[Matthew Broussard]

That's very nice. I like. Yeah. I mean, I grew up on a lot of like hip hop, like cheesily enough, Ludacris, Nelly were albums I listened to backwards and forwards, Eminem, obviously. But like, they were lyrics where you'd go, read the lyrics. You go, oh, I have to like, what does that mean? You'd read the lick and there were like two or three things in a line that you're like, oh, that's very clever when you actually like slow down and listen to it. So I always kind of like that idea of like, what's the. How can you kind of like condense it so that every, every sentence is something funny? And even if you don't get everything, there's enough of the stuff. You do get that. It's pretty satisfying.

[Jared Freed]

Well, it's. There's so much comedy now. There's so much content, so to speak, out there that this is like. I would say, like, I'm going to blow smoke up your ass, but I mean, it. It's like, this is like. It's satiating there. This isn't junk food. This is. You're going to get a lot out of every line. Every joke is going to have, like, because. And my favorite part was you, the joke. I was laughing out loud, like, you know, having a great time with the letter that your mom wrote to your. Are you guys married yet? Your fiance. Fiance, yeah. It is such a fantastic joke, the way you describe it. And I'm not gonna give it away, but, like, that was like, again, you took, like, a real story, and then you put, like, this, like, joke, joke, joke, joke, joke behind it. And I was like, oh, man. This is like, this is where, you know, this was great.

[Matthew Broussard]

Thanks. But that's my favorite part of the special, too. I'm glad you like it. I, like, I think, unreal. I write a lot of, like, joke jokes, and that's one of the moments that's just very vulnerable. Very, very real in terms of. I'm really, truly just reading this letter, and I put a lot of work on my jokes, and it was so fun to just go and say, here's something that actually exists that I don't really have to, like, embellish. I have it written in ink.

[Jared Freed]

And I thought about that, actually, because I was like, in the beginning, it's like, I would say, this isn't meant to be effect. You know me. This is supposed to be positive. Like, I was like, this is like, very. This is like 2024 borsch belt done well. Like, it's like, set up punch, set up punch, set up punch. And then you talk about this letter, and it does change the tone of the special. And you're like, oh, okay, this is like. And. And they both work. But that was definitely. I was like, oh, this is like a real thing that happened. You can't make this letter up.

[Matthew Broussard]

Thank you. Thank you. It was fun. You know, I tried to set up my fiance, set up who my mom was, through a series of, you know, more accessible jokes. And then, I mean, just comic to comic. The line I may be most proud of in that special and took me so long to write was the pause after the first two sentences of the note. And I go, listen. The hardest part of writing is just getting started, right? That line was. It's not like. It's not an uppercut by any means. It's Hahaha. Keeps going. But like to find what to say there, I wanted to read the whole note. I thought that the start to her letter was so interesting. Like what a weird. And I couldn't typify why it was funny. And I was trying to get analysis. It probably took me like two years just to figure out what to say there. And when I got it, I was very proud of just that little embellishment.

[Jared Freed]

And you're right because it's you basically saying like I have to acknowledge how crazy I'm. This is my mom. Yeah, this is a crazy letter that you're allowed to laugh at because I'm going to let you know like this just by doing that joke. That pause is like I'm with you guys. Like this is actually crazy.

[Matthew Broussard]

This is, this is a weird start. And it wasn't. No one, no one thinks that's going to be the first one. There's a lot of anticipation and dread when you hear, okay, what is this crazy, literally crazy woman about to say in this letter? And it's so benign and so unaware that, that it's. It's just a good little three act play she wrote for me.

[Jared Freed]

It's great. I. Everyone needs go watch. Especially the description is in the. I mean the link is in the description of this episode. Wherever you're listening or watching on YouTube, do you get annoyed that you have to make the joke about your looks to do your jokes?

[Matthew Broussard]

Yeah. Yes. I tried to minimize it on this special. I've done a lot of sets in the past and the first few sets I've done on tv, late night, all that was quick, get a quick joke out the gate, I look like this. And then I used to harp on it for longer. And then over the course of the years I'm like, I'll always give people that because I know they deserve it. It's the custody of the Crown phenomenon. I'm sorry, the Sideshow Bob phenomenon. It's fun to see with someone with status take themselves down. And I have the visage of someone with status. And I've tried to.

