We’ve got another comedy podcast today! Actor-Comedian Matt McCarthy (Conan, Adam Ruins Everything, Brooklyn Nine-Nine) joins us on the Box Angeles podcast episode 357. Matt stops by the bungalow and discusses how he rarely reads scripts, trusting his instincts when auditioning, how he prioritizes his many endeavors, not enjoying his time as a collegiate mascot, and more!
“I’m less trying to figure out how they want it done; I’m more trying to think how I can do it in a way no one else will.”
— Matt McCarthy
Beats
00:00 – Matt slates.
00:10 – Introduction.
02:10 – Matt’s comedic role in (the best movie of the year) Companion.
08:52 – Reading scripts.
11:17 – Acting on instincts.
13:06 – Self taping on tour for Companion.
15:06 – Not enjoying and getting too much feedback.
20:52 – Confidence and approach to self tapes.
24:34 – Less opportunities.
27:01 – Doing many different things and early aspirations.
30:50 – Comedian goals in 2025.
34:45 – Prioritizing of everything Matt has going on.
38:41 – Matt’s VHS garage.
48:50 – Losing footage from the past.
51:24 – Be kind, rewind.
53:38 – Being passionate about your hobbies.
55:59 – College mascot experience at Fordham.
1:03:42 – Who took a chance on Matt.
More Matt
– Check Matt’s IMDb.
– Follow Matt on Instagram @mccarthyredhead.
– Follow Matt on TikTok @mccarthyredhead.
– Check out Matt’s website.
Transcript
MATT MCCARTHY (00:00)
Matt McCarthy.
MIKE ELDER (00:10)
Hello. Welcome to the Box Angeles podcast with me. I’m your host, Mike Elder. Thank you for listening to this show. It means a lot to me. I don’t just say that every week. I’m truly mean it. Little housekeeping. Real quick.
Go to the YouTube channel youtube.com/boxangeles and click subscribe. I got so many videos up there. So much good information, good clips, everything you could ever want there. And I get paid for views on there. So support the show by subscribing to the YouTube channel.
Okay. We had a really fun episode this week. I spoke with actor and comedian Matt McCarthy. Matt is so fun. You’d recognize him from shows like Conan, the Pete Holmes Show, Brooklyn Nine-Nine. He had a small role in my favorite movie of the year so far, Companion. You should go check that out if you haven’t seen it.
Matt is a delight. We talked about how he has so many things going on. He’s a writer, he’s a comedian, he’s a TikTok-er, he’s a podcaster, he’s an actor. We talked about how he prioritizes things, his approach to auditions as a comedian, trusting his own instincts. We talked about his huge VHS collection he has. That’s what he TikToks and Instagrams about. He has a huge collection of VHS tapes called the Video Garage and he shares all the things he finds with his fans. We talked about his love for that and it was really fun to see him glow. Talking about his collection. That was really sweet to see.
This was a really nice conversation and I’m not going to lie. We talked about him doing a self tape after the interview and we just did it. We knocked out his self tape for him as well in the studio. So that was fun. Fun to watch some magic happen after. He said earlier in the interview he likes to do them himself. So that was cool to see.
Anyways, Matt’s a delight. He’s a very funny person. And so, ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, I give you Matt McCarthy.
🎵 ROCKFORD (01:59) 🎵
You wanna talk to me? You wanna talk.
MIKE ELDER (02:05)
Hi, Matt.
MATT MCCARTHY (02:05)
Hi.
MIKE ELDER (02:06)
It’s so good to have you here.
MATT MCCARTHY (02:07)
Thank you for having me.
MIKE ELDER (02:08)
Of course. First off, the reason I reached out to you and I think I mentioned this in my email is I watched Companion.
MATT MCCARTHY (02:15)
Oh, yeah. It’s so good, right?
MIKE ELDER (02:16)
It’s incredible. It’s my favorite movie of the year.
MATT MCCARTHY (02:19)
Me too.
MIKE ELDER (02:21)
Well, you probably for very different reasons.
MATT MCCARTHY (02:23)
For very different reasons.
MIKE ELDER (02:24)
Yeah. But you had such a fun role in that.
I felt like. And I feel like you had a couple. I won’t give away any spoilers, but I feel like you had a couple of funny lines in there about.
MATT MCCARTHY (02:33)
I. My recollection. I could be wrong. My recollection is that they told me they didn’t intend necessarily for those lines to be funny, but I did them funny in the audition, and then they were like, oh. Oh, that’s great.
Yeah, you got.
MIKE ELDER (02:51)
That’s amazing feedback.
MATT MCCARTHY (02:52)
Yeah. I wish I had gone to more. I only went to the premiere. I wanted to go to screenings just because I kept getting told that one of my lines was like. Got a big, big laugh. And I was like, you know, the premiere, it’s. It’s a kind of performative.
Like, people are just, you know, at everything. I wanted to see it with some, you know, civilians, but I never got the chance.
MIKE ELDER (03:19)
So you didn’t go to the premiere?
MATT MCCARTHY (03:20)
No, no. That’s the only time I saw.
MIKE ELDER (03:22)
Where was that?
MATT MCCARTHY (03:23)
At the Legion Post over on Highlands.
MIKE ELDER (03:27)
Okay.
MATT MCCARTHY (03:28)
Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (03:29)
When you get an audition like that, do you. Because, I mean, it felt like an indie film. It kind of was an indie film, or was it a studio film?
MATT MCCARTHY (03:36)
Um, it. No. Yeah, it was. New Line. Yeah. New Line was already involved by the time I had gotten the audition, I think.
MIKE ELDER (03:43)
Are you like. Did you get.
MATT MCCARTHY (03:44)
Because Zach Cregger was involved, so it was like. It got snatched up right away because it was after Barbarian, so.
MIKE ELDER (03:50)
Oh, I thought after. When the festival got snatched up.
MATT MCCARTHY (03:52)
I think it had distribution before.
MIKE ELDER (03:58)
Got it. Okay. So when you get.
MATT MCCARTHY (03:59)
Could be wrong.
MIKE ELDER (04:00)
When you get that audition, how much of the script did you get? Did you get the full script?
MATT MCCARTHY (04:06)
I don’t know. I couldn’t say. Because even when I do get the full script, I don’t read it. I just read my parts. My wife is always like, baby, you have to read the whole script. And I’m like, well, my character wouldn’t know what was going on the rest of the time. That’s my justification for being lazy.
MIKE ELDER (04:29)
I love comedians.
MATT MCCARTHY (04:30)
I know. I’m just like. I’m like, I don’t know, dude.
When I did the. When we did. I think it was the pilot for Corporate. I don’t know if it was the pilot or. Because I did a couple episodes of Corporate, which was on Comedy Central.
MIKE ELDER (04:47)
Yep.
MATT MCCARTHY (04:47)
Back when they made TV shows, folks.
MIKE ELDER (04:49)
RIP.
MATT MCCARTHY (04:49)
But we walked by some huge prop, and I was like, holy shit, what is that thing? And they’re like, oh, that’s the. The blah, blah, blah. The, you know, whatever. Like, they. They. There’s some bit where it’s like a huge, Huge, like, iPad or phone or something.
But they said it in a way, like, oh, that’s the. The obelisk, or whatever it was.
And I was. And I was like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, totally.
Because I didn’t. I didn’t have any scenes with the obelisk. So I didn’t. I didn’t fucking know.
MIKE ELDER (05:22)
This huge plot point. You just.
MATT MCCARTHY (05:23)
Right. I’m just like, but.
MIKE ELDER (05:25)
But wait.
MATT MCCARTHY (05:26)
I’m just here to eat cake.
MIKE ELDER (05:27)
That’s great. But back to the Companion, though. I wonder, though.
MATT MCCARTHY (05:29)
Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (05:30)
And maybe not. But I wonder if you made it funny not knowing it was sort of a serious scene or if you have the same problem I have where I’m trying to be serious and people just think it’s funny. It’s like the Galifianakis thing. I feel like Galifianakis could say something very serious and just get a laugh. I feel like maybe you are probably in that same group.
MATT MCCARTHY (05:47)
Maybe. I think I was trying to.
I don’t know. I think for me, it wasn’t necessarily that I was trying to be fun, funny, like I was. But, like, I think ultimately I just was trying to be interesting. I was like, what would be interesting about this? You know? Like, I did a movie called the Normals where I had a line that was. I was like, oh, I thought that guy.
I thought that Lang. Lang, Landon, whatever. Whatever the character’s name.
