Interview with Jon Matteson (@jon.matteson)
Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I started working professionally as an actor in Chicago with comedy theatres like The Second City and the Annoyance. After I graduated from The University of Kansas, I wanted to spend some years studying improvisation and sketching, and I saw Chicago as one of the best places to start while still remaining close to my family in Kansas. I came out to Los Angeles when I started working with Team Starkid, and that changed a lot for me. They make original musicals that they post online and the full musicals are on youtube. I made the move to LA in 2019 and continued working with them while starting to make more of my own content online.
Can you share the most interest in exciting happened to you since you started doing this?
The most interesting story… that’s hard. Since I started performing, I would say the most interesting thing was when I tried to add to a sketch that I was working on before travelling on a cruise ship with The Second City. It was a vaudeville song about peeing in a pool called “Pool Pee-er.” I thought it would be fun to add a collapsible top hat and a magic cane. So I went and found one. However, on the final day of rehearsal before flying to New York, I was putting the cane back together, which is essentially a giant metal coil, and well, the cane flew open and cut my finger (my pinky finger.) Blood started gushing out, and my company manager asked if I needed to go to a hospital. I was in shock, I guess, so I nodded yes as I was putting pressure on my finger. I hopped in a cab and went to an ER, where I got stitches. So somewhere, there is a legal document that states Jon Matteson cut open his pinky finger with a magic cane while rehearsing “Pool Pee-er.”
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them thrive and not “burn out”?
As we try to build the life that we want, even as we are working in our support jobs, we need to make sure we eat well, sleep well, and connect with our community. As my Mom always told me, “Never get too hungry, too tired, or too lonely.” So take care of your body through eating well and drinking water, find something that helps you stay physically active that is also fun to do, and find people to collaborate with! I also think that we can’t just wait for an audition to come. You don’t have to be a creator and an actor, but it can be very empowering to create your own work, produce it, and put it up somewhere! It certainly has helped me and I’m trying to do more of it.
None of us can succeed without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
Mick Napier has helped me a ot in my career. He was one person in Chicago who believed in me and gave me a lot of opportunities. I’m extremely grateful to him, to Jennifer Estlin, and to the Annoyance Theatre for allowing me to perform there and for giving me an environment where I could play and experiment.
I’m also very grateful to Jeff Blim, Nick Lang, and to Starkid for casting me in The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals. That show brought a lot of love and light into my life and helped get me to Los Angeles. And Jeff let me sleep on his couch while we rehearsed and didn’t charge me rent, so I’m super grateful for everything he’s done for me.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
Well, over the pandemic we did a lot of streams that benefited different charities! In July 2022 we did a charity stream that benefitted Fund Texas Choice, a wonderful organization that helps provide abortion access to people in Texas and we raised $2,300 for them, and in 2021 we did a charity stream that benefitted Midnight Mission, an organization that helps support the homeless population in Los Angeles!
Do you have a favorite “written Quote”? Can you share a story of how that was relevant to you in your life?
I hope this isn’t campy or cliche but my favorite quote has always been “To Thine Own Self Be True” from Hamlet. It’s helped me remember what I love to do and make sure I always follow it.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
You can find me on instagram at @jon.matteson, on twitter on @jonmatteson, and on youtube at @jonmatteson!
Anything specific you’d like to have mentioned in the article?
I’m super excited about the recent success of Nerdy Prudes Must Die! The new musical by Team Starkid! Keep an eye out for the album release and the youtube release! Additionally, I’m going to be releasing a lot more content on youtube and instagram very soon, so please stay tuned!
