Matt Gourley
Gourley during a live performance of Superego at the LA Podcast Festival in 2012
Born
Matthew James Gourley

(1973-05-23) May 23, 1973 (age 50)
Whittier, California, U.S.
Alma materCalifornia State University, Long Beach
Occupations
  • Actor
  • comedian
  • podcaster
  • teacher
Years active1995–present
Spouse
Amanda Lund
​
(m. 2017)​
Children1

Matthew James Gourley (b. May 23, 1973) is an American actor, comedian, and podcaster best known for his work on the Superego and Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend podcasts and Drunk History.

Early life

Matthew James Gourley was born and raised in Whittier, California to his mother Welford.[1][2][3] He grew up near Richard Nixon's childhood home.[4]

Career

Theater and improv

Gourley graduated from California State University, Long Beach[5] with a bachelor's degree in technical theater and an MFA in performance.[6][7]

Gourley has acted in, directed, and worked on the technical side of productions in the Los Angeles area since the early 1990s, including as Curly in Of Mice and Men,[8] Antipholus in The Comedy of Errors,[9] Dogberry's henchman in Much Ado About Nothing,[10] Orville in The Doctor In Spite of Himself,[11] Hal in Loot,[12] Brindsley in Black Comedy,[13] the director of Tooth and Nail at the Little Fish Theatre,[14] and as a set/lighting designer on The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged).[15] Gourley did video work and set design for multiple productions of Fellowship!.[16][17][18]

Gourley began performing with ComedySportz in Los Angeles during elementary school.[6][19] He met Jeremy Carter at a ComedySportz tournament in San Jose in the mid-90s.[20] He spent years as an actor and improviser at various Disney theme parks along with Carter and Mark McConville, among others.[21][22] Gourley has also performed at Second City, ImprovOlympic, and the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.[23]

Teaching

Gourley has taught theater and improvisation at Riverside City College,[24] Long Beach City College,[25] and College of the Canyons.[26][27] He has also led workshops on Shakespearean improv at the Fracas! Improv Festival.

Television

Gourley and Carter were founding contributors to Channel 101, producing and starring in the "retro futuristic action spectacular" Ultraforce.[19][20] Ultraforce lasted three episodes and also featured Derek Mears, Jeff B. Davis, and Chris Tallman.

In 2013, Gourley sold a pilot titled Wunderland that he wrote with his then-girlfriend and now-wife, Amanda Lund, to Fox.[28] The series was a workplace comedy loosely based upon the time Gourley and Lund spent working as actors at Disney theme parks, though it did not end up getting produced. This pilot can be heard recorded on the Dead Pilot's Society Podcast's 3rd episode.[29] Gourley has appeared on Community, HarmonQuest, Ghost Ghirls, and Drunk History, as well as doing voice work for Adventure Time.

Commercials

Gourley's best known commercial work is his position as a spokesperson for Volkswagen in 2014 and 2015.[30][31] He has also appeared in ads for McDonald's,[32] Carlton Draught,[33] Lowe's,[34] Hewlett-Packard, Hyundai, Xbox,[35] Late Night with Conan O'Brien,[36] and Budweiser.

Podcasts

In 2006, Gourley and Carter launched Superego, an improvisational podcast they conceived of on Christmas Eve 2005 based on the conceit of clinical case studies.[37] Superego has since added Mark McConville, Jeff Crocker, and Paul F. Tompkins as regular cast members.[38]

In September 2013, Gourley started hosting a podcast along with Matt Mira titled James Bonding on the Nerdist network,[39] later acquired by the Earwolf podcast network. The podcast discusses the James Bond films one by one with guests.[40] In November 2014, Gourley helped launch the new Wolfpop podcast network, a sister to Earwolf, along with Paul Scheer and Adam Sachs.[41] As part of this launch, Gourley himself began a new podcast, titled I Was There Too, which focuses on the actors and stories behind the most classic scenes from film and television.[42] Gourley also co-hosted The Andy Daly Podcast Pilot Project on Earwolf with Andy Daly.