[Jared Freed]

Not to interrupt, but I, I was, I'm annoyed for you because the jokes are so smart and it's like, you know, the audience that would like love it, love it, love it. The most is like the Brooklyn smart people who feel in on the joke and like get every reference and get it and they're almost the ones that are like the most that you have to make that joke for.

[Matthew Broussard]

Most judgmental, the most in a benign way.

[Jared Freed]

Right. That would annoy me. I'd be annoying.

[Matthew Broussard]

What's that?

[Jared Freed]

I would be. I was annoyed for you. I. I'm like. Cuz, like, you're like, oh, these are smart jokes. These are so well written. It's like, oh, also for you, Harvard asshole, to be in with me, I need to, like, tell you I was on the lacrosse team. Like, you need that, you fucking asshole.

[Matthew Broussard]

It's. It's always fun to get the laugh, but, like, it's fun to do it later. What I've tried to do more and more as I've gotten farther into comedy is just like, have him. Give him that, but give it to him later in the set. See how much you can win him over. And then once I usually say something, everything works a little better. So I like the challenge of not. I've talked, like, Matteo Lane does such an amazing job with it. He goes, hi, I'm gay, obviously. And then he starts his jokes. Like, it's like, I'll give you this obligatory thing that you have to have, and I'll give it to you, but we're going to make it quick, and then we're going to do what I want to do. So. So I don't imagine I'll ever. Until I lose this. Whatever this version of me is visually. And I look forward to that freedom or whatever the new vehicle might be.

[Jared Freed]

It's judo of it. I. I get it in, like, Brooklyn rooms that I have to, like, I. I understand it. Like, I don't think I'm like, you know, a gorgeous man, but I know in Brooklyn that, like, I. Or rooms like, that I'm using Brooklyn as, like, the whatever, but, like, that you have to be like, hey, I'm not what you think I am. Or even, like, it's hard also to, like, I talk about my dating life, and I have to, like, acknowledge that, like, I'm. I'm gonna say things from my perspective, but I, like, I'm not, like, here to, like, may be mean to anybody. And I think, like, ma straight man talking about dating, like, it's not really an opinion anyone's looking for in certain rooms.

[Matthew Broussard]

Right, Right. And you. You do have a. Forgive me, a bit of a, you know, a bro, right. Patriarch guy who could. You need to. You need to show them I know the nuance of all this before I do comedy, which is going to scrape away the nuance and must and has to.

[Jared Freed]

Right. Well, I also have it. Weirdly, I was. So I'm in Boca right now. I'm at my parents place and I go to the club. They're in a country club community. So I go to the club and I get coffee and play golf and I've been doing all that stuff and a woman came up to me and she goes, I hope you. She goes, oh my God, I'm such a fan. And I was like, thank you. And I go, that's so nice. And she goes, I hope you know how great you are. And I go, I'm okay with myself. I was like, I think I'm okay. And she's like, no, you're just so self deprecating. And you don't, you know, you look, you look okay. You know you look okay, right? And I'm like, this is making it worse. Like, I was like, I don't. I'm like in my sad to you, like, I like, do you get it or don't you get it?

[Matthew Broussard]

You know, like, I had that last night. I walked up to Ismail Luffy and John Raditsky who were talking and they go, they're talking to each other. They go, yeah, man, let's hang out this week. Let's catch up, guys. Been a while, man. Let's hang out. I go, guys, I'm right here. And they got. You got a laugh. And then John goes, no, man, it's just I've been out of town. I'm like, dude, if you make an excuse for it, then it suddenly does get sad. If you like, like, like her with like, you know that. That's not that. When you try to reassure me, it only reinforces the original.

[Jared Freed]

Right? Just like, leave this, leave this aside. We can, I can get through this without you holding my hand through this.

[Matthew Broussard]

The laughter with the laughter at it was catharsis enough, right? And I, I think you and I have something similar in that, you know, like I might be a, a Dane Cook comp visually and you might be a Brett Ernst comp visually.

[Jared Freed]

Sure.

[Matthew Broussard]

There's such a training of, of decades of comedy that when you see those types you think, and obviously those are great, great comics, but like, you're a little more, okay, who are they going to pick on? And I think you and I tend to have the thought of the best victim is always yourself.

[Jared Freed]

Right.

[Matthew Broussard]

100% of the time, if you make yourself the butt of the joke, everyone can get behind that.

