by rudyards | May 19th, 2013
A monthly series, the Level Up is a curation of stand up talent from all over the country. This month features Matthew Broussard who won Houston’s Funniest Person 2012 and will make his television debut this fall on the new Comedy Central series, Adam DeVine’s House Party.
8pm - 10pm (Doors 7:30pm) $5
Matthew Broussard (Houston, TX)
https://mondaypunday.com/
“Matthew Broussard, 24, is the funniest person in Houston. And that’s official.
In June, he won Comedy Showcase’s “Funniest Person” stand-up contest. Then in July he won the Improv’s Stand-Up Stand-Off. So it’s unanimous. His parents have even taken notice. “My mom and dad have seen me on YouTube,” Broussard explains. “My mom’s like, ‘I can’t believe you’re up there in front of those people.’ And I ask her, ‘Did you find it funny?’ She says, ‘No, but it’s really impressive.’”
Want impressive? Try this: The handsome, accomplished part-time comic—the Rice math grad works by day as a financial analyst, pursuing his passion for laughin’ at open-mic nights all over town—is arguably the face of H-Town’s stand-up scene today.
….Broussard recalls his own foray into stand-up a year ago as inauspicous. “I saw a flyer for an open mic and said, ‘I have to try that.’ I showed up by myself at the bar. I wore a hat to sort of hide myself, told some stupid jokes about The Lion King, and I was hooked.”
The charming Broussard has since developed a persona based on the guy he could be: an entitled pretty boy with a silver spoon, all deck shoes and sandy blond hair. “A lot of people assume I’m rich because I work in finance, which is not true,” goes the schtick. “I’m rich because I have a trust fund.” His other topics—delivered with even-keeled affability at regular open-mic venues such as Rudyard’s —include Facebook etiquette, the Houston dating scene and even some weightier topics like racism.
While he calls Houston “a tough scene” that often plays out in rough bars with rowdy people in the audience, he enjoys the slog. “You’re forced to perfect what you’re doing here,” he says. “Then you go to Austin and it’s a cakewalk.” His dream job would be correspondent for The Daily Show, but for now he’s loving his newfound comedy cred in H-Town.
“People think I’m cocky,” he says, back in character. “But that’s only because I have so much going for me.” - Sara Cress, Modern Luxury Houston