Gourley co-hosted Pistol Shrimps Radio with his Superego colleague Mark McConville.[43] The podcast consisted of unedited commentary of the games of The Pistol Shrimps, a women's rec league basketball team in Los Angeles.[44][45]

In addition to hosting his own shows, Gourley has guested on numerous podcasts over the years, including Never Not Funny, Comedy Bang! Bang!, Thrilling Adventure Hour, and Spontaneanation. In addition to editing Superego, Gourley has also edited Judge John Hodgman and The Sound of Young America.[46][47]

In 2018, he started hosting In Voorhees We Trust With Gourley and Rust with Paul Rust, a podcast series reviewing every Friday The 13th film in the franchise. The self-proclaimed "easy-listening cozy-cast," now simply titled With Gourley and Rust, has had several seasons analyzing and discussing horror films.[48]

Gourley has served as a producer and co-host on Conan O'Brien's podcast Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend since it debuted in November 2018.

In January 2023, Gourley debuted the first episode of Mallwalkin' with co-host Mark McConville. Each episode the co-hosts walk a local mall and comment on retail offerings while recording impromptu interviews with business owners and avoiding audio recording policy violations. [49]

Gourley is a singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He composed the theme for I Was There Too with James Bladon.[50] He has released a solo album titled Garanimal Farm,[51] recorded tracks with his band named Townland,[52] and released an album with The Journeymen titled Mount Us More.[53]

Personal life

In 1997, Gourley won a contest to see who could best imitate the sound of a flushing toilet.[54]

Gourley lives in Pasadena with his wife, Amanda Lund, with whom he has a daughter.[43][1]

Filmography

Television

Year Title Episode(s) Role
1996 Kwik Witz Himself
2003 Ultraforce All Kel
2003 Buckle Up! TV Short Mustang
2003 The Fastest Samurai in the West TV series short Bad Ass Cowboy
2003 Time Belt "Oh. Shit. Zombies."
"Can I Tell You a Story?"
"Hitler!"
"Got Any Micro-Transistors?" 		Jesus Christ
2004 "Finally" Soldier
2004 World Cup Comedy 1x10 Himself
2004–2005 Laser Fart 1x3, 1x6 Robot Dick
2006 Lingo 5x57 Himself[55]
2012 Attack of the Show! August 11, 2012 Himself
2012 Margot Rourke and the Boys Club Short Narrator
2012 The Incendiary Adventures of a Scientist Gone Mad! Short Replacement
2013–2015 Drunk History 1x01,[56] 1x08, 3x04, 3x13 Narrator/Ian Fleming
2013 TakePart Live 1x70 Himself
2013 Ghost Ghirls "School Spirit" Ghost Dad
2013 Boardwalk Empire's Richard Harrow: Murderer for Hire Video short
2013 The Funtime Gang TV movie Det. Jeff Seabury
2014 Nerdterns "Key of Awesome in the Lipton Book of World Records" Julian P. Harumph
2015 Community "Wedding Videography" Briggs Hatton
2015 Comedy Bang! Bang! "Randall Park Wears Brown Dress Shoes With Blue Socks" Professor Ellis
"Robert Kirkman Wears a Tan Blazer and Red Suit Pants" Martin Thomas Newton
2015, 2020 Talking Tom and Friends 2 episodes Gilbert (voice)
2015 Adventure Time "Orgalorg" Ma Elder (voice)
2016 Another Period "Harvard" Albert Einstein
2016 HarmonQuest "Earthscar Village" Chadge
2017 Blindspot "Borrow or Rob" Thad Munson
2017 Better Things "Blackout" BBC News Announcer
2019 Bajillion Dollar Propertie$ "Royale Pains" Chavdar
2019 HarmonQuest "Goblopolis Lost" Chadge
2020 Kidding 3 episodes Bobby Belongo
2020 The George Lucas Talk Show "Season VII: The Arli$$ Awaken$" Himself
2021 Close Enough "Men Rock!/Secret Horse" Additional voices
2022 Birdgirl "Fli on Your Own Supply" Office worker (voice)