[Jared Freed]

Well, that's why, like, I've been starting, like, even recently, I was like looking for new ways to describe myself. And you do that so well where you're like, you know, you find new ways to like, make the joke about yourself. That's even better. You know, you're like, I got to go smarter on this. Like, dig. Keep digging the hole of like, how do I describe. And I describe myself as tissue box shaped. And I was like, very happy with that. To like, oh, I found a new one. I don't have to like, say chubby Jew anymore. I could say tissue box shaped and like, and then if someone's like, oh, stop calling yourself fat. You don't look fat. I can be like, no, I'm boxy. You know, I didn't even say that.

[Matthew Broussard]

You know, boxy. I remember that we've talked about this before. The funniest thing has ever seen anyone post. Um, it was a picture of you. And you, you posted something and a woman had sent it to her friend with the caption, he's just so boxy.

[Jared Freed]

Yes.

[Matthew Broussard]

He had actually sent it to you.

[Jared Freed]

Right. Send it to me. That getting reviews of you sent to you. Again, the reading, the weight off of the scale when you're trying not to see it. Like, I didn't need to know I was boxy. Now I know it. Now I have a joke about being a tissue box shaped jewelry.

[Matthew Broussard]

A miss, a missense or a CC Roast battle.

[Jared Freed]

Literally just ran into a stray. Found a stray. What are you. Oh, go ahead.

[Matthew Broussard]

Your news. I don't know if you recorded it or not. The vacation story, is that on your newspaper?

[Jared Freed]

So that's a new one I just taped a couple weeks ago.

[Matthew Broussard]

So I've seen you do it at the Cellar. Really impressive man. Really has something I admire. Obviously ridiculously funny. It's story based, it's character based. That's the best comedy to me. But it also, you start out from a place of status with the joke and I, you might have done this on purpose, but it's just so hard to acknowledge wealth or luxury in a way that doesn't immediately lose the crowd and you do it and somehow get the crowd harder. It's just very impressive.

[Jared Freed]

Thank you. I, I, well, I, I kind of walked into this thing of like, you know, I mean, we see it, we, we see it on stage every night where it's like, we know when someone's like, victimizing themselves versus telling you the truth. Like, you know, like, because we know that, like there's a hashtag that's, you know, like, I think, have you started cutting up your special yet? Have you started like making clips from it? Are they do it. They got to be doing great because pretty happy. Yeah. You they. Because I was like, the joke either has to be really good, which. You have so many good jokes in here. I mean, I read the comment. That comment is true to form. Or you gotta like put the hashtag of like, what tragedy. You're trying to mine to get people to like, listen to you, you know, So I think, like, I'm kind of thinking like, well, I don't have that hashtag and I'm not a good enough writer, so I'm gonna go. So relatable about the thing that no one wants to talk about, it's that they go on vacation with their parents. And I was like, that, that's kind of the direction with that. But hold on. What do you. Your mom lettered, your girlfriend made me think. Or fiance. How do they get along?

[Matthew Broussard]

Oh, that's a great. So there was an incident during the pandemic where Laura very sweetly and very stupidly helped my mom look at different old persons communities and drove her down to Florida. We went to five in two days. And as we were driving back, my mom was starting to get real grouchy and nasty and Laura clapped back. My mom kind of took a dig at me, as she does, and Laura clapped back in my defense. And I was like, oh, look at this. This is. I'm playing street fighter with the two biggest villains in my life. And it was so fast. It happened. The volume of both of them went from kind of stern to screeching. And then Laura goes, and you can get the fuck out of the car. And we went from 75 miles an hour to zero on the, on the shoulder of a Florida interstate. And my mom's out the door. Laura has kicked my mom out of the car. It resolves quickly. But this is one of their early, like, interactions. Just a, just a blistering little fight. And my mom likes Laura more than anyone in the family, I think earned her respect. That.

[Jared Freed]

Is that what it is? That like punching the biggest guy in the yard, going to prison and, and, and, and showing that you're not to be messed with? I, I've had issues with this with my mom and people I've dated. That's why I'm asking you. And I know that, like, you know, you talk about your mom, you talk about Laura in the special. Like, these are two strong willed individuals. How do you deal? Like, what, do you calm both down? Do you take a side? Do you take no side? Are you even. What do you do?

[Matthew Broussard]

Side with my fiance for my own survival. Yeah. But they, after that they've really gotten along. They've really, my mom's burned a lot of bridges in her life, but Laura and Anne are. I think when you have a fight like that early on, it kind of lays it on the table and, you know, the extremes you kind of. You've done the drills, so, you know, what. How to deal with all of it, and there's no more artifice. It's. It's. You know, a lot of. I grew up around Southern wasps who are very, very formal, very rarely will speak what they feel. My mom. My mom's Jewish. There's. There's a lot more directness with that.

