Comedian Matteo Lane brings his singing stand-up to Tampa

Comedian Matteo Lane wants you to know that he’s gay. It’s something that he shares almost immediately with his audiences, whether they’re laughing with him on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” or logging onto Netflix for “The Comedy Lineup.”

“I walk up and say, ‘Hi, thanks so much, I’m obviously gay,’” he explains, “and then I move on. It’s a real power move, because I know they’re thinking it and I’m proud of it.” It’s a choice that’s served the classically trained opera singer and painter well, leading to captivated crowds for Comedy Central, Logo, HBO and across the world for his live tour.

Watermark caught up with Lane ahead of his stop at the Tampa Improv Comedy Club & Restaurant Aug. 1-4 to talk inclusion in comedy, living “Inside the Closet” for his podcast and laughing out loud.

WATERMARK: Your background is in singing and painting. How did that prepare you for comedy?

MATTEO LANE: In a lot of ways, discipline. In order to be an opera singer or an oil painter, you have to have discipline, sacrifice and good work ethic. Once I could see myself achieving the things I wanted singing, and with drawing, I just applied that to comedy.

You also utilize your voice in a lot of your sets.

You kind of use whatever you’ve got when you’re on stage, and if you get rewarded for it, you continue to use it so. Sometimes I don’t even notice—but I’ll do impressions or my voice will go high or really low—and audience members will be like, “I love all the voices that you do.” In my head I’m like, “Voices? I wasn’t doing voices.” I think it’s like a theatrical thing, or being Italian and gay. I’m just going to be over the top.

What led you to pursue comedy full time?

I was drawing for my full time job in New York and then I started doing TV shows. It just hit me one day, I looked at my schedule and I realized that I wasn’t able to take off any more work, so I just turned to my boss and I said, “I think this is it.” They saw it coming. They were like, “okay, yeah, we get it,” and I just took a real leap of faith. I was like, “Well, the next two months look good. Let’s just hope that I keep getting work.” So far it’s worked out.

You’ve credited Kathy Griffin, Margaret Cho and Joan Rivers for leading you to comedy. What spoke to you about their work?

Gay men weren’t seen doing stand up for so long, they weren’t as visible as Bill Burr, George Carlin, Robin Williams, etc. I think gay men sort of found themselves drawn to certain women, these women who were sort of climbing uphill and out of the mold—they were angry at life but could laugh at it. They were sort of bigger than life and it was almost like drag in a way. I think I think a lot of gay men related to that; I related to that. I don’t know why, but Joan Rivers spoke to me more than any other comedian I’d ever seen. For some reason, an 80-year-old Jewish woman was speaking right to me.

What’s your writing process like?

I’m not one of these comedians who sit at the coffee shop for five hours and writes until something hits me. I think because my humor is built off of bouncing back and forth with other people. Something will hit me in conversation naturally and I’ll write a note in my phone, then when I get on stage that night, I just throw it in and see how it goes. I record myself, go back to listen and then I edit from there. I’m someone who needs the energy of the audience to sort of guide me through my joke. I can’t just sit by myself and write. I don’t know, for me doesn’t work that way—it feels too stiff. I feel like I’m just memorizing words rather than experiencing it.

Have you had any particular audience interactions that stand out to you?

Some shows are great, some aren’t. Sometimes you get a heckler. It just depends on the night. Overall, I would say things are really good, but yeah, you have those nights where someone gets too drunk and they think that they’re the show and they try and run the show for everybody. You just have to handle it the best you can and hopefully they get kicked out.

How do you handle hecklers?

I’m mean. I’m not mean in the sense that I’m calling them names, but I belittle them and embarrass them as much as I possibly can. You want to get the audience on your side—and here’s why I don’t feel bad for hecklers: you have 250 people in a room. Some of those people traveled 40 miles, some of those people got babysitters. Some of those people got into a fight getting there, they paid a lot for dinner, this is their night out.

I’m on stage doing my job and one person has a specific type of narcissism where they think, “You know what, all these people sitting quietly—not me. I’m going to be the one to talk.” I can’t even comprehend the type of narcissism it takes to ruin a show for everybody else, so when people start heckling and inserting themselves in ways that they shouldn’t, I will 1,000% lay them into the ground. Also, with the audience, you’re on stage so you’re in charge. If you lose control of the room, you lose the respect of the room. I can’t stand up there and let someone just walk over me; I have to assert my power onstage.

Why does LGBTQ representation matter in comedy?

There have been a lot of lesbian comics: Ellen DeGeneres, Wanda Sykes, Judy Gold, Margaret Cho, the list kind of goes on, and I think it’s helped open a door for the rest of us in the LGBTQIA family.

I think people are just at a point now where we’re really interested in different perspectives. I think comedy is obviously best when you’re a great joke writer and you love what you’re doing, but it’s also best way you’re able to sit for 15 minutes or an hour to experience perspectives from someone that maybe you wouldn’t be normally talking to.

I think it’s fun to see this traditional method of stand-up and have different people from all different backgrounds come at it with their own point of view to sort of change it up. I think it’s important; it’s important to see yourself represented on TV. I’ve gotten messages from people saying I’m the first gay comic they’ve ever seen, so hopefully there’s some good happening from me doing this.

You and fellow openly LGBTQ comedian Emma Willmann are also open about your experiences on your podcast “Inside the Closet.”

Emma and I wanted it to be focused on us, our lives and our conversations. We have guests on but we never do a sit down interview like, “tell us about your life.” Of course we ask questions but we’d like to chat with us like we’re all at a diner talking. I don’t like things that feel too produced. So we literally sit down and say, “okay, record and just go.” It keeps it fresh. We want to keep it fun. That’s why we started doing it—if we turn this into a chore, then you’re going to feel that when you’re listening. So a lot of time when Emma’s telling these, you know, ridiculous stories she’s gotten herself involved in, I’m hearing them for the first time and it’s exciting for me too.

Do you have any advice for LGBTQ comics looking to perform professionally?

My advice to anybody is just be yourself. That’s literally the only advice that I could ever possibly give anybody—everything else, you sort of figure out on your own.

The main thing is people really respect you when you’re just yourself, so be yourself. No one likes anyone who’s trying to fit in.

What can fans expect from your tour stop in Tampa?

They can expect me to recreate Judy Garland, Live at Carnegie Hall in 1955. I’m 1,000% joking. No, they can expect me to come and tell jokes, a proper hour of stand-up that I’ve been working on for about a year and a half now.

You’re going to disappoint someone if we mention the Judy Garland recreation and it doesn’t happen.

Oh, just put it in. The gays will show up and we’ll have a good time anyway.

Matteo Lane will perform at the Tampa Improv Comedy Club & Restaurant Aug. 1-4. Times vary and all but one performance is 21+. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit ImprovTampa.com. For more information about Lane, visit MatteoLaneComedy.com.

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