Matt Gourley

Matthew James Gourley (b. May 23, 1973) is an American actor, comedian, and podcaster best known for his work on the ''Superego'', '' Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend'' podcasts and '' Drunk History''.

Early life

Matthew James Gourley was born and raised in Whittier, California, by his mother Welford. He grew up near Richard Nixon's childhood home.

Career

Theater and improv

Gourley graduated from California State University, Long Beach, with a bachelor's degree in technical theater and an MFA in performance.

Gourley has acted in, directed, and worked on the technical side of productions in the Los Angeles area since the early 1990s, including as Curly in ''Of Mice and Men'', Antipholus in ''The Comedy of Errors'', Dogberry's henchman in ''Much Ado About Nothing'', Orville in ''The Doctor In Spite of Himself'', Hal in ''Loot'', Brindsley in ''Black Comedy'', the director of ''Tooth and Nail'' at the Little Fish Theatre, and as a set/lighting designer on '' The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)''. Gourley did video work and set design for multiple productions of '' Fellowship!''.

Gourley began performing with ComedySportz in Los Angeles during elementary school. He met Jeremy Carter at a ComedySportz tournament in San Jose in the mid-90s. He spent years as an actor and improviser at various Disney theme parks along with Carter and Mark McConville, among others. Gourley has also performed at Second City, ImprovOlympic, and the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.

Teaching

Gourley has taught theater and improvisation at Riverside City College, Long Beach City College, and College of the Canyons. He has also led workshops on Shakespearean improv at the Fracas! Improv Festival.

Television

Gourley and Carter were founding contributors to Channel 101, producing and starring in the "retro futuristic action spectacular" ''Ultraforce''. ''Ultraforce'' lasted three episodes and also featured Derek Mears, Jeff B. Davis, and Chris Tallman.

Gourley appeared in the late 90s on Kwik Witz, an Improvisational comedy program on NBC. At this time, he was one of the "mileage mules" employed by Steve Belkin, one of Kwik Witz' producers who later became a travel entrepreneur.

In 2013, Gourley sold a pilot titled ''Wunderland'' that he wrote with his then-girlfriend and now-wife, Amanda Lund, to Fox. The series was a workplace comedy loosely based upon the time Gourley and Lund spent working as actors at Disney theme parks, though it did not end up getting produced. This pilot can be heard recorded on the Dead Pilot's Society Podcast's 3rd episode. Gourley has appeared on ''Community'', '' HarmonQuest'', '' Ghost Ghirls'', and '' Drunk History'', as well as doing voice work for ''Adventure Time''.

Commercials

Gourley's best known commercial work is his position as a spokesperson for Volkswagen in 2014 and 2015. He has also appeared in ads for McDonald's, Carlton Draught, Lowe's, Hewlett-Packard, Hyundai, Xbox, ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'', and Budweiser.

Podcasts

In 2006, Gourley and Carter launched ''Superego'', an improvisational podcast they conceived of on Christmas Eve 2005 based on the conceit of clinical case studies. ''Superego'' has since added Mark McConville, Jeff Crocker, and Paul F. Tompkins as regular cast members.

In September 2013, Gourley started hosting a podcast along with Matt Mira titled ''James Bonding'' on the Nerdist network, later acquired by the Earwolf podcast network. The podcast discusses the ''James Bond'' films one by one with guests. In November 2014, Gourley helped launch the new Wolfpop podcast network, a sister to Earwolf, along with Paul Scheer and Adam Sachs. As part of this launch, Gourley himself began a new podcast, titled ''I Was There Too'', which focuses on the actors and stories behind the most classic scenes from film and television. Gourley also co-hosted ''The Andy Daly Podcast Pilot Project'' on Earwolf with Andy Daly.

Gourley co-hosted ''Pistol Shrimps Radio'' with his ''Superego'' colleague Mark McConville. The podcast consisted of unedited commentary of the games of The Pistol Shrimps, a women's rec league basketball team in Los Angeles.

In addition to hosting his own shows, Gourley has guested on numerous podcasts over the years, including ''Never Not Funny'', '' Comedy Bang! Bang!'', '' Thrilling Adventure Hour'', and ''Spontaneanation''. In addition to editing ''Superego'', Gourley has also edited ''Judge John Hodgman'' and '' The Sound of Young America''.

In 2018, he started hosting ''In Voorhees We Trust With Gourley and Rust'' with Paul Rust, a podcast series reviewing every '' Friday The 13th'' film in the franchise. The self-proclaimed "easy-listening cozy-cast," now simply titled ''With Gourley and Rust'', has had several seasons analyzing and discussing horror films.

Gourley has served as a producer and co-host on Conan O'Brien's podcast '' Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend'' since it debuted in November 2018.

In January 2023, Gourley debuted the first episode of ''Mallwalkin with co-host Mark McConville. Each episode the co-hosts walk a local mall and comment on retail offerings while recording impromptu interviews with business owners and avoiding audio recording policy violations.

Gourley is a singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He composed the theme for ''I Was There Too'' with James Bladon. He has released a solo album titled ''Garanimal Farm'', recorded tracks with his band named Townland, and released an album with The Journeymen titled ''Mount Us More''.

Personal life

In 1997, Gourley won a contest to see who could best imitate the sound of a flushing toilet.

Gourley lives in Pasadena with his wife, Amanda Lund, with whom he has a daughter.

Filmography

Television

Film

Podcasts

Other appearances:
*'' Star Wars Minute''
*''Comedy Film Nerds''
*''Earwolf Challenge''
*''Accept the Mystery''
*''Cracked''
*''Podcast: The Ride''
*''Jordan Jesse Go''
*''Feral Audio''
*''Before You Were Funny''
*''Succotash''
*''Feliz Navipod''
*''The Biggest Mistake''
*''Film Junk''
*''Doug Loves Movies''
*''The Big Ones''
*''Newcomers''
*''How Did This Get Made?''

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gourley, Matt
1973 births
Living people
People from Whittier, California
California State University, Long Beach alumni
Actual_play_performers
American male television actors
American male comedians
American comedy podcasters
Male actors from California
21st-century American male actors
Long Beach City College faculty
College of the Canyons
Comedians from California
21st-century American comedians