[Jared Freed]

Yeah.

[Matthew Broussard]

Laura. Laura has learned to be. Laura's. Laura's an odd mix. My fiance's an odd mix, but in that moment, learned how to be direct. And it's. It's. It's fun to see them get along. The note, oddly, of all the things they said about my mom, including the. The Hartsfield Jackson story about her, like, almost starting a race war at the airport.

[Jared Freed]

That story is unbelievable.

[Matthew Broussard]

100% true. I embellish nothing. Let me stress that the stories about my mom, there's obviously moments where I'm saying something for a punchline. The mom stuff is. Is. Is the truth. And I had to cut out some more even ridiculous details to. To. To fit it in. But my mom didn't like. Doesn't like the note I told my mom was like, can I read this on stage? She goes, sure. Good luck. And then she saw me doing it as show. She goes, why is everyone laughing?

[Jared Freed]

Well, that's the. I'll never forget. It's the truth that hurts the most. You go, well, what? Like, I. I did a joke on the Tonight Show. You know, before you do the Tonight show, they have you do that. The rehearsal and the rehearsals for the camera people and like, your friends that you brought. So my friends that I brought with my parents, and they're sitting in the. In these chairs watching me do the rehearsal. It's really awkward. It's literally like seven people watching me do this. And I do this joke about my mom ordering coffee at Dunkin Donuts and how she can't do it and how a mess it is, and literally did the rehearsal, the five minutes I have chosen to do the Tonight show with. And my mom goes, don't do the coffee thing. I don't like that one. And I'm like, don't do the. I go, this is the set. And my dad goes, she doesn't like. It's too true. Like, he's like, she doesn't get that this is like even funny. She's like, don't do it. I don't like. And I'm like, well, this is being done. This is being done in 30 minutes.

[Matthew Broussard]

So many layers of the people who don't know. You have to run that by so many different people. It's timed out to the right. Yeah. It's scripted.

[Jared Freed]

I was like, we sent in a literal. We wrote this out like a trans. What is it called? A transcript of the whole thing. What are you doing for New Year's? Before you get into that, what you're doing for New Year's, we have a sponsor neutral. See, Matthew Broussard and I are blessed with the hair genes. Okay. We are doing okay. If you are sitting there having a moment with your hair, Nutrafol I think is a great first option. And the reason for that, hundred percent drug free ingredients. So if I'm gonna do something for myself, I'm gonna start with the drug free route. It's time to put your hair issues to rest with Nutrafol. Nutrafol is the number one dermatologist recommended hair growth supplement brand trusted by over 1 million people. See thicker, stronger, faster growing hair with less shedding in just three to six months with Nutrafol, it's physician formulated. Again, 100% drug free ingredients. It supports healthy hair growth from within by targeting the common causes of hair shedding like stress hormones, age, nutrition, lifestyle and metabolism. My mom likes it. She's been using it for a while. She's a tough customer. The fact that she keeps reordering it tells me everything I need to know. I've seen a difference for her. She has felt a difference. You will too. Get started with nutrafol and make 2025 your best year yet. Start your hair growth journey with Nutrafol. For a limited time, Nutrafol is offering JJ train listeners $10 off your first month subscription and free shipping. When you go to Nutrafil.com enter promo code Feather. Find out why over 4,500 healthcare professionals and stylists recommend Nutrafol for healthier hair. Nutrafol.com spelled N U T R A F O L.com promo code Feather. That's Nutrafol.com promo code Feather Feather Here with Matthew Broussard. The special. I'm looking at it right now. It's on YouTube. It's called hyperbolic. It is fantastic. You're going to love it. Market and save it for a a snowy night or just watch it now on your phone while you golf like I did. What Are you doing?

[Matthew Broussard]

Listen. It's also, I mean, good listen, but I, I keep pretty dense audio wise, so.

[Jared Freed]

Good. Liz. No, I mean, it's. It's really great. I. I really enjoyed it. What are you doing New Year's?

[Matthew Broussard]

New Year's Day right now you're in Philly. Yeah.