We’ll say Langdon. I was like, the line is, I thought that Langdon. I thought that actor guy Langdon was your roommate. And it was just like that. But I decided to do it, like, suspiciously, like I had busted the guy in something. And I was like, I thought that actor guy Langdon was your roommate, and the director loved it. And I was just like, yeah, I don’t know.
I’m just looking for any way to not say, be boring, you know? I guess. But no. But, no. I showed up to. What was the name of the movie?
The Music Never Stopped.
MIKE ELDER (07:01)
Okay.
MATT MCCARTHY (07:01)
It had a different name when I shot it, but it. J.K. Simmons is in it. I had a tiny, tiny role. Like, I’m just a cafeteria guy, and I did the. The audition. Like, kind of funny.
You know, I’m like a guy walks up with a tambourine, and I’m like, you know, hey, Danny Parsons, you gonna sing me a song? And he’s like, oh, I’m looking for Celia. I’m like, no, all I got for you is mashed potatoes.
And I booked it. I didn’t know it was a drama until we were shooting. And, like, I did it funny. And I was like. I was so proud of myself because I scooped up all these. Like, we did it once. I don’t even think we were necessarily shooting.
I think we might have been rehearsing. We might have been shooting. And I was like, no, sorry.
All I got for you. You want some mashed potatoes? And I scoop them up, and I’ve got this huge pile of mashed potatoes on a spoon. And then the actor I’m with just kind of starts, like, backing away. And as he’s backing away, I was so proud of myself. I tilted it so slightly, you wouldn’t have been able to perceive it. But I timed it so well that after, like, a beat, like, a slop of mashed potatoes just fell back into the tray.
And it got a huge pop from the crew. And then the director literally said to me, Matthew, can we do that again and don’t be funny. And it really wasn’t until, like, later that day, I was like.
I was like, oh, what’s this? Like, I’m asking a PA, like, she’s telling me. She’s like, no, this movie’s about a guy with a traumatic brain injury. And I’m like, wait, really? I didn’t know.
MIKE ELDER (08:53)
So even after you book things, you don’t read the script?
MATT MCCARTHY (08:56)
Why would that guy in the cafeteria know? I mean, I guess he would know that everybody had a traumatic brain injury at the hospital he worked at. But why would.
But I would. But why would that change any of his.
Like, Carl’s approach? Every character I book is named Carl.
MIKE ELDER (09:15)
That’s funny.
MATT MCCARTHY (09:15)
Every approach would just be like, hey. I mean. Cause it opens with me being like, hey, nice tambourine, Danny Partridge. So I’m like, got it.
MIKE ELDER (09:24)
Well, in your defense, and I love all this, I think I agree with you, honestly. Like, dramas need comedy, and you are who you are. But, like, they saw your work presumably, they knew you were gonna be funny. Were you able to make it serious, I guess, or did you think you still had a little funny in there?
MATT MCCARTHY (09:41)
No, I did it. Serious. I did it. I was just like. Like, I just did it smaller.
MIKE ELDER (09:46)
Okay.
MATT MCCARTHY (09:47)
You know, also, I don’t know if they were mad at me. Like, you can barely see that it’s me. Like, I’m like. I’m like. I, like, goofed myself into being, like, an extra in this movie, basically now.
MIKE ELDER (10:00)
That’s the thing, though, too. I was talking to George Basil. I don’t know if you know George. But.
MATT MCCARTHY (10:04)
I love George.
MIKE ELDER (10:05)
He was, said on Barbie. He was, like, improving. And they’re like, George please just do the lines. And he was talking about how it’s like, once you book it, it’s impossible to get fired, even because they don’t want to go through like finding somebody else.
MATT MCCARTHY (10:15)
They don’t want to go through it again.
MIKE ELDER (10:17)
So even if you did frustrate them.
MATT MCCARTHY (10:20)
I. I remember one night at the Virgil, it was some character show, and George Basil, he just goes up and he has a tape recorder and he’s playing it. It’s just dogs barking. And he’s playing it into the microphone. And then he just goes, I have your doggies. And then he just starts doing this character about how we’re at a town hall meeting and he’s like, I knew that you would all be at the town hall meeting, and I rounded up your doggies. I’m going to kill your doggies.
And he’s just about how he hates everybody’s dogs. Like, you have to stop. Afterwards, me and my wife, Glennis, we were like, george, that was so fucking funny. And he was like, yeah, I didn’t know what I was gonna do. I just. I had the tape recording of the dogs, and then I just started improvising. It’s like, he’s the best.
George is the best.
MIKE ELDER (11:11)
He is the best. He seems like the guy that doesn’t read the script too. Probably.
MATT MCCARTHY (11:15)
Probably. Fuck.
MIKE ELDER (11:18)
Have you taken acting classes? Have you tried to, like, figure out that side of it, or do you just follow your comedy instincts?
MATT MCCARTHY (11:24)
I just. I follow my instincts. I mean, outside of, like, like three levels of UCB 20 years ago, that’s.
That’s the most acting. You know, I think about it once in a while. I’ll send an email to, like, some. I don’t know, like, I’ll Google what’s a really good acting school. But I don’t know. I mean, I don’t know if I would lose something or if I’m just being stupid and it would only make me better. I don’t know.
MIKE ELDER (11:58)
Yeah, it’s tough to know, honestly.
MATT MCCARTHY (11:59)
I don’t know if I would have to, like, unlearn what I already do or. I don’t know. I don’t know. I think about it from time to time, but then also I think about, like, the time commitment. I don’t know if that is an option anymore.
Just because I got, like. We have a young son and my day is already pretty well packed, and my wife works, too, so it’s just like, you know, I’m in a routine, and if I book something great, I don’t know, I’ve found The thing that helps booking work is booking work. You know, like, the thing I was most excited about doing Companion was. Oh, good. Hopefully somebody will see this and I’ll get to do something else.
MIKE ELDER (12:41)
This podcast.
MATT MCCARTHY (12:42)
Yeah. Yes. When did people start doing this?
MIKE ELDER (12:46)
I don’t know.
MATT MCCARTHY (12:47)
This is so hack now to do this. It’s over. Was it Toddlers and Tiaras?
MIKE ELDER (12:54)
Probably, yeah. JonBenet Ramsey or something.
MATT MCCARTHY (12:54)
That’s what my wife, she thinks it was. Toddlers and Tiaras. It’s over. It’s. It’s like. It’s like doing a picture now where you just.
Do that. You can’t do that anymore.
MIKE ELDER (13:06)
I don’t want. Back to the Companion audition. Was that a self tape? Did you do that in your. Okay. And was it only the one?.
MATT MCCARTHY (13:13)
Yeah. Dude. I did that in? I wasn’t just in my living room. I was on tour with Pete.
We were in. I want to say we were in. We might have been in Milwaukee.
MIKE ELDER (13:29)
That’s funny.
MATT MCCARTHY (13:30)
And I taped it that morning in my hotel room. And I, like, look like. And we were getting ready to drive to, like, Madison. I could get. Could have the cities wrong.
MIKE ELDER (13:42)
It’s flyover country.
MATT MCCARTHY (13:44)
We were going from. We were going from one city to another. And like, that morning before we were leaving, I recorded the audition and then I watched it back, and I was like, oh, man, this audio sucks. Like, I was like, I need to do this again. And I need to, like, just have, like, the iPhone, like, EarPods with the microphone next to me. And so then we drove to the next town and then I shot it again, and it was, like, it was gonna be, like, late. Cause, like, whatever the.
It was past the deadline that my agent had given me. Literally, as I’m saying this, I just remembered I have an audition due today that I completely forgot about. I haven’t looked at. I don’t even know what time it’s due at. Shit.
MIKE ELDER (14:34)
We’ll get it done. We’ll get it done. We can knock it out after. We’ll just put it on my wall.
MATT MCCARTHY (14:40)
Can we?
MIKE ELDER (14:41)
If you want. Let’s do it.
MATT MCCARTHY (14:45)
Imagine if I book it.
MIKE ELDER (14:47)
Then I get 10%. Right.
MATT MCCARTHY (14:48)
That’s how it works.
MIKE ELDER (14:49)
Wait, who read with you on tour for that audition then?
MATT MCCARTHY (14:53)
Nobody. I did the thing ever since I saw Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. And he’s like, in the swimming pool, like, running lines with a tape of himself.
MIKE ELDER (15:02)
Yeah.
MATT MCCARTHY (15:03)
I’m like, oh, I just want to do that.
MIKE ELDER (15:05)
Sure.
MATT MCCARTHY (15:06)
Because I don’t. I kind of don’t like running lines. I mean, when we’re on set and I’m running lines with the other actor, that’s one thing. But like, I don’t enjoy. And maybe this is where an acting class would benefit me. Like, I don’t enjoy like doing the audition with another person and them like kind of giving me feedback.
