Meet Matt Talley of Atlanta

Today we’d like to introduce you to Matt Talley.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’ve spent the majority of my life in pursuit of the arts. From the time that I was 13, I sang and played guitar in garage bands and houses of worship. A split home provided for two incredibly unique experiences when it came to music – one would lead me into playing rock music on the stages where I’d seen my idols, one would lead me to play music in front of thousands on weekly basis.

Up until I was 30 years old, I toured, did session work, was featured in national publications, and released multiple albums. And then one day there was a crack in my voice.

Fast forward to a doctor telling me that I had scarring on my vocal folds and permanent hearing loss in my ear. My whole world changed. It was either surgery or stop singing completely.

Id always felt discontentment with the music industry and at 30 found myself asking if the juice was worth the squeeze any longer. After about 2 years of less than stellar performances and releases, I finally called it quits.

The void left by no longer pursuing the passion that had been filling me for 20+ years was massive. Fortunately, my useless Communications degree instilled a lot of loves in me when I was younger, one of which was writing.

Coincidentally I’d always loved comedy. And years prior, I’d listened to a podcast called “You Made It Weird” with comedian Pete Holmes. He was interviewing Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie and they were discussing the similarities between writing music and writing jokes, and for years leading up to my inevitable conclusion with music, I’d been keeping a note in my phone filled with funny stories, conversations with friends, random thoughts when on edibles, etc.

And then one day, I looked up comedy open mics, opened up that note in my phone, and stood up on stage…

I’ve been doing it nearly every night since.

Shortly after starting, I realized that I wanted to host my own show. Promotion and hosting was something I was familiar with when it came to music, so why not do the same with comedy? I reached out to a few contacts I had in the music scene and a few months later, The Eddie’s Attic Comedy Throwdown was born. Now it’s viewed as one of the best comedy shows in the greater Atlanta area.

Shortly after that I began my podcast, Talley Ho, a weekly comedy podcast where I sit down with other comics to talk shop.

And now here I am a year later, telling jokes every night of the week, traveling to other cities to do the thing I love, actually making money from my art, connecting with artists I’ve admired for years – it feels like the one year I’ve spent in comedy is within striking distance of the accomplishments I prided myself in 20+ years of music…talk about playing the wrong hand.

I guess it only took losing one calling to find another…that and my hearing.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I think I was fortunate to have learned to in’s and outs of navigating an arts scene, as well as the entertainment industry when I played music.

Hucksters, charlatans, grifters and wannabes are in every arts scene, and they tend to stick out like a sore thumb. Nothing like a guy with 334 followers and 4 likes on his posts to tell you “how to maximize and monetize your art.”

Likewise, the lessons I learned about how your art is only 10% of your job and the other 90% consists of marketing, networking, creating, promoting, etc we’re all super applicable and transitional from music to comedy.

My biggest struggle and learning curve was finding my voice. Understanding how I view the world, and how I communicate that to others while simultaneously making them laugh. I knew I was a hard worker, and could easily out hustle 90% of people around me, but likewise, the main thing is still the main thing – be funny.

Additionally, Atlanta is a pretty brilliant incubator for comedy. There are a multitude of clubs, venues and rooms to learn what jokes hit in front of certain crowds compared to others. Due to the political landscape of Atlanta, there are a lot of touchy subjects and some people flat out don’t want to hear certain kinds of jokes. You gotta find a way to make them laugh anyway.

And that’s the learning curve Im on now, always trying to get funnier, punch up my sets, make them tighter, darker, funnier and more captivating.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m proud of everything I’ve accomplished within comedy. Coming into it and sizing up those around me, while there are so many comics that are funnier than me, I knew instantaneously that I was a harder worker than nearly everyone I met. If they funny came along the way, that was the only missing piece, and luckily it did. I think that’s what sets me apart. Talent will only get you so far, but if you’re not networking, creating content, and promoting? It doesn’t matter how funny you are. You’re dead in the water. Some people have differing views, but it’s worked out pretty well so far.

I love the fact that I get to perform stand up comedy all throughout the southeast – I love the show I host at Eddie’s Attic, The Comedy Throwdown in Decatur, GA. I love the other opportunities Im being presented to host and be a part of unique shows.

One of the things I enjoy the absolute most is that I get to host my own comedy podcast, Talley Ho, where I sit down with other comics and shoot the shit for an hour or two – we exchange stories about our lives, comedy and more. In my mind there’s nothing more worthwhile than hearing and sharing stories.

So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
Share. Share. Share.

You want to help your artist friends grow? Share their content to your stories. It takes 15 seconds, but the metrics that your support gives with just a click of a button is truly insane.

Beyond that, come out to a show! If you’ve never experienced live comedy, it’s something that you’ll never be able to appreciate from just watching an Instagram Reel or TikTok.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.matttalleycomedy.com/
• Email: matttalleycomedy@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/MattTalleyComedy
• Facebook: https://Facebook.com/MattTalleyLaughs
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@problematticstudios