INTERVIEW: Matt Reed

Teesside-born comic Matt Reed is back where he belongs, on a big stage talking about anything and everything, and random encounters during his day-to-day life. Matt is due to make his return to the iconic Tyne Theatre & Opera House where he previously performed some of his favourite shows and with over a decade of experience in the theatres under his belt it’s due to be… A belter!

Matt told me how he first got into comedy in 1999 after an encounter with Arnold Brown, who co-wrote many of the sketches of The Young Ones. Matt was asked to try out stand-up and fell head over heels in love with it. From this gig in front of 30 people he started getting more gigs, kept building, and kept getting better, he had the advantage of a more community-driven scene that wasn’t yet brainwashed by five-second video clips and short attention spans which has brought him to where he is now. “Comedy has become a massive business now, while it used to be a bunch of absolute weirdos, doing comedy because they’re quite frankly unemployable. Nowadays it’s become very admin-heavy and if you don’t have fifty thousand followers, it’s much harder to reach your audience.”

Luckily, Matt has found his audience, and they’re a wonderful bunch. “A day after I did my first gig at the Tyne Theatre they called me to see if I’d want to come back the next year becausethey’d broken records at the bar, yeah, that’s my crowd.” And, his crowd, indeed, showed up again. “It’s always been very special to get support from your hometown. One of my other favourite gigs ever is the first time I ever did Reading Festival, Adam Crowe was on and I was just before Ed Byrne, the tent was rammed, this was the first time I’d performed in front of another agent, he’s quite hard to get a hold on. Everything worked, the crowd was in a good mood, the weather was good and the tent was full. After the show I felt the applause, that’s when I knew how good it can be, this is all I’m doing now forever.”

Having been working on a career as a stand up comedian, Matt of course also performed some slightly less life-affirming shows. “Stag and hen dosaren’t anyone’s dream to perform at, it’s basically having a 20-minute argument.” With time and experience has come the ability for Matt to be able to adapt and perform any gig nowadays. “The only gigs I won’t do are those where it’s impossible to get to,because I don’t drive. I’ve got this rule; if I was financially successful I won’t do Scunthorpe on a Thursday anymore.”

His success comes from the way he writes and performs his shows. “I’m a stream of consciousness comedian. I’ve always been wishy-washy with ideas, rather than writing ideas down I will workshop it on stage, that can lead to large gaps between punchlines but the punchlines are better, because it’s happened there and then. People come to see me, because I work with the crowd which means that a gig will never happen again in the same way. As a comic, you’ve got to be of the time, I could do stand-up as long as I live, I absolutely love it!” In fact, there are plans for a storytelling podcast, and a reworking of his 2014 show Stalked, ensuring Matt is in no danger of tightening the belt just yet.

Matt Reed’s The Plot Thinnens is at Tyne Theatre & Opera House, Newcastle on Friday 21st March.