MIKE ELDER (15:31)
Oh.
MATT MCCARTHY (15:31)
And then like, I’m like, ah, I just, I. There’s. I find more comfort in finding my own way, if that makes sense. Cause like, like with like, like I book like a lot of commercials. There aren’t very many commercials anymore. But like when I can read a commercial audition and if I read it once and I’m like, oh, I get it, I get what they’re going for, or I at least get how I would do it, I usually book the commercial. So like with, I don’t know, movies and TV and stuff, it’s like, I think there’s more factors, but like, I just, I need to, I don’t.
I can take direction, but it’s just like, I find I’m better if I just find my understanding of it on my own.
MIKE ELDER (16:28)
Yeah, that’s fair. It’s interesting though because everyone, I feel like everybody I’ve talked to on this is like, we miss feedback. That’s what we miss about going into the room is getting that feedback from the casting.
Are you open to that? I guess if you went into an in person audition and the casting director gave you notes, obviously you’d be into that or.
MATT MCCARTHY (16:42)
No, no, no, no, I’m into that. But it’s just like I find in my experience, too many casting directors, they, they say too much and then I get lost. Like, I’m like, stop talking. You know.
MIKE ELDER (16:57)
Like seven notes for one 30 second tape. You’re like.
MATT MCCARTHY (17:00)
Yeah, I’m just like, I just, I feel like I’m the coffee cup that’s overflowing. I’m just like, you can’t.
I can’t take anymore. Like, I work like my memories of shoots where the, where the director. I worked best with the directors when they just said one or two things, you know?
MIKE ELDER (17:21)
Yeah. Keep it simple.
MATT MCCARTHY (17:22)
Like. Yeah. Where they’re just like, just smaller or. I remember one director, it was like for Guinness. God, this is like 15, 20 years ago where I played like a pilgrim or something. And it’s like a, an interview. Like I’m like being interviewed and, and he just told me, he’s like, play it. Like, you see where this question is going?
And I was like, I think about that all the time. It was like the best direction I’ve ever gotten because I started getting like, getting Myself angry as the other person is talking before I even got my line out. And then the line that I got out was, you know, ad libbed. It’s like, I don’t even know what the scripted line was, but I was just like, I’m getting angrier and angrier. And then I’m just like, wow, you’ve got some brass. Like, I’m just like the audacity.
MIKE ELDER (18:19)
Yeah.
MATT MCCARTHY (18:21)
As opposed to. Yeah. Just like, you know, maybe, maybe you get. But, but, but you don’t want to be doing it. But, but, but certainly when you get so. Okay, so remember, so just when you come in, you go on the thing, you look at the thing, but then you’re looking at her.
And I’m just like, I’m lost. I’m. I’m completely lost.
MIKE ELDER (18:38)
Yeah, especially when you’re at like a commercial audition and they’re. It’s a session director giving you.
MATT MCCARTHY (18:43)
Like I remember that when we did the sitcom How We Roll, there was a scene. The scene didn’t make the air, but it was like my character was kind of. I think at first they wanted my character, who was named Carl, to be like, Pete’s enemy. And I think right away I knew. I’m like, this isn’t going to fly. This isn’t the type of. Like, this is.
There’s too much of a warmth. Like, it was like a very family focused kind of sitcom. It wasn’t like a Seinfeld where it’s like, he can have this diabolical Newman.
MIKE ELDER (19:18)
Right.
MATT MCCARTHY (19:18)
And so I was like, I just feel like if I play these things where I’m his enemy, the character is going to die on the vine. Whereas I’m like, I just feel like this guy’s a dipshit, you know, I’m like. And that’s where it’s funnier. So I just started playing it more like that. Like they can be at odds with each other, but, like, especially this scene that I’m talking about, it was like, this isn’t gonna make it to the air because he’s. They’re just. It’s not even.
It’s not that funny. And they’re just kind of cruel and my character’s coming off as unlikable. And that’s the worst thing for TV. It’s like if. Especially the first season of a sitcom and the network is just cutting everything and I’m like, if something’s unlikable, they’re so panicked. They’re like, oh.
MIKE ELDER (20:07)
Yeah.
MATT MCCARTHY (20:08)
And. But the. The way I was playing it was goofier. And softer. And I forget who the director was that day. It wasn’t our usual director, but the way that she kept trying to explain it to me, it just. My brain short circuited and I was just like, I don’t. I don’t follow. What?
MIKE ELDER (20:35)
We’re good.
MATT MCCARTHY (20:35)
Oh, you look panicked.
MIKE ELDER (20:38)
The TV froze, but it’s still recording.
MATT MCCARTHY (20:40)
Yeah. Oh, okay.
MIKE ELDER (20:41)
I was like, we’re still 12 minutes. This has been the longest 12 minutes of my life. But we’re good. I did panic for a second. This is the problem being an independent producer, by the way.
MATT MCCARTHY (20:50)
Sure.
MIKE ELDER (20:51)
You do everything. You know that as well. Back to the self tapes, though. So when you send out a self tape and you’re doing it all yourself, you’re confident, you’re like, this is it. This is what they want. Or are you like, this is what I think they want? Because that’s what I worry about when I do it myself.
And lately I don’t. I have an AI website that reads the lines back to me, really. So when I finish it. It’s called Act on Cue. They should sponsor this podcast.
I keep bringing it up.
MATT MCCARTHY (21:15)
Wow, okay.
MIKE ELDER (21:16)
Like, when I finish my line, the AI responds. So I’ve been using that. But when I’m just doing that, I don’t. I guess maybe this is just because I can’t book anything, but like, I don’t feel as confident without somebody there saying, that was good. Granted, words of affirmation is my love language, so maybe that’s perfect too. But.
MATT MCCARTHY (21:35)
But I don’t know, I think it just. I just rely on my training as a stand up comedian because that is a art form where you’re self trained, where it’s just, you go on.
MIKE ELDER (21:48)
Trial and error.
MATT MCCARTHY (21:49)
Yeah, trial and error. What feels good? What do I think will work? And then. All right, I’ll try it tonight. You know, the difference with standup is that, like, you do have that immediate feedback from the audience, which I think is why I enjoy. I am better shooting something than I am auditioning, of course.
MIKE ELDER (22:13)
Well of course. Yeah.
MATT MCCARTHY (22:14)
Because it’s just like, I could try it a thousand different ways, but, like in the moment. I think that’s what I like about just auditioning against like alone is because I can be in the moment and there’s no, there’s no one else to consider, which is a very standard comedian mentality of just like, well, what would I do?
So I’m not. I’m less trying to figure out how do they want it done? I’m more trying to think about how is. How can I do it that. One, no one else is gonna do it this way. And then two, what’s gonna be the easiest thing to replicate if I book this job? Say, like, it’s a series regular. Cause, like.
Like, say, like. Cause I don’t want to do, like, a weird accent or a weird voice.
MIKE ELDER (23:10)
Oh, I feel that. Yeah.
MATT MCCARTHY (23:11)
Because then I’m like, oh, fuck, now I’m stuck.
MIKE ELDER (23:13)
Yeah.
MATT MCCARTHY (23:14)
Like, I’m not gonna be able to keep this up for eight hours, you know? So it really is that. That thing of work smarter, not harder. And. And also, like, write what you know. It’s like, what’s gonna be the easiest thing for me to replicate all day long?
MIKE ELDER (23:27)
Yeah.
MATT MCCARTHY (23:27)
You know?
MIKE ELDER (23:28)
Yeah. Then that’s probably why you don’t want to go to an acting class.
Because I feel like they. That’s their. Like, everyone. That book says that. But then when you go to an acting class, they’re like, no, you can’t bring yourself to this. It’s gotta be the character. And you’re like, oh, well.
MATT MCCARTHY (23:41)
Yeah, I’m like, I don’t. I don’t know if I’m. I mean, I don’t know. Maybe I could do that.
But it’s just like, I don’t. I don’t know. It’s like, yeah, I’m trying to find the character, but it’s just like. But it’s still me.
MIKE ELDER (23:56)
That’s why I gravitated towards UCB in general. And I don’t know how many improv classes you did, but, like, UCB was like, this is Matt’s character. On stage, they use your name Matt. Whereas, like, IO and the Groundlings, it’s like, no, you got to be somebody different. You got to be wacky. You’re Carl, and you’re a used paper salesman.
You know what I mean? Or whatever. Like, so that’s why I think I gravitated to UCB for that reason. And I tend to agree with you. But, yeah, acting classes, I think, for the most part are like, no, you got to find the character and not be you.