Film

Year Title Role
1999 Eyes Wide Shut Masked Partygoer (uncredited)
2018 You Are The Captain Dante Elmers

Podcasts

Podcast Episode Date Role
Superego All 2006–present Dr. Matt Gourley, PyT/Various
Comedy Bang! Bang! #38 2010/01/29 Grandma Jonesy
#289 2014/05/26 H.R. Giger
#308 2014/09/01 Himself/H.R. Giger
#326 2014/12/15 Ian Fleming
#348 2015/04/27 Jim Chambers/Professor Stillwater
#370 2015/08/17 Himself/Danielle Steel
#382 2015/10/19 H.R. Giger
#405 2016/03/03 Irvin Kershner
#412 2016/04/04 Professor Stillwater
#555 2018/07/16 Cal Buckley/Professor Stillwater
#623 2019/10/14 Himself/Ted Kemper/Jed Kemper
#663 2020/07/05 P.A.I.G.E.
#702 2021/4/18 H.R. Giger
#746 2022/2/27 P.A.I.G.E.
#787 2022/12/4 Teen Giger
The Wolf Den #15 2011/05/15 Himself[57]
#66 2014/11/05 Himself[41]
Pop My Culture #52 2011/09/01 Himself (with Superego)
The Apple Sisters #17-18 2011/09/26-10/03 [58]
This American Wife Extrasode 1 2012/08/20 Advice columnist[59]
Thrilling Adventure Hour Various 2012–2015 Various
The Dead Authors Podcast Chapter 5 2012/01/17 Carl Sagan
Chapter 19 2012/12/24 Authors of the Gospel (John)
Chapter 13 2012/12/31 Brothers Grimm
Chapter 38 2014/10/09 Ian Fleming
Chapter 47 2015/06/23 Carl Sagan
Addendum ii 2015/07/17 Christopher Marlowe
Addendum iii 2014/07/24 Aleister Crowley
Walking the Room #125 2012/10/16 Himself (with Superego)[60]
The Andy Daly Podcast Pilot Project All 2013–2018 Co-host/various
James Bonding All 2013–present Co-host
Quit It Star Charting 2013/03/13 Himself[61]
Earwolf Presents #25 2013/12/16 Himself[62]
I Was There Too All 2014–2018 Host[63]
Hollywood Handbook #38 2014/06/24 Himself[64]
The Nerdist Podcast #548 2014/07/18 Himself
Never Not Funny 15J 2014/10/12 Himself
16I 2014/04/12 Himself
Who Charted? #210 2014/12/10 Himself[65]
How Did This Get Made? #99 2014/12/12 Himself (crossover with James Bonding)
#126 2015/12/25 Himself
The Canon #19 2015/03/23 Himself[66]
Spontaneanation #1, #10, #15,
#16, #22, #27,
#28, #34, #37,
#58, #60, #62,
#68, #86, #99.5
#107, #125, #137,
#145, #146, #155,
#165.5, #171, #175,
#183 		2015–2018 Improviser
Black List Table Reads #301-304 2015/06/11–2015/07/02 [67]
Get Up On This #200 2015/07/14 Himself[68]
Welcome to Vinci 2015/07/26 Himself[69]
Pistol Shrimps Radio All[70] 2015–2020 Co-host
Superego: Forgotten Classics All 2015 Cast member
Hello from the Magic Tavern 100C 2017 Old Man Being Shown the Castle
With Special Guest Lauren Lapkus #88 2016/07/22 Dennis Palp
#121 2017/06/30 Mother
With Gourley and Rust All 2018–present Co-host
Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend All 2018–present Producer and Co-host
Bonanas for Bonanza All 2020–present Mutt Taylor

