Matt Gourley

Matt Gourley

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The basics
Quick facts
Gender:
Male
Is:
ActorTelevision actor
Work field:
Film, TV, Stage & Radio
Birth:
23 May 1973(Whittier, Los Angeles County, California, U.S.A.)
Star sign:
Gemini
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Biography

Introduction

Matt Gourley (born May 23, 1973) is an American actor, comedian, and podcaster best known for his work on the Superego podcast, Drunk History, and as a Volkswagen spokesperson.

Early life

Gourley was born in Whittier, California on May 23, 1973. He grew up near Richard Nixon's childhood home.

Career

Theater and improv

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

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, Antipholus in The Comedy of Errors, Dogberry's henchman in Much Ado About Nothing, Orville in The Doctor In Spite of Himself, Hal in Loot, Brindsley in Black Comedy, the director of Tooth and Nail at the Little Fish Theatre, and as a set/lighting designer on The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged). Gourley did video work and set design for multiple productions of Fellowship!.

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

Teaching

Gourley has taught theater and improvisation at Riverside City College, Long Beach City College, and College of the Canyons. 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. 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 girlfriend, Amanda Lund, to Fox. 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. Gourley has appeared on Community, 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. He has also appeared in ads for McDonald's, Carlton Draught, Lowe's, Hewlett-Packard, Hyundai, Xbox, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, 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. Superego has since added Mark McConville, Jeff Crocker, and Paul F. Tompkins as regular cast members.

In September 2013, Gourley started hosting a podcast along with Matt Mira titled James Bonding on the Nerdist network. The podcast discusses the James Bond films one by one with guests. In November 2014, Gourley helped launch the new Wolfpop podcast network, a sister to Earwolf, along with Paul Scheer and Adam Sachs. 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. Gourley also co-hosted The Andy Daly Podcast Pilot Project on Earwolf with Andy Daly.

Gourley also co-hosts Pistol Shrimps Radio with his Superego colleague Mark McConville. The podcast consists of unedited commentary of the games of The Pistol Shrimps, a women's rec league basketball team in Los Angeles.

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.

Music

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

Personal life

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

Gourley lives in Los Angeles with his fiancée, Amanda Lund, and their cat, Margaux the Fat Guy.

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
2012 Attack of the Show! 11/8/2012 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, 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 Talking Tom and Friends "Friendly Customer Service" Gilbert (voice)
2015 Adventure Time "Orgalorg" Ma Elder (voice)
2016 Another Period "Harvard" Albert Einstein

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
The Wolf Den #15 2011/05/15 Himself
#66 2014/11/05 Himself
Pop My Culture #52 2011/09/01 Himself (with Superego)
The Apple Sisters #17-18 2011/09/26-10/03
This American Wife Extrasode 1 2012/08/20 Advice columnist
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)
The Andy Daly Podcast Pilot Project All 2013–2014 Co-host/various
James Bonding All 2013–present Co-host
Quit It Star Charting 2013/03/13 Himself
Earwolf Presents #25 2013/12/16 Himself
I Was There Too All 2014–present Host
Hollywood Handbook #38 2014/06/24 Himself
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
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
Spontaneanation #1, #10, #15,
#16, #22, #27,
#28, #34, #37,
#58, #60, #62,
#68		 2015–2016 Improviser
Black List Table Reads #301-304 2015/06/11-2015/07/02
Get Up On This #200 2015/07/14 Himself
Welcome to Vinci 2015/07/26 Himself
Pistol Shrimps Radio All 2015 Co-host
Superego: Forgotten Classics All 2015 Cast member
With Special Guest Lauren Lapkus #88 2016/07/22 Dennis Palp

Other appearances:

  • Star Wars Minute
  • Comedy Film Nerds
  • Earwolf Challenge
  • Accept the Mystery
  • Cracked
  • Jordan Jesse Go
  • Feral Audio
  • Before You Were Funny
  • Succotash
  • Feliz Navipod
  • The Biggest Mistake
  • Film Junk
  • Doug Loves Movies