MATT MCCARTHY (24:25)
Yeah. I don’t know. And maybe. Maybe that would be beneficial for me to figure out how to do that, you know.
MIKE ELDER (24:33)
Deconstruct. But then. Yeah, I don’t know.
MATT MCCARTHY (24:34)
I don’t know. I just. I mean, ultimate. I mean, I’m at the point now where I’m like, I just would like to work and, you know, keep my health insurance, but it’s just like, if I can also just enjoy it more just for the craft of it, I’m Like, I’m down for that as well.
MIKE ELDER (24:54)
Yeah.
MATT MCCARTHY (24:55)
You know. Cause I don’t get it, because there’s just not as many. Like, when Conan was still running, I would be in there once or twice a month, you know, whether the sketch would go on the air or not. And it was like, A, it was great money, so hooray. But B, it was like, there was nothing more fun than performing live in front of the audience. The only thing more fun than that was doing, like, was rehearsing the piece in front of, like, Conan and Andy. And I was like, if it lived or died.
I mean, one. It was like, there was really no pressure on me. The pressure was on the writer, you know, because Conan wasn’t gonna, you know, critique me necessarily. But also, they trusted me there, and I got brought in a lot, so it was like. I mean, there was really nothing more exciting than just showing them calling, being like, are you around this afternoon? Yes. And then going there, just kind of sitting around the green room, and either the costume person or the stage manager, somebody would eventually come up to me and say, do you know what you’re doing today?
And I would say, no. And I loved that because it just was. They trusted me to do it. And then, like, there was sometimes you maybe got to rehearse it once before you got on the stage. And, like, you’re not just rehearsing it for Conan and Andy. You’re like, this is the writer’s last opportunity to pitch this idea to be on the show. And I loved that.
They trusted me to elevate the material, you know?
MIKE ELDER (26:34)
Yeah, well, that’s the thing, right? You come in, you do your thing. You have this superpower. Come in. They need somebody funny, that’s regularly consistent, and you come in. Probably low pressure, too, for you, honestly, like, you’re just doing your thing.
MATT MCCARTHY (26:46)
Yeah, once. Once I got. Once I realized, oh, they keep bringing me in. I’m like, oh, oh, they like me. You know, once. Once you feel like they like me, now the pressure is gone. I mean.
MIKE ELDER (26:5280)
Then it’s safer. Yeah.
MATT MCCARTHY (27:00)
Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (27:01)
What do you. Since you have so many things going on and I hate this question, so I’m not asking you this question. I’m just asking your answer to this question is how I am gonna preface it. But what do you say you do when somebody asks you that?
Do you consider. Let me just hear your answer.
MATT MCCARTHY (27:15)
I. I mean, like, when I fill out, like, a tax form, I just. For occupation, I just put entertainment.
MIKE ELDER (27:22)
Okay.
MATT MCCARTHY (27:23)
You know, if somebody wants specifics, I just go. I mean, I don’t want to say comedian because it’s just like, I don’t want them to be like, oh, tell me a joke. Yeah, that’s the worst, you know, because I’m just like. But like. Or also, I also don’t want them to start, like, listing off their favorite comedians and it’s all people that. I’m like, they’re a jerk, you know? Or like, I’m just like, oh, you have terrible taste in comedy.
Like, I don’t. So I just go, you know. Well, I do a lot of comedy acting, writing, you know.
MIKE ELDER (27:53)
Well, I guess my follow up to that is, like, when you started doing this, did you set out to act or did you solely want to do comedy?
MATT MCCARTHY (28:01)
I don’t know. I. I mean, when I was a kid and I used to watch reruns of SNL, I was like, I want to be an actor, but I don’t want to do. It’s so funny that I’m realizing this. I would say, like, I don’t want to do acting school and be like a serious actor and do plays and stuff.
MIKE ELDER (28:20)
And read the full scripts.
MATT MCCARTHY (28:22)
Yeah, I was like, I just want to. I want to just funny and do be a comedic actor. And I was like, how do you do that? And I didn’t know anything about, like, Second City or improv schools or, you know, any of that, so it seemed like. Because also I’m watching Comedy Central and it’s predominantly stand up. So I was like, I also loved stand up. So I was like, I think I’d like to try that.
And then, you know, high school girlfriend and, you know, guidance counselors and parents are like, well, that’s not a real job. You have to get a major and get an internship. And, you know, then I was like, really unhappy. And then I. But I’m like, living in New York in the early, early 2000s, and I was just like, well, what if I just start going to open mics? And I never wanted. I never wanted, like, I didn’t want to be Steve Martin and, like, become really successful and then stop doing stand up.
And like, nowadays, I mean, like, Jesus Christ. It’s like that. That’s. It almost feels unheard of. I mean, I suppose there are, like, the. Dennis Leary isn’t really like a, like a contemporary, you know, stand up. But, like, it’s.
I don’t know. I suppose the people who just. I never wanted to use stand up as a stepping stone. Something else. But I also. I’m like, I’m not. I’m. I’m definitely not as driven as other people.
I’ve met in stand up of like, like, I don’t, I don’t, I don’t have any desire to like stay up late. And like, I’m like, if I can do shows with Pete, like, he invites me on tour with him, I’m like, this is great. But like, and if we can record stuff and I’m like, I can get recordings of stuff, that’s, that’s even better. But like, I’m not, I’m not. I just, I’m like, right now I’m really enjoying. Like, like, if I can book other work, great. If I can book an acting job, great.
If I can book some standup gigs, great. But like, I’m paying my rent doing TikTok, watching old VHS tapes.
MIKE ELDER (30:37)
That’s amazing.
MATT MCCARTHY (30:38)
Yeah. And I’m like, I like this. You know, hopefully the government doesn’t make this thing illegal.
MIKE ELDER (30:46)
It is illegal. It’s just been delayed, which is crazy.
MATT MCCARTHY (30:48)
They just keep delaying.
MIKE ELDER (30:49)
They just don’t care.
MATT MCCARTHY (30:50)
Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (30:50)
Wait, so like my follow up to that would be, I guess, like, it seemed like for a long time obviously comedians goal was to get to LA and get a sitcom.
MATT MCCARTHY (30:58)
Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (30:58)
But now it seems like comedians are like totally content with touring and a podcast. So that’s kind of why I asked my that question about what do you say you do? Because it doesn’t seem like a lot of the contemporary ones want to act.
MATT MCCARTHY (31:14)
No, no, I think they do. It’s just, it’s. You either get cast or you don’t. I don’t think like, guys with successful podcasts are like, I don’t know, maybe. I mean, guys are like so successful with podcasts now that it’s just like, why would I bother doing a movie or a TV show? Because it’s just like, I make my own hours. Nobody’s telling me what to do.
I’m making a ton of money. Who gives a shit? You know, like when we did How We Roll, it was like, it was my first experience with a sitcom. And me and Pete were both like, these hours are unbelievable, you know, because it’s not like a commercial or a movie, anything single camera where you’re getting up at five to get there at six and then you’re there maybe all day. Certainly with a commercial, you’re there for the full fucking eight hours. But like a sitcom, it’s like come in at like 9 or 10, then you’re done by like 2. Like, we were like, oh my God, we’re gonna go pick up our kids at fucking daycare.
This is unbelievable. And it’s, and it was fun to just. Because I love the, I love like the live, live thing of doing the, the Conan sketches. But also like with the sitcom, it was like, oh, we can do it more than once because I love that like commercials. You’re there all day, so then you get to kind of like play and you’re like, all right, we’ll try this. Or like, you know, there’s always one director always called the clients and the ad agency people, our friends in the tent. It’s like, well, we’re going to wait to hear from our friends in the tent and then we’ll, we’ll go again.
And, but, but like somebody always has a line or like you can, anytime you can ad lib. It’s super fun. But like, I don’t know. I mean, I, I think there were always standups who just wanted to be stand ups. I think, I don’t know that there was any ever anybody that wanted to do a sitcom for the art of it. I think it was just, you know, part of the retirement plan.
MIKE ELDER (33:17)
Sure.
MATT MCCARTHY (33:19)
Because, you know, I mean, I don’t know, like, but I, I don’t know. You look at like Jay Leno still does stand up. I never touched the Tonight Show money. It’s like, oh, okay.
MIKE ELDER (33:30)
But that’s my point though. It’s like, it seems like touring is more lucrative to your point about podcasting being lucrative, obviously, but.
MATT MCCARTHY (33:36)
Oh, way more.
MIKE ELDER (33:36)
Touring is way more lucrative than it used to be I guess.