Other appearances:

References

  1. ^ a b Greiving, Tim (November 27, 2023). "How Conan O'Brien co-host Matt Gourley broke through the podcast clutter". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  2. ^ Conan O'Brien (December 27, 2020). "Matthew Rhys". Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend (Podcast). Earwolf. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  3. ^ Gourley, Matt (May 10, 2015). "Matt Gourley on Twitter: "I'd like to sincerely say how much I love my mom, this Mother's Day. And sincerely say how much I love her strange first name. It's Welford." / Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
  4. ^ Eakin, Marah (September 12, 2013). "Derek Waters and Jeremy Konner on Drunk History's first four episodes". The A.V. Club. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
  5. ^ Oyama, Jonathan (June 24, 2009). "Four comedians hang on to their egos with popular podcast". Daily 49er. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  6. ^ a b "matt gourley". ComedySportz. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  7. ^ Full interview with co-creator of Superego comedy podcast (Youtube) (Video interview). Video 49er. September 24, 2009. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  8. ^ Matt Gourley (November 3, 2014). "There Will Be Blood with Paul F. Tompkins - I Was There Too" (Podcast). Wolfpop. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  9. ^ McCulloh, T.H. (March 9, 1995). "'Errors' Gets Plenty Right in Sight Gags". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
  10. ^ McCulloh, T.H. (September 27, 1995). "THEATER REVIEW : Relocated 'Ado' Earns Its Stripes". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  11. ^ Monji, Jana (November 8, 1996). "Moliere's 'Doctor' Suffers as Musical". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  12. ^ Shirley, Don (September 5, 2000). "Uneven 'Loot' Has an Evergreen Theme: Greed". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  13. ^ Shirley, Don (February 26, 2002). "Stock 'Black Comedy' Furnishes Few Laughs". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  14. ^ Scarborough, James (May 19, 2010). "Story About Illness, Family Explored In "Tooth And Nail"". Gazettes. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  15. ^ Gottlieb, Shirle (July 28, 2010). "Students Tackle Abridged Shakespeare". Gazettes. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  16. ^ Foley, F. Kathleen (December 10, 2004). "'Fellowship' parody rings with laughter, inside jokes". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  17. ^ Taylor, Pat (June 10, 2009). "Two totally opposite productions to talk about this time..." The Tolucan Times. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  18. ^ Nichols, David C. (June 10, 2009). "Theater Review". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  19. ^ a b Carter, Jeremy (May 17, 2015). "CARTERISMS: The Story of Superego, Pt. 1 — A Weed-Infused Origin Story". KQED. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  20. ^ a b Evans, Bradford (July 2, 2013). "Talking to the Guys Behind the Podcast 'Superego' About Their New Country-Rock Album". SplitSider.com. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  21. ^ "D.U.H. Department of Untapped Hilarity at Yesterland". Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  22. ^ "15J - Park Hopping with Matt Gourley". Never Not Funny. October 24, 2014. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  23. ^ "Matt Gourley on Earwolf". Earwolf. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  24. ^ "Faculty". River City College. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  25. ^ "Theatre Faculty & Staff". Long Beach City College. Archived from the original on September 15, 2015. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  26. ^ "Theatre Department - Faculty". College of the Canyons. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  27. ^ "Comedians of the Canyons to Host Evening of Improv May 30". May 19, 2014.
  28. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (November 18, 2013). "Fox Buys Comedy From Amanda Lund, Matt Gourley, Jack Black & Diablo Cody". Deadline. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  29. ^ "Dead Pilot's Society Podcast's 3rd episode".