[Jared Freed]

How do you feel about a New Year's show? Are you getting. Are you excited? Are you annoyed? Are you. Because I opted out this year. I. New Year's Eve shows. I was like, it's a Tuesday. I just. I don't want to do it. And that was me.

[Matthew Broussard]

Yeah. Mark. Mark Norman isn't doing a New Year's Eve show this year. He's a. Laura, my fiance is very good friends with May. They live around the corner. And I'm like, yeah. That is success to me. Right. Not doing New Year's Eve means you made it. Because people who don't know comedy, no matter how famous you are, you're not getting your crowd on New Year's Eve. You're getting the crowd. I am luckily in Philly, a city where I tend to vibe very well with the average comedy goer. I am at the Helium Comedy club there. It's also great club, top tier club right there downtown. Perfect size, not too big, that I'm looking forward to. Laura's coming with me. It always makes it better, but it also is nicer. It's just like, well, the show's gonna be done. It has to be done by this time. And there's no, like, gotta stick the clothes to do all that. So that's that. It's. I dream of one day being able to say no to New Year's ev.

[Jared Freed]

I would say this. You have the best case scenario because you are in a club that Helium Philly, it has a reputation for being a very good club.

[Matthew Broussard]

Yeah.

[Jared Freed]

It's downtown. It is. It's a easy to drive ship. It's not too big. I think like, New Year's Eve in a theater would be a disaster because you can't really, like, talk to the crowd. You have to do this theater act. People come in too drunk. It's. And they want their New Year's Eve. I think as far as comedy is concerned, you have the best case scenario. I. I think I. The worst part of New Year's Eve shows to me was always. And you might not have to do it is they want someone to do the countdown.

[Matthew Broussard]

Yeah, I don't. I don't mind that. Just get all the comics on stage, goof around. I like I like having a little, like, thing on stage. It's not my stand up. I'm always, yeah, I'm anxious about the time. I'm anxious about closing with the time to go, yeah, where's Joe?

[Jared Freed]

Was that what I used to just. I would host. I remember I hosted it, like, stand Up New York, back in the day on New Year's Eve. And I'm like, I. And they're like, okay, Jared, go up and do the countdown. And like, again, like, what you just put it made it sound like took a lot of the air out of it for me. Like, oh, yeah, all the comics will go on stage, we'll fuck around. Three, two, one, Clink glasses. But I. I had this thing where it's like, I actually felt. And this is like, tells you everything. Like, I was like, who am I to count in someone's new year? Like, I actually felt like, self conscious that, like, if I were in the crowd looking at me, I'd be like, this guy is how I'm ringing in.

[Matthew Broussard]

Like, you start your year with fraud syndrome.

[Jared Freed]

Yes, I. And multiple years. I did it because I'd be hosting too. So, like, they're like, he's the host. Have him do the New Year's. And I was like, don't make me do this. Like, I was like, it's funny that, like, I have the ego to go on stage and tell my jokes, but not the ego to like or not the delusion that I should be someone counting. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. For someone to move into their next year. I don't know.

[Matthew Broussard]

I mean, it is. When you think about it in terms of mental real estate, for a group of 100 or 200 people, you are one of only 70 they get in a lifetime. They get maybe memory wise, 60, 60 or something. You really get. And you kind of remember them all. Or you can at least kind of force yourself to remember them all now. Now you've earned, you know, a speed dial in their, in their New Year's Eve memory books.

[Jared Freed]

And if they watch Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest, I'm like, probably like, like, if they've watched Ryan Seacrest or Dick Clark over the years, you know, multiple times now that I'm like a percentage.

[Matthew Broussard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jared Freed]

I didn't even think of it that way.

[Matthew Broussard]

Who else? Who are the big ones? Dick Clark. Yeah. Carson Daly. One of my worst shows ever was a New Year's Eve show. Like, truly, like, top five worst ever.

[Jared Freed]

What was it?

[Matthew Broussard]

Got booked for Little Rock. It was Just a Hilton and Little Rock, Arkansas. And it was just people paid tickets for a night, just a general night there. So very generic crowd who didn't.

[Jared Freed]

It wasn't a comedy night or was.