MATT MCCARTHY (33:39)
I think that’ll continue because as, as the artificial becomes the dominant form of media, there is going to be that desire of the thing that can’t be replicated.
MIKE ELDER (33:48)
Yeah.
MATT MCCARTHY (33:49)
You know, and like one on one, like a, like a live flesh and blood person in front of me in a real experience. It’s just, I don’t see a way to get that on the computer just yet, you know?
MIKE ELDER (34:02)
Well, I will say this. You clearly haven’t watched Companion. I think prompt theory. Do you know prompt theory?
MATT MCCARTHY (34:07)
Is welcome.
MIKE ELDER (34:09)
We’re not actually in a.
MATT MCCARTHY (34:09)
Oh, are we in a.
MIKE ELDER (34:12)
We’re in an AI prompt.
MATT MCCARTHY (34:13)
Oh, we’re in a simulation.
MIKE ELDER (34:14)
Well, we’re. Yeah, we’re an AI prompt. Somebody said, show me two overweight white males sitting at a podcast right now. And all our memories were programmed in just like your movie Companion.
MATT MCCARTHY (34:24)
Oh, well, that’s fine.
MIKE ELDER (34:27)
So all I’m saying is the real thing on stage is not necessarily the real thing. It’s just an AI prompt.
MATT MCCARTHY (34:31)
Why did they put like income taxes into the prom[t? Why, why is that a thing.
MIKE ELDER (34:41)
That’s so funny.
MATT MCCARTHY (34:42)
Also, I want one of them to find a lump and have to go see.
MIKE ELDER (34:45)
You mentioned your routine earlier and I wanted to ask you about this because you do do so much. Like, do you have a prioritization or anything? Like, like, clearly, and I don’t mean to diss you on this, but like, you, you’re not prioritizing auditions. It seems like if you just remembered you had an audition. So like, is there like a priority? Like, for me, I drop everything when I get an audition. That’s my number one.
MATT MCCARTHY (35:06)
Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (35:07)
Then it is my podcast. And then, you know, but like, do you have sort of a prioritization because you do so much. You got your, your VHS garage, you got your TikTok, you got your comedy, you got auditions.
MATT MCCARTHY (35:16)
I mean. Yeah, I mean, I have like, I think the per. I mean, as far as the career stuff goes, like, once I get to the career stuff, the priority is making the video for that day.
MIKE ELDER (35:35)
The TikTok specifically, yeah?
MATT MCCARTHY (35:36)
Yeah. Because that’s, that’s income and the consistency of, of it being up there, like, it’ll be like at least a couple of bucks just from the views. And then the end of the month I’m like, in like, like a special, like another like, specialized program where it’s just. Because I only talk about like TV and movies. So then like, that is. It’s never clear how much money that’s gonna be, but it’s like, hey, it’s. It’s fucking free money, you know, as far as I’m concerned. But the.
So like, that’s the top priority. And then the other priority would be because it ain’t like it used to be. Like, when I started in New York, like, it used to be like, audition like a couple auditions every day and you had to go to them. You know, that’s why these things slipped my mind because I’m like the. Once in a while I’ll get a email from my manager and I’m like, oh, right, right, right. And then I’m just like, oh, fuck, I gotta do that.
MIKE ELDER (36:41)
It’s due in three days or whatever, yeah.
MATT MCCARTHY (36:42)
Yeah, it’s due in three days. But also it’s just like, I’m like, I’m just gonna bang it out in front of the blue screen in my bedroom. And then it’s just like, I’m either gonna book it or I’m not. But it’s just like, I don’t know that I’ve ever. Look, I’m sure there’s plenty of gigs that I booked just on how good they thought My performance was. But it’s always like, like with Companion the story I heard. And Zach confirmed this because I knew Zach from back in New York with whitest kids and stuff. And he.
They were looking at the audition tapes and I came up and he said, oh, I know that guy. Oh, he could do this. That’s how you booked shit, you know, like, like how we roll. Like, they said to Pete, who are some people that you like performing with that maybe you could improvise with a riff with. And he’s like, why I do videos with Matt McCarthy. He would be great. Like, that doesn’t get you the gig.
Like, the amount of people you have to go through to get, you know, on a fucking show on CBS when they, when they were still making sitcoms, you know, I mean, God, but it’s like there are so many people, like, so it’s just like, it’s. You never know what is going to come up. But also I’m just like, you know, I mean, sometimes it’s. Sometimes it is that X factor of. I don’t know, maybe I thrive on the last minute. Like if I don’t have time to analyze it to death and I’m just like, I just got to get it done.
MIKE ELDER (38:28)
Yeah.
MATT MCCARTHY (38:29)
I don’t know. I don’t know if that’s good or bad or what.
MIKE ELDER (38:33)
But CBS has another Big Bang sitcom coming out, so they’re still making Big Bang spinoffs.
MATT MCCARTHY (38:37)
Thank God.
MIKE ELDER (38:41)
So you said TikTok is your prioritization. You try to post every day on TikTok?
MATT MCCARTHY (38:45)
I do post every day and then. Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (38:47)
You don’t batch it? You don’t like, film them all on a Sunday and then roll them out each day on a. You, you do one every day and then post it immediately?
MATT MCCARTHY (38:55)
No. Well, what I’ve.
The routine I’ve gotten into is because people like. Because I have a huge VHS collection I know.
MIKE ELDER (39:05)
Which I wanted to ask you about.
MATT MCCARTHY (39:06)
And now that it has turned into a source of income, I feel really lucky. I don’t like the word lucky. I feel really grateful that I’m able to get a couple of bucks from something I would be doing anyway. And it’s also like my, my, My wife kind of doesn’t complain that, like, God, there’s a lot of tapes in here anymore now that it’s like, well, it’s, it’s. It’s my day job, you know, so I’m able to like, lean into like just buying more tapes. And when I say tapes, I’m talking about like, you know, Like, I want to, like, I love going to estate sales to find stuff that people recorded off of TV. And like, touring with Pete is amazing because it’s.
Because now I’m not just finding tapes in la, like Houston, Madison, you know, all over. And what I do is I put the tape in at night before bed and digitize. So I just let the whole six hour tape play.
MIKE ELDER (40:14)
Okay.
MATT MCCARTHY (40:15)
And digitize that. And then the next day is when I watch it and kind of scrub through it. So that’s why I do it instead of doing like a bunch at once because I’m like, well. And then that six hour digitized file I put into like a Google folder. And then people can subscribe to my Patreon and watch, you know, all the tapes and stuff.
MIKE ELDER (40:38)
Yeah. Are you good with like, organization? Because I’ve seen you like, find a tape in a back corner drawer and you know exactly where it’s at. Like, or are you setting those all up?
MATT MCCARTHY (40:52)
No, no, I don’t. Again, I don’t have the time to fake it.
MIKE ELDER (40:56)
Do you have like a wicked spreadsheet of like, cataloging everything?
MATT MCCARTHY (41:01)
Since I started the Patreon, I’ve gotten better about like making a table of contents, at least for the. The like, what’s on the tape. And I’m working on like a larger Excel spreadsheet just to search like every, like, so that I’m like, I can find anything that’s like, you know, from Seattle, Washington on, you know, y. You know, King5 or whatever the channel is, you know.
MIKE ELDER (41:29)
Okay.
MATT MCCARTHY (41:31)
So I’m getting better at that. I’m also started to like, like, make a spreadsheet of just like magazines, you know, just. Just for research purposes of like, oh, yeah, I want to like, read a couple articles about like, Ed Wood. So I’m like, okay, I got this magazine, I got this thing. But like the tapes, it’s. It’s the collection. I mean, every day it’s bigger than it’s ever been.
I have a pretty good idea still of where everything is just because I just chalk it up to. Because I care. I care enough to know, you know, I’m like, oh, well, this is where this other. This is. Oh, that’s over here. You know, I don’t know that anybody else could find it. I mean, like, I like, have you.
MIKE ELDER (42:20)
Have you trained your child yet up so that.
MATT MCCARTHY (42:23)
I mean, look.
MIKE ELDER (42:25)
If you get hit by a bus, somebody can find King5 Seattle 1980.
MATT MCCARTHY (42:30)
I did have the thought of like.
MIKE ELDER (42:32)
An apprenticeship.
MATT MCCARTHY (42:32)
Because, like, I have like the home movies from my family. I’m the only one who has those. Because I’m the only one who cares about VHS and I’m like, digitizing that stuff. And I’m like, I was saying to my cousin, because I was back home, and I was like, I need to make sure that every, like, people have the links to these. Cause like, God forbid something happens to me, I make sure people have access to these files, you know? So, yeah, there is.
