The Lou Perez Podcast Episode 79 - Matt Thornton

Check out my book, That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: On the Death and Rebirth of Comedy https://www.amazon.com/dp/1637582455

On this episode of The Lou Perez Podcast, I talk with Matt Thornton, founder of Straight Blast Gym and author of The Gift of Violence. https://mattthornton.org/

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Who am I?
Lou Perez, author of THAT JOKE ISN'T FUNNY ANYMORE: ON THE DEATH AND REBIRTH OF COMEDY.

I produce the Comedy Is Murder series with Free the People. I was the Head Writer and Producer of the Webby Award-winning comedy channel We the Internet TV. During my tenure at WTI, I made the kind of comedy that gets you put on lists and your words in the Wall Street Journal: “How I Became a ‘Far-Right Radical.”

In addition to producing sketch comedy, stand-up, and opinion writing, I am on the advisory board of Heresy Press and host the live show The Wrong Take with Lou Perez andThe Lou Perez Podcast.

How’d I start out?

I began doing improv and sketch comedy while an undergrad at New York University, where I was part of the comedy group the Wicked Wicked Hammerkatz.

For years, I performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater (both in NYC and L.A.) in sketch shows with the Hammerkatz and my comedy duo, Greg and Lou. G&L are probably best known for our sketch "Wolverine's Claws Suck," which has over 20 million views across online platforms.

I was a writer for Fox Sports' @TheBuzzer; produced The Attendants with the Above Average Network; produced pilots for FOX Digital and MSN Games; and was a comedy producer on TruTV's Impractical Jokers.

I hosted the stand-up show Uncle Lou's Safe Place in Los Angeles, performed at the Big Pine Comedy Festival, Bridgetown Comedy Festival, and co-created the political comedy podcast Unsafe Space.

I taught creative writing at the City College of New York, "writing the web series" for Writing Pad, and comedy writing workshops for the Moving Picture Institute.