[Matthew Broussard]

It like, I'll tell you, run a show. I believe it started at 9:00. I was to go up twice for 20 minutes each, like from, I mean it was like 9 to 9:20 and then again from 11 to 11:20 and do two different sets and you'll get this. It was kind of like the other events of night. There was a really good band, there was maybe like an auction, there was a dance off all these little 20, 30 minute blocks throughout the night. When I am introduced on stage, the room feels much like a bar mitzvah. The dance at a bar mitzvah. There's a square dance floor, food around it, people mingling around it. Except when I went on stage, the dance floor cleared out and I had in front of me an empty wooden floor, you know, that's half the size of a basketball court. And then everyone was around it, moving around and talking to each other. So the murmurs in the room stayed well above the noise floor of any laughter I was getting. So it was just screw bombing. Trying to talk to the crowd. Did a little slideshow because I always use that as a bailout. I do the little Monday punday game show. But man, tried to do anything and everything. Like eight people walked up to the front and stood there, no chairs and just politely, huh, huh. And there was this guy, the guy who picked me up from the airport, was like, we're gonna have a great night tonight, man. It's gonna be so fun. You can do comments on your stuff online. Man, talk about looking like a douchebag. That's funny, man. You do look like a douchebag. Just, you know. And then I get out there, I do 20 minutes. What's that?

[Jared Freed]

So you do the 20 minutes and then you get off and then they bring you back.

[Matthew Broussard]

Oh, here's the part that made it the worst night of my life. I get off, I walk into the little back room, green room. There's dancers and everyone who was nice to me before, now it's like I smell bad now. People aren't as smiley and you know, just that shame. Everyone knows I bombed. They watched it. And I walk over, sit down alone, the table clears and the same guy who, who was, you know, so excited, pick me up here. But hey man, great job. Here's your check. We are, we're not going to do the second Part you're good.

[Jared Freed]

I mean, you're probably happy, but also, like, there's that thing in you that, like, I got to do the second part.

[Matthew Broussard]

I can't believe I was not. Yeah, I was happy. It was. Yeah. There was no pride in me that wanted to go back up. I knew it was going to be even worse before. It's all my worst shows ever been when you have to go up repeatedly. And I, like, I picked up the check and it felt like a horcrux. It felt evil and. And hot in my hands.

[Jared Freed]

Well, I always think of stand up first of all. The atmosphere and, like, the room and how it's set up is, like, way more important than anyone wants to acknowledge. And they don't want to. They don't want to acknowledge it because they don't. No one believes they don't like comedy.

[Matthew Broussard]

Right.

[Jared Freed]

Like, so everyone says, I like comedy. Which I like to laugh. Like, it would be. There's a very small percentage of people that are like, I hate laughter. I hate funny things. Everyone believes themselves to have a good personality, to be funny or not funny. But, like, get the joke if you know, it doesn't take the most optimistic person or the most confident person to go, I like comedy. I like to laugh. Everyone says that. So if you say to them, well, let's make sure the chairs are set up well, they're like, I like to laugh. What are you talk. Why would that matter? I like to laugh. I get comedy. I don't need the chair to be in the right place or the lighting to be right or the volume to be right. They would never think that because that is almost an attack on them.

[Matthew Broussard]

It is. It's an attack on humanity itself.

[Jared Freed]

Right. It's not them specifically. It's humans.

[Matthew Broussard]

Automaton. Who responds algorithmically to set stimuli. Yeah. It really removes people's. Yeah. And to a similar extent. Production value of comedy. My therapist said something that haunted me. He was like, I saw this clip of this young comic online. It was so funny. I thought it was so great. And then he said a couple weeks ago, he goes, I saw another clip. It was the same joke, just all the same words, all of it, but it just wasn't funny. And I knew why it was poorly lit. He was zoomed out. The quality was grainy. You couldn't hear the crowd as well. Maybe the comics timing was a little slightly different or the captions weren't as good. And he even said, if I had actually, if I had seen them in the other order, I wouldn't think this comic was funny at all because I would have seen the not funny version. I thought, that's not funny. He's not funny. And then when I saw the jokes better, I'm like, no, I already heard this joke. So it's not very good to me. Just how, how. I think we as comics go up there and like, we focus group people in a way that is almost. That is very dehumanizing. And the geometry of a room below ceilings, the reverence for the room, like, you have to feel like you're in an austere kind of setting.