MIKE ELDER (43:00)
Make some emergency plans.
MATT MCCARTHY (43:01)
I have been thinking. I’m like, why do I have like a password login on my laptop? Like, if something happens to me, I need people to be able to open this up. And like, here’s. I. Hopefully other people care enough. I’m not talking about my family, just in general care enough of like, oh, that was the only.
Like, he’s got a recording of, you know, this episode of Johnny Carson. Like, that’s a bad example because.
MIKE ELDER (43:30)
Everyone has Johnny Carson.
MATT MCCARTHY (43:31)
Well. Well, the car. Car Carson’s nephew has all this stuff in a salt mine. I’m just saying, like, I don’t know. Just random shit. Random shit from TV.
MIKE ELDER (43:44)
You’re also an archivist. I just realized that’s another thing you do.
MATT MCCARTHY (43:47)
Yeah. I was saying this to somebody. I do feel, like, kind of bad if I don’t get to an estate sale. Or like. Better example is sometimes it’s kind of a bummer showing up to an estate sale and there’s no tapes. The only worst feeling is when there’s too many tapes and I gotta, like, kind of like, guess, like. Well, maybe the.
Because everything that I don’t take is going in the trash.
MIKE ELDER (44:14)
Yeah.
MATT MCCARTHY (44:15)
You know, and I.
MIKE ELDER (44:16)
Why wouldn’t you take them all?
MATT MCCARTHY (44:18)
Well, say, like, if I’m in Houston.
MIKE ELDER (44:20)
I see.
MATT MCCARTHY (44:20)
I’m like, I know. How many are gonna fit in this suitcase?
MIKE ELDER (44:23)
I see.
MATT MCCARTHY (44:24)
You know.
MIKE ELDER (44:25)
Damn.
MATT MCCARTHY (44:26)
Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (44:27)
Can I ask you a trivia question?
MATT MCCARTHY (44:28)
Yeah, what’s up?
MIKE ELDER (44:29)
Do you know the difference between like, King 5 or KTLA versus like a WCCO or any. Do you know the difference between the K and the W on the front of the news channel?
MATT MCCARTHY (44:38)
Oh, it’s west coast and East Coast.
MIKE ELDER (44:40)
Yeah. Well, I think it’s Mississippi river is the divide.
MATT MCCARTHY (44:43)
Oh, well, that’s the divider. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
MIKE ELDER (44:45)
Nice. I’m glad you knew that.
MATT MCCARTHY (44:45)
Hey, dude.
MIKE ELDER (44:45)
I just learned that recently.
MATT MCCARTHY (44:47)
Oh, really? Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (44:49)
Wait, how many terabytes are we talking of footage you got.
MATT MCCARTHY (44:51)
Right now. I’m. I’m about to cross three terabytes.
MIKE ELDER (44:57)
Damn.
MATT MCCARTHY (44:58)
In the Google Drive. And then I gotta, you know, because I pay for five and so I’ll probably hit that, you know, in a year or 18 months or something at this rate. So.
MIKE ELDER (45:13)
I love the forecasting element. We need more storage.
MATT MCCARTHY (45:15)
Well, because of the frequency at which I’ve been uploading the stuff. I’m like, okay, so. Cause now that I do it every day.
MIKE ELDER (45:26)
You need like a team of actuaries now.
MATT MCCARTHY (45:29)
Well, I gotta talk to a couple of buddies who. I’m like, maybe I just have my own like, you know, hard drive and network here. Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (45:38)
Wait, was the genesis of this just. You had your family’s VHS and loved it and then just started collecting more or were you just always a VHS guy?
MATT MCCARTHY (45:47)
I mean. Yeah, I mean I’ve always been a VHS guy. And yeah, it started with just, you know, like I, I have all the tapes from. Are like, like not just like home family footage. Like I like, I still have my copy of Scrooged tape off of pay per view from like 1988 or 89, you know, from Request. That was the, that was the pay per view channel on the East Providence cable when I was growing up and then blossomed more in college because I was in New York and you could go to a record store and buy like VHS and stuff. But after college, in the early 2000s with once DVD really took a stronghold and VHS became trash.
And then I was just like, oh, I can get them for super cheap now. But like the stuff taped off of TV, I like, I always had those. But it wasn’t until moving out here to LA, I didn’t even know what an estate sale was. But like when I saw like I’ve, I have clearly I’ve always had a fascination with just in my own home like growing up, of like somebody taped something off of TV of like just seeing, you know, I remember specifically we taped Police Academy 2 off of like channel 5 or 11 or something, you know. And my favorite part of that tape was after the movie ended.
Cuz you remember like we. You just put a tape in, record the movie at 8 o’ clock and then the tape recorded the whole night. I’m like what was on TV, yeah, when I was in bed. Like the stuff that I was never going to see otherwise.
MIKE ELDER (47:55)
Yeah.
MATT MCCARTHY (47:56)
And so it’s always been this fascination for me of well, what else is on the tape?
MIKE ELDER (48:03)
Right.
MATT MCCARTHY (48:03)
You know, I like, I like, I love seeing like the little what’s on the label. But like sometimes the labels aren’t accurate. Something gets taped over. It’s. But also like I found such a joy in getting other people’s tapes of just like, who was this person? What were they interested in? What was going on in that city or in the world or the country at that time?
Because you get the little news breaks, you know. Buddy of mine gave me a tape. He was just trying to tape Saturday morning cartoons. And the news kept interrupting because the Chinese government was rolling the tanks into Tiananmen Square.
MIKE ELDER (48:44)
Wow, that’s cool.
MATT MCCARTHY (48:45)
Yeah. Isn’t that crazy.
MIKE ELDER (48:46)
It’s weird to think about how much this stuff is like gone.
MATT MCCARTHY (48:49)
Well, that’s the other thing.
MIKE ELDER (48:50)
How much of it is gone? They went under or whatever.
MATT MCCARTHY (48:54)
Well, I went to a autograph show not too long ago here in Hollywood and I think I want to say her name is Katie Leigh, incredible voiceover actor. She did the voice of Dumbo on a short lived Disney Channel show called Dumbo Circus where it was live action where they were like people in suits. And I found a copy of. Somebody had taped the entire morning of Disney Channel on a Betamax and it had an episode of. That had an episode of Winnie the Pooh’s Corner or something which I also, I couldn’t believe. I was like, oh my God, I haven’t thought again, like live action, people in suits as Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore and stuff. And I posted about it on TikTok and someone in the comments was like, I’m pretty sure these shows are considered lost.
And sent me a link to some website where the guy’s like, we found this episode. We found this episode. And I’m looking and I’m like, wow, this is. This exact episode of Dumbo Circus is considered lost. Met her at the autograph show, asked her about it. I was like, you know, I found a, an episode and she’s like, oh yeah, they’re all gone, all those tapes. She’s like, I.
She’s like the production company, like because Disney didn’t want them.
MIKE ELDER (50:21)
Yeah.
MATT MCCARTHY (50:21)
The production company held onto the tapes as long as they could and then finally was just like, we gotta trash these. She’s like, they’re all gone.
MIKE ELDER (50:29)
That’s wild.
MATT MCCARTHY (50:29)
It’s crazy.
MIKE ELDER (50:31)
It’s weird.
MATT MCCARTHY (50:31)
Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (50:32)
I mean I do think we have enough content, but it’s also like this historical stuff is just like a treasure trove.
MATT MCCARTHY (50:36)
Well, I mean in terms of like. Yeah. Cause like I remember I think Scorsese estimated like half the movies made before 1950 are lost. Just gone.
MIKE ELDER (50:46)
That’s wild.
MATT MCCARTHY (50:47)
It’s crazy.
MIKE ELDER (50:48)
That’s wild to think about.
MATT MCCARTHY (50:49)
Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (50:50)
That’s the benefit of digital, I guess. And Google Drive.
MATT MCCARTHY (50:52)
But then there is. Well, yeah, I mean, hopefully because you know, these. These hard drives get corrupted, files get lost or deleted. I mean, because that’s my concern about, like, if I. Because I like having it in, like, the little Google cloud, I feel confident that that’s always gonna be there.
MIKE ELDER (51:12)
Yes.
MATT MCCARTHY (51:13)
But I’m also, I’m not like, throwing away the tapes after I digitize them because I’m like, what if something. What if Google gets turned off?
MIKE ELDER (51:22)
That happened recently, didn’t it? Like, six months ago, everything went down. Wait, are you kind to your future self? Do you rewind every tape?
