Matteo Lane (born June 28, 1986) is an American comedian.

Early life and education

Matteo Lane was born in 1986, raised in Arlington Heights, Illinois, and lived on the North Side. Through his mother, Lane is of Mexican and Italian descent. His father is a

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

veteran and is of Irish descent. Lane's Italian family originates from

Agrigento Agrigento (; scn, Girgenti or ; grc, Ἀκράγας, translit=Akrágas; la, Agrigentum or ; ar, كركنت, Kirkant, or ''Jirjant'') is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy and capital of the province of Agrigento. It was one o ...

and Messina in

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. He was nicknamed Matteo by his Italian family. Lane, who is gay, has an older brother who is also gay. He speaks English, Italian, Spanish, and French, and studied German in high school. Lane started to sing opera at the age of 15 under vocal coach Nick Falco. At the

School of the Art Institute of Chicago The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which grew into the museum and ...

, he studied oil painting and drawing. Lane studied art for five months in

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as an oil painter and opera singer before returning to Chicago.

Career

As a singer, Lane performed in bars in Boystown before starting his comedy career circa 2011 at open mics in Chicago. He moved to New York to work as a

storyboard artist A storyboard artist (sometimes called a story artist or visualizer) creates storyboards for advertising agencies and film productions. Work A storyboard artist visualizes stories and sketches frames of the story. Quick pencil drawings and mark ...

circa 2012. In an interview, Lane stated that it was "the most boring job in the world." He later quit the position to pursue comedy. After being featured in "New Faces" at the 2014 Just for Laughs festival, MTV invited Lane to appear on ''

Guy Code ''Guy Code'' is an American reality comedy television series on MTV2. The series debuted on November 15, 2011, and features various pop culture entertainers, top comics, athletes, and specialized experts who tell the story of the special code o ...

''. He was later in '' Joking Off'' and was cast in MTV's ''Ladylike'' along with

Nicole Byer Nicole Byer (born August 29, 1986) is an American comedian, actress, and television host. She is known as the host of the Netflix comedic reality bake-off series ''Nailed It!'' (2018–present), for which she received two Primetime Emmy Award no ...

, Jade Catta-Preta, and Blair Socci. Lane was on a panel for a segment about

Kim Davis Kimberly Jean Davis (; born September 17, 1965) is a former county clerk for Rowan County, Kentucky, who gained international attention in August 2015 when she defied a U.S. federal court order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. ...

on ''

The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore ''The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore'' is a 2015–16 American Late night television, late-night panel discussion, panel Late-night talk show, talk show hosted by Larry Wilmore that aired for two seasons on Comedy Central. The show was a spin-o ...

''. In 2018, Lane represented Italy at "The Ethnic Show" at the Just For Laughs festival in Montreal. He is the host of the Snapchat comedy ''Ghost Hunt''. Lane is an advocate for the gay community. He has been the victim of several homophobic incidents during his shows. On being an openly gay comedian, Lane reports, "I think it's slowly getting better but it's all such new territory in so many ways. I'm not saying they are not gay comics that have existed — I know these people exist”. He added that "I'm just saying this is the first time ever that gay, queer, male comedians are sort of on the spotlight that straight comedians are being seen in. So it's all kind of just new. It's all new and discovered and all new territory. I think it's exciting." His favorite performance venues in New York City are

Comedy Cellar The Comedy Cellar is a comedy club in Manhattan where many top New York comedians perform. It is widely considered to be the best comedy club in the United States. It was founded in 1982 by then stand-up comedian, and current television writer/ ...

, The Stand, and New York Comedy Club. He is a co-star and creator of the IFC series ''Janice and Jeffrey''. Lane and Emma Willmann are co-hosts of a queer-themed podcast, ''Inside the Closet''. They are both also featured in

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

's The Comedy Lineup. On May 1, 2018, Lane and Nico Tortorella were featured on a ''Nancy'' podcast.

Personal life

On coming out, Lane stated in an interview that "I've spent my entire life feeling shame for being gay and once I came out of the closet, I realized that I'm proud to be gay." Lane's favorite singers are Mariah Carey, Patti LaBelle,

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed " The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston i ...

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

, and

Jennifer Hudson Jennifer Kate Hudson (born September 12, 1981), also known by her nickname J.Hud, is an American singer, actress, and talk show host. Throughout her career, she has received various accolades for her works in recorded music, film, televisio ...

. He is a long-time friend of composer and

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

Henry Koperski, with whom he sometimes performs.

Political views

In a 2017 interview, Lane stated that while he does not discuss

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

directly in his acts, his "material in itself is a stand against Trump."

Awards and honors

In 2018, Lane was recognized by '' The Advocate'' as one of the LGBT Icons, Innovators, and Disruptors for his work in the field of stand-up comedy.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lane, Matteo 1986 births Living people Male actors from Chicago Comedians from Illinois People from Arlington Heights, Illinois Gay artists American gay actors American gay musicians Gay comedians LGBT people from Illinois American male actors of Mexican descent American people of Italian descent School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni LGBT singers from the United States 21st-century American singers 21st-century American painters 21st-century American male artists Painters from Illinois Singers from Illinois LGBT artists from the United States American storyboard artists American people of Irish descent 21st-century American comedians 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people