[Jared Freed]

Right? Well, I always think of it when I'm on stage and I'm thinking of a set and you mentioned it with your special, like, I'm going to do some jokes to set up who these people are so they can get to the story that I want to tell. It's like, to me, it's like taking a plane off. Like, we're going to. We're going to take off. We. And then we get up to cruising altitude and everyone. Once you get people to cruising altitude, we're set. We got smooth sailings. And then I got to land the plane and I got to bring it down. So I think of a set that way. And if you can't, if you're given no opportunity to get the plane off the ground, you're almost flying at 4,000ft through the clouds, and it's bumpy the whole time, and you need to get it off to establish credibility. And, you know, the, the, the tempo. I. And you, you made me think of a show I did once. It was a fundraiser in, like, Western Massachusetts for, like, Little League baseball. And I remember there were, like, they had this DJ and the DJs, like, pumping out the jams. And these parents are having, like, you could tell, like, it didn't take much for these parents to have a fun time. They needed a night. And people, I remember, they're. They're dancing to Come and ride the train, the choo choo train. They're literally like, these parents, they're all like, 40s, 50s. They're like, doing. They're like humping each other grind lines. And then they're like, okay, Jared, we're gonna do comedy now. And I go, why would you stop this? Everyone is having a good time, like, and they literally gotta go out of the dance where they go, okay, get off of each other. We're gonna do comedy time. And I'm like, no, no, the plane is lifted off. I don't need to Take my plane off. Like, this isn't necessary.

[Matthew Broussard]

Music is a spaceship. Music is not a plane. Music.

[Jared Freed]

No, right.

[Matthew Broussard]

Like a good 90s cover band at the corner of a bar on a hot Friday in. In. In Houston, Texas.

[Jared Freed]

Yeah.

[Matthew Broussard]

Has killed harder than Dave Chappelle ever will. Like, I agree, musicians kill on a level we cannot. The worst show I've ever done. If we can share this story, please. Truly, the worst show ever done was a college show. It was in like an old gymnasium. I was emceeing a music festival that had three bands. 30 minutes up top, bring up the first band does whatever, 40 minutes, another 15. Second band, another 15. Headliner. The. The. The crazy. The first 30 minutes was abysmal because it was just all the autistic kids who get there early at a college show.

[Jared Freed]

That's how it goes. Yeah.

[Matthew Broussard]

Every college show there's an autistic kid who gets there early, alone, and sits in the front row and has a better time than anyone else there, no matter how. Loves it. Loves it. And then 30 minutes into your set, you ask them a question and they Talk uninterrupted for 60 full seconds.

[Jared Freed]

This doesn't exist at every college show. You're right.

[Matthew Broussard]

I was performing to 20 of them sitting on the floor of a gymnasium for 30 minutes. The first band does great. I do another 15 minutes now the crowd's all kind of wishy washy all around and mixing up and some drunk kids are there. I try. I just play games with them for a little bit. Bring up the third, the second band now. And it's like three of the hottest dudes you've ever. They look like the Jonas Brothers. They're dressed like the. Like the. What's it called? Panic at the Disco. Like hot eyeliner. Just big arms that burst through their leather jackets. And they just fuck the crowd for 40 minutes. They just air thrusting, fucking the crowd. And everyone's horny and dancing. And I go up there and I've never felt this with a crowd before. The energy in the crowd did not dissipate over time. The cheering, the roaring. You just. On basic physics, you expect the inertia to kind of exit the system, the energy to kind of dissipate outwards. They just stayed roaring. And the band is. By the way, the band is moving stuff out behind me on all.

[Jared Freed]

Oh, wow.

[Matthew Broussard]

All these interchanges. The band's moving stuff out. I'm just supposed to do 15 minutes somehow. And even more demoralizing, the crowd starts slowly chanting, take your shirt off at the dude at the bad guy before me, which hurts my feelings. And then I turn around, and they're not on stage. They're chanting it at me.

[Jared Freed]

Yeah, yeah.

[Matthew Broussard]

I'm flattered. But also, I got something to handle. I go. I say the dumbest thing I've ever said in my whole life. I go, if you guys get quieter, I will. They get louder. So I put the mic in the stand. I've done something. I did something I've never done before or since. I walked off stage before my time. I walked straight up to the manager with a clip where I go, hi. The crowd is sexually harassing me. Do you mind if you just let me know when the headliner is ready and I'll bring them on. They go, yep. They hand me the check. Neither of us said a word about any of it.

[Jared Freed]

Unbelievable. Everyone go follow Matthew Broussard. Go watch the special. It is called hyperbolic. It's on YouTube. The link is in the description of this episode. Matthew Broussard, thank you so much. This is fantastic. Thank you, special dude. Thank you. We will be back next week.

[Matthew Broussard]

Boom.