Matt Fernandez is no joke, but he is funny. Anyone who follows his Twitter knows this (case in point: Trump told Baltic leaders we're going to be guarding the Mexican border with our military. This idiot is leaving us wide open to an attack from Canada.)
Trump told Baltic leaders we're going to be guarding the Mexican border with our military. This idiot is leaving us wide open to an attack from Canada.
— Matt Fernandez (@FattMernandez) April 3, 2018
Saturday (Apr. 14), he'll be live alongside The Bone 102.5's Johnny B. and CL's comedy guru, Michael Murillo. He agreed to answer our almost-famous Seven questions with…; here's what we learned.
Why are you a comedian?
Plymouth rock landed on me so to speak. I’ve been making people laugh since high school. Now I just con people into paying me for it. I truly love it. One time I was talking to a musician and he said “comedy is the only art form that demands one specific reaction. Music, poetry, art, they can all make you feel any number of things. But comedy, you’re trying to make the audience feel one thing.” That was one of the most eye-opening things I’d ever heard, and he was right. I don’t want to make people do anything else but laugh.
What's the worst moment you've had onstage?
Tough call. I’ll give you my top two.1. One time I was performing at a nudist colony, and a very dignified woman in the audience kept yelling “Take your clothes off!” at me for about 20 minutes straight. #MeToo 2. I was doing a set at a jazz club while the band took a break. It was so calm and quiet during my set, I could actually see a woman in the back of the room stand up, look me in my eyes, and point to the exit.
What's off-limits for you, as far as what you'll put in your act?
Nothing is off limits provided I can make it funny. It’s high risk, high reward. If I’m writing a bit about ISIS cutting people’s heads off, it’s my responsibility to make it so good that I can’t justify not doing it even though some people are going to hate it. Polarizing the audience is one of my favorite things to do. To split it right down the middle. But the trick to that is you have to make sure both sides are having fun. I think a lot of comics will do dark material, a joke won’t work, and they think it’s because it was too offensive. When really it just wasn’t a good enough idea to get everyone on board with the subject matter.
You're a local regular at places like SideSplitters. How often do you add new material into your shows, and how long does it take you to work up new material?
I try to add new material as often as possible. It’s not systematic though. It’s like rain. Sometimes there’s a drought and I feel like I’m dying of thirst if I haven’t had a good idea in a while. Then other times it’s a torrential downpour and it all flows easily. I just hope for as much rain as possible.
Who have been your biggest comedic influences and how have they influenced you?
I didn’t really start getting into stand-up until my 20s, so as a kid it was all Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, Mike Myers. That whole SNL cast. Then in my early 20s I started listening to Mitch Hedberg and Dave Chappelle. They were really where I started. Then I saw Demetri Martin for the first time and was completely blown away. That was when I thought, “Maybe I could try this.” Since then I’ve really opened myself up to it. To people like Anthony Jeselnik, Patrice O’Neal, Sarah Silverman, Bill Burr, JB Ball (who is also from Tampa).
Last week Dennis Miller told us Brian Regan was the closest replacement to George Carlin he could think of. Thoughts?
In the sense that Brian Regan has been consistent for the last 20 years in who he is and how he does it in the way that Carlin was, I’d agree with that. However, I think their styles are vastly different. It’s futile to look for a replacement to anyone. The greatest comics, bands, artists, whatever are great because their style is completely their own and can’t really be duplicated by anyone else. In another 20 years won't people just be asking who the next Brian Regan is?
One of our "just for fun" questions is usually what Twitter account someone would hijack and what they would tweet, but your Twitter is pretty damn popular — you've had tweets on Ellen and Jimmy Kimmel. So, if someone was gonna jack your Twitter, who would you want it to be and what would you want them to do with it?
Someone with a cause more impactful than mine. Probably someone like Malcolm X or Che Guevara. Someone who could take my Twitter account full of dumb jokes and use it to organize the masses. Even though nowadays they’d probably just get sent a gif of a rhino taking a shit, or get an op-ed piece written about them by a mommy blogger.
Follow Matt Fernandez on Twitter and check out his website.
This article appears in Mar 29 – Apr 5, 2018.