  30. ^ "Volkswagen Turbocharged Sales Event" (PDF). Braxton-Calloway. July 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 9, 2016. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  31. ^ "Matt Gourley TV Commercials". iSpot. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  32. ^ "Matt Gourley 'Just Hangin' McDonald's Commercial". Vimeo. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  33. ^ "Carlton Draught: Any excuse". Ads of the World. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  34. ^ "Matt Gourley Lowe's 'Kitchen Project' Commercial". Vimeo. February 28, 2010. Retrieved August 24, 2015.
  35. ^ "Matt Gourley 'Game With Fame' XBox Call Of Duty Promo". viflux. February 22, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  36. ^ "Matt Gourley Conan O'Brien Promo". Vimeo. November 26, 2008. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  37. ^ Clements, Miles (March 18, 2009). "The Doctors Are In". TheDistrictWeekly.com. Archived from the original on May 4, 2010.
  38. ^ Evans, Bradford (July 18, 2014). "'Superego' Season 4 Is Coming; Paul F. Tompkins to Join Group Full-Time". SplitSider.com. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  39. ^ Matts Gourley and Mira (September 5, 2013). "James Bonding #000: Do You Expect Me To Talk?" (Podcast). Nerdist. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  40. ^ Sedinger, Kelly (August 5, 2014). "Responding to Bonding". Byzantium's Shores. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  41. ^ a b Adam Sachs. "Wolfpop Curator Paul Scheer & Podcast Developer Matt Gourley, episode #66 of The Wolf Den on Earwolf" (Podcast). Earwolf. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
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  44. ^ Wright, Megh (June 11, 2015). "This Week in Comedy Podcasts: Kevin Smith Visits Michael Ian Black on 'How To Be Amazing'". SplitSider. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  45. ^ "Superego's Matt Gourley and Mark McConville Do Live Game Commentary For Pistol Shrimps Basketball as "Pistol Shrimps Radio" Podcast". The Comedy Bureau. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  46. ^ Thorn, Jesse (January 11, 2012). "What podcasts do you subscribe to, Jesse?".
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  51. ^ "CDs & Books". ComedySportz. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  52. ^ "TOWNLAND". MySpace. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  53. ^ "Mount Us More - Superego". BandCamp. July 2, 2013. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  54. ^ Hicks, Jerry (October 9, 1997). "100 Black Men = 1-on-1 Help". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  55. ^ "Lingo - Season 5, episode 57: #272 Ashley & Becca vs. Mark & Matt". TV.com. Retrieved August 26, 2015.
  56. ^ Lloyd, Robert (July 3, 2013). "Review: 'Drunk History' offers amusingly inebriated takes on the past". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  57. ^ "What is Beyond the Ego?". Earwolf. May 15, 2011.
  58. ^ "Boat Queen Week 5 of 6, episode #17". Earwolf. September 26, 2011.
  59. ^ "This American Wife". August 20, 2012.
  60. ^ "Podcuddle #125". October 16, 2012. Retrieved August 26, 2015.
  61. ^ "Star Charting with Matt Gourley". QuitItPodcast.com. Archived from the original on November 26, 2013. Retrieved August 24, 2015.
  62. ^ "The Andy Daly Podcast Pilot Project, episode #25 of Earwolf Presents on Earwolf". December 16, 2013.
  63. ^ Bowden, Nathaniel (July 1, 2015). "Podcast Spotlight: I Was There Too". PodParticle. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  64. ^ "Matt Gourley, Our Close Friend". Earwolf. June 24, 2014.
  65. ^ "Artisanal Podcasting". Earwolf. December 10, 2014.
  66. ^ "Casino Royale - The Canon". Earwolf. March 23, 2015. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  67. ^ "Terrible Parents Pt. 1 - The Black List Table Reads". Earwolf. June 11, 2015. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  68. ^ "Matt Gourley - Get Up On This". July 14, 2015. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  69. ^ "Santa Muerte, sex party history and the LA Riots". 89.3 KPCC. July 26, 2015. Retrieved August 26, 2015.
  70. ^ "iTunes - Podcasts - Pistol Shrimps Radio By Matt Gourley & Mark McConville". Apple. Retrieved August 23, 2015.

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