MATT MCCARTHY (51:30)
I do, but it’s also. This is. This is PSA public service announcement. Never put a tape in and just start playing it. You got to put the tape in, fast forward it all the way to the end, and then let it rewind itself and then play it.
MIKE ELDER (51:45)
Why is that?
MATT MCCARTHY (51:47)
Because helps. Like, because the tapes get. They can sag off of the reel. Also, these older tapes, and let’s face it, they all are now.
MIKE ELDER (51:58)
Yeah.
MATT MCCARTHY (51:59)
Magnetic tape gets sticky. That’s. That’s why tapes break. Or people are like, oh, the VCR ate my tape. It’s like, no, the tape ate the VCR. Like, it wasn’t able to, but also it just. It tightens it up.
Like, it kind of loosens it up, loosens up the tape. It’s gonna play better, it’s gonna look better, and it’s much less likely to break.
MIKE ELDER (52:17)
Why did they never say that? Back in the day. Did they not.
MATT MCCARTHY (52:20)
They did, but it became one of those things that just got lost to time. You know, even just like when I see people with, like, their collection of VHS tapes. Like, you know, because of course, that’s my algorithm now. And it’s. And it’s all the tape stacked on top of each other, like the tape laying flat.
MIKE ELDER (52:39)
Yeah.
MATT MCCARTHY (52:39)
I’m always like, that’s. That’s wrong. Because that.
MIKE ELDER (52:42)
Because that’s how it sags.
MATT MCCARTHY (52:43)
It starts to sag off of the reel. They need to be on their side standing up, huh? Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (52:49)
The more, you know, that’s interesting.
MATT MCCARTHY (52:50)
Hell yeah. Because a buddy of mine was an engineer, like a music engineer, and he was saying, like, yeah, we would have to bake the tapes like you, like, at a. God, like 100 degrees or something. Because it gets sticky and you can’t play it through the. Like, Because I’ve sent.
Because I’ve found. I really. I only grab Betamax and VHS tapes once in a while. I’ll find like a reel of like half inch tape, like a Sony.
And I’m like, I’m. I’m Just too curious. But I have no way to play it. So, like, I’ve found a couple of guys online. Like, I’ll send them the real. But like, they have to. They bake it first because of the tape gets sticky and then they bake it first and then they run it through and then send me the digital copy. Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (53:41)
You know what I love is watching somebody talk passionately about something they love. Like, to be honest with you, I couldn’t give a shit about VHS tapes, but you were so passionate and it’s so cool to watch. Do you know Will Hines and Anthony King? They had a podcast called Don’t Get Me Started where they would have somebody do this. And it was like a great Don’t Get Me Started episode. Like, it’s like you light up about just the nuance of VHS tape.
MATT MCCARTHY (54:06)
It’s fun. It’s interesting.
MIKE ELDER (54:08)
Well, it’s also your livelihood now.
MATT MCCARTHY (54:09)
It is. It really is. I mean, it’s just. I think about that of like, you know, I don’t think it’s like when we were talking about, like, the standups who are really successful or the podcasters that are really successful. It’s just like, why would I want to deal with the pain in the ass of, like, pitching a show to people who are just. Because, like my buddies who that. That are showrunners that are incredibly brilliant, funny writers.
Like, the frustration that they express to me, I’m just like, I don’t know, I just. I feel very grateful that I have just kind of walked myself into this situation of like, you know, I. I want to keep acting because I think it’s so fun. I want to keep doing stand up because I think it’s so fun. I can make money at both, Right. If I can do union gigs, acting, I can pay into my pension. You know, that’s.
That makes the future seem a little less scary, but like, as far as the day to day. And like, I’m like, this has kind of turned into a thing.
Like, I like if you join my Patreon. I had the idea last year. I was like, wouldn’t this be fun? I’ll make little membership cards.
MIKE ELDER (55:31)
Oh, yeah, yeah.
MATT MCCARTHY (55:32)
Like. Like to the video store.
MIKE ELDER (55:33)
Yep.
MATT MCCARTHY (55:34)
And then send them out to people. You know.
MIKE ELDER (55:37)
That’s great. I mean, people love that shit. That’s genius.
MATT MCCARTHY (55:39)
Yeah, people love that shit. And I completely underestimated how many people would want a membership. I’m like, it was like. It was like. I was like halfway. Not even halfway. I was like a few months in and I was like, Holy shit.
I got to start, like, keeping track of this.
MIKE ELDER (55:56)
That’s funny.
MATT MCCARTHY (55:57)
Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (55:58)
You need, like, an assistant. That is, like, good spreadsheets, by the way. Something else we have in common, which I wanted to bring up, which, Don’t Get Me Started reminded me of. I went on their podcast and talked about mascoting, and I was a university mascot, and I read you were a mascot at university as well.
MATT MCCARTHY (56:11)
I was the Fordham University mascot for, like, two, two and a half years.
MIKE ELDER (56:15)
How’d that come about? Was that just, like, totally in your wheelhouse?
MATT MCCARTHY (56:19)
No, but it was when. When they were. When the flyers were around.
Like, Bill Graham was the. The mascot. Close friends with Mac on Always Sunny.
MIKE ELDER (56:34)
Oh, funny.
MATT MCCARTHY (56:35)
I didn’t realize it until after the fact. Mac used to climb through our window sophomore year to go see his friend Bill Graham, who lived upstairs. Because if you went through the front door, you had to sign in with security, which means, like, if you didn’t have a guest pass at a certain hour, this person had to leave. You had to sign them back out. So we lived on the first floor, so people would sneak through our window all the time.
MIKE ELDER (57:01)
Oh, you just had the Underground Railroad.
MATT MCCARTHY (57:04)
Yeah, well, it’s like, you know, if you, like, if a girl wants to come back to your room, it’s like she can’t stay all night. Cause it’s like a Catholic school, so she has to sign. So people would climb through our window?
MIKE ELDER (57:17)
Yeah, you did a service.
MATT MCCARTHY (57:18)
Mac used to climb through our window. Sometimes he would come to the Bronx over the weekend and hang out with Bill.
MIKE ELDER (57:23)
Wait, if it wasn’t in your wheelhouse, why’d you do it for two and a half years? Did you get a scholarship or something?
MATT MCCARTHY (57:27)
No. Oh, God, no.
They didn’t give a shit about me when I was the. I got Bill Graham’s old mascot uniform, and then when I graduated, they bought a new mascot outfit for the next guy. I was such a transitional champion.
I was the Iron Sheik. Just getting the belt from Bob Ackland to Hulk Hogan. I mean.
MIKE ELDER (57:48)
Does Fordham have a football team? Do they?
MATT MCCARTHY (57:52)
They do.
MIKE ELDER (57:53)
Is that what you did? Like, football games?
MATT MCCARTHY (57:55)
Yeah, football games, basketball games. You know, once in a while, like, freshman move in day, I would be in the parking lot waving, you know, stuff like that.
MIKE ELDER (58:06)
I love mascots. Mascots are either highly regarded or. Yeah, to your experience, really just discarded and ignored and not utilized to the.
MATT MCCARTHY (58:14)
The reason I laughed about the football team is because they. I don’t know how they’re doing now, but they weren’t good when I was there. When I visited the school, the. The girl showing us around campus, she’s like, okay, over here, this is Eddie’s parade. This is a big lawn. A lot of kids hang out here during the day. You can picnic, study, what have you.
Over here is the football field. This is the victory bell. They ring this every time the football team wins a game. You’ll notice that it’s rusted solid over here.
I was just like, damn. This is part of the tour. When we were there, I think they won one game. And when they won the game, I’ll never forget, all the football players were at one of the bars that night. They all had T shirts that said respect. And we’re like. Hey, fellas.
MIKE ELDER (59:03)
That’s all they had. To this day, that’s all the team has going for them.
MATT MCCARTHY (59:05)
Rough. But, yeah, the reason I auditioned was all my friends were like, McCarthy, you’d be perfect for this. And then, and then I was the only one audition. Well, it was me and another guy. And that guy, literally that morning was like, oh, yeah. I saw one of the signs. I decided to come.
I was like, oh, this starts in like 10 minutes. I’ll come by.
MIKE ELDER (59:23)
Do you find you sweat more? Ever since then? I. Ever since I was a mascot, sweat more.
MATT MCCARTHY (59:28)
Ah, interesting. I don’t know.
MIKE ELDER (59:29)
I think my body, like, learned how to cool itself off via sweaty mechanisms, and now it just immediately does that.
MATT MCCARTHY (59:36)
I’m telling you, Bill was a lot shorter than me and they custom built that tam outfit for him.
MIKE ELDER (59:41)
So you can see your ankles or whatever, buddy.
MATT MCCARTHY (59:44)
Buddy. Yes. Like, when I got the suit, first of all, it hadn’t been cleaned. So when I pulled it out, it had been sitting in this, this athletic closet all summer. It was still damp. Oh.
MIKE ELDER (1:00:03)
That was the worse.
MATT MCCARTHY (1:00:03)
It was fucking awful. And. And the equipment manager was a complete prick.
MIKE ELDER (1:00:08)
Oh.
MATT MCCARTHY (1:00:10)
And. And people would complain, like, the mascot outfit stinks. And I’m like, yeah, I know. Because when I would bring it to the equipment manager, he’d be like, let me tell you something. I got every uniform of every athlete from every team to clean. And then you. And I’m like, I’m so sorry.
I’m so sorry. Like, I had to talk to the athletic directors and be like, this guy’s being a prick. Like, I bring him the fucking thing to clean. And he’s like, if I can get to it, I’ll get to it. I’m sorry. I thought I represented the school. I thought I was the mascot.
I fucking hated it. I really hate, like, doing it was fun. Like Sometimes. Sometimes, like, little kids would be cool, but most of the time, people were just fucking assholes to me. They would. They would tell me to get out of their way. They would say, move, we can’t see the game.
MIKE ELDER (1:01:01)
I’m sorry.
MATT MCCARTHY (1:01:01)
Oh, it’s fucking awful. It was really fucking awful. I felt really unappreciated. The only. The only day I enjoyed being the mascot, I swear to God, was first of all because Bill Graham was so good at being the mascot too, that all I heard was like, you got some big shoes to fill. And I’m like, oh, okay, sorry. Sorry. I suck. Sorry, sorry.
This outfit doesn’t fit me and I’m really uncomfortable and I’m having a hard time breathing. Like, there was like a. Like a.
Like a mesh. Like, no, not mesh, but there was like a plastic, like, cage underneath to, like, give it some girth.
MIKE ELDER (1:01:42)
Yeah.
MATT MCCARTHY (1:01:43)
It just. My body was just up against it. And I would say to them, I’m like, this doesn’t fit.
Like, there are holes in it. My fingers are poking out. Like, this thing is falling apart. We need a new outfit. And they wouldn’t spend the money until I was gone and they bought the next guy a new one.
MIKE ELDER (1:01:58)
That’s infurriating.
MATT MCCARTHY (1:01:59)
The only day I fucking felt appreciated or I enjoyed being the mascot was we had the Special Olympics. We had an event at Fordham. And when I went into the main building, McGinley center, where they had the cafeteria and stuff, all the athletes were in there. I shook hands, hugged, and took pictures with every single person in there. They were so sweet to me. They were so appreciative. They just thought I was wonderful.
And I was like, mother fuckers.
MIKE ELDER (1:02:36)
That’s nice.
MATT MCCARTHY (1:02:37)
And then the rest of the time it’s just like, you know, because. Because the football team sucked. So, like, everybody was in a bad mood. You know, the basketball team was alright, but, like, people were just like. I was always in the way.
MIKE ELDER (1:02:51)
I feel like I just triggered you. I’m sorry. We had very different experiences.
MATT MCCARTHY (1:02:55)
Where did you go to school?
MIKE ELDER (1:02:56)
Minnesota. University of Minnesota.
MATT MCCARTHY (1:02:57)
Okay.
MIKE ELDER (1:02:58)
We had, like, a team. We had, like six to eight guys that did it.
MATT MCCARTHY (1:03:02)
Oh, wow.
MIKE ELDER (1:03:02)
Because we would do 500 appearances in a year. We did every athletic event.
MATT MCCARTHY (1:03:06)
Wow.
MIKE ELDER (1:03:06)
Charity events and private events and birthday parties. But I want to. Let me share this with you real quick. And then I got one last question, because we’re over an hour. I have an idea for a show.
Somebody’s gonna steal it now. It’s a mascot who’s addicted to gambling. So cold open is him watching the free throws and he’s like cheering. Yeah, yeah. And his team wins. But then you see on the inside, he bet against his team and he’s like, fuck, I just lost $5,000.
MATT MCCARTHY (1:03:34)
That’s great.
MIKE ELDER (1:03:34)
Like, outside it’s a big ass smile. So it’s just a guy that’s a mascot who’s addicted to gambling.
MATT MCCARTHY (1:03:39)
I like that.
MIKE ELDER (1:03:40)
Betting on sports. Yeah.
MATT MCCARTHY (1:03:41)
That’s great.
MIKE ELDER (1:03:42)
All right, the last question I ask is, who took a chance on you?
MATT MCCARTHY (1:03:47)
I almost said my wife.
MIKE ELDER (1:03:48)
That works. People can say that.
MATT MCCARTHY (1:03:51)
Who took a chance on me? I guess a lot of people.
I mean, my, my, the. When I was looking for a job just out of college in New York, Gavin. God, what was his last name? But he. He hired me to just do like a desk job at MTV Networks.
MIKE ELDER (1:04:15)
Oh, that’s cool.
MATT MCCARTHY (1:04:16)
Yeah, because otherwise I would have just moved back to Rhode island and I don’t know what, like, I wouldn’t have met my wife, you know, I wouldn’t have. I don’t know, maybe I would have started doing stand up in Boston or something, but I don’t know what I would have wound up doing.
MIKE ELDER (1:04:30)
It’s a wild butterfly effect to think about.
MATT MCCARTHY (1:04:32)
I know. Oh, you know who took a chance on me is Maura Maloney, my first agent at cesd. Because the first gig I ever booked was a commercial. And with Pete, where we were positive and negative terminals on a.
On a car battery for Sears Die Hard. And the casting director, Neil, at House Casting, he called me at my desk job at mtv and it was. It was literally like the first audition I’d ever gone on. They wanted to see people without that who they hadn’t seen before.
MIKE ELDER (1:05:17)
Right.
MATT MCCARTHY (1:05:18)
So Baron Vaughn said, well, you should. Matt McCarthy’s really funny. And so they called me and I did the audition. And I haven’t thought about him in so long. I think his name was Neil. But he called me at my desk and was like, hey, you’re probably going to book this job, but they know that you don’t have an agent. And I’m looking at the deal and they’re gonna screw you.
Is there any way you can get an agent today?
MIKE ELDER (1:05:52)
Oh, wow.
MATT MCCARTHY (1:05:52)
And I was like, dude, I have no idea what you’re talking about. And so he’s like, okay, let me call my friend Maura and see if. And so then I met with Maura Maloney. And so look, when people ask me for advice, like, how do you get an agent? I’m like, well, I’m the wrong person to ask, because I already booked a job. And so, like, you go in and you’re like, hey, I’ve booked this big campaign that’s gonna wind up going nowhere. But, like, just the session fees alone, I think we made like, 40 or 50 grand.
MIKE ELDER (1:06:21)
Holy shit.
MATT MCCARTHY (1:06:22)
I guess it ran a couple of times on, like, Home and Garden TV. But, like, that weekend we came out here, we shot because they were saying, they’re like, this is where it’s gonna be, the new Mac and PC. This is gonna be the new Mac and PC commercials. We shot at least a dozen on air commercials. We recorded radio spots. We did print, like. Like, everything that you could do in a commercial. This is our first.
MIKE ELDER (1:06:50)
Before even testing it and seeing if they like.
MATT MCCARTHY (1:06:53)
And then. And then. And then they never ran it just never.
It just went away.
MIKE ELDER (1:06:58)
That’s wild.
MATT MCCARTHY (1:06:59)
We walked into the studio, literally the second AD’s walking us in, and he goes, this is the first time it ever gets brought up. He goes, neither of you have a problem with heights, right? We walk in, there’s a. They have built a car battery. Like, almost like the entire car engine. Like, huge. Like, as big as, you know, this apartment.
And there are ladders for us to climb up, and we’re just standing on the ladders, doing the bit the whole time. It was insane.
MIKE ELDER (1:07:28)
So you guys bankrupted Sears with that campaign.
MATT MCCARTHY (1:07:32)
They did it to themselves, kid.
MIKE ELDER (1:07:35)
Matt, this was lovely. Thank you so much for doing this.
MATT MCCARTHY (1:07:37)
Super fun. Thanks for having me.
MIKE ELDER (1:07:38)
It was great. It was a pleasure talking to you. You gotta tail slate at the end.
MATT MCCARTHY (1:07:43)
Six feet. Based in Los Angeles, unwilling to shave.
🎵 ROCKFORD (1:07:50) 🎵
MTV and the channel E!. A thing for a celebrity.
