Laughing at Death: Tolland native putting his stamp on the national comedy stage – Journal Inquirer

TOLLAND Matthew Gudernatch may not be a household name, but it is very likely youve seen him in national television commercials in heavy rotation with Kristen Schaal or Jeff Goldblum.

Gudernatch left his hometown of Tolland more than 12 years ago and currently lives in West Hollywood.

Gudernatch was 16 when his father, Stephen who still lives in town took him and his sister on a trip to Las Vegas and introduced him to one of his comedy idols, Rodney Dangerfield.

It was like four months before he died, Gudernatch said. You had to be 18 or over, so my dad snuck me in and my mind was blown. I had no idea anybody could be that funny. I had no idea you could just stand there for an hour and a half and talk to people and have a blast. It was very formative. That was the day I wanted to do comedy.

With encouragement from his father and a professor at Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts, Gudernatch moved to New York City where he lived with his aunt and started testing his comedy skills.

I had no idea what to do, he said.

He started by joining the improvisational comedy troupe Upright Citizen Brigade.

Their theater is really good, he said. Its low pressure. I started doing that, then on a whim started doing stand up.

Gudernatch made connections with other comedians who offered him encouragement and feedback on his stand-up routine. But he started to miss the Boston area, so he moved back north where he joined Improv Asylum and performed with them weekly.

While that was happening I booked my first major commercial, he said.

The commercial was for the Boston Bruins where he is on a date with a girl wearing a Montreal Canadians jersey. A bear then attacks Gudernatch for dating a fan of another team within the division.

The commercial garnered accolades and, more importantly, Gudernatch was now a member of the Screen Actors Guild He said that if there was ever a time for him to make a jump to Hollywood, it was then.

My friend Ryan (Gall) introduced me to my agent, AKA Talent Agency, and they signed me, he said. Hes been doing national commercials through them since 2012.

Success didnt come immediately for him, though, he said, not booking a single gig his first two years there.

He persevered though, and now Gudernatch has been performing his stand-up show, My Mom Died When I Was 14, runs his own production company, and is working on a feature film.

He admits his humor can be a bit avant garde, especially with his short films like Future Dust, a five minute short about him discussing life and death with his dog that was featured at the Palm Springs Film Festival.

What I try to do is border on hopeful nihilism, or nihilism and existentialism had a baby with lunacy, he said. But I also use that nihilism to have the best ride we can, even if this is all useless. Lets enjoy it.

Gudernatchs apparent preoccupation with finding humor in the tragic stems from the death of his mother when he was 14, who died from cardiomyopathy.

I lost my mom early on, but everyone loses somebody, he said. How can I tell this incredibly personal story and get people laughing and get people to want to hear?

The best compliment Ive gotten are friends coming up to me and say, Ive never laughed about a dead mom before. Every time Ive heard it in a movie or show before, Ive found it inaccessible.

Though it is a comedy show, Gudernatch said his show does address some sad and poignant moments in his life.

This is what its like being 14 years old and having the world fall apart around you, but at the same time, youre also sad that Kelly Richards doesnt want to go out on a date with you, he said. You were just at your moms funeral and youre still worried and afraid that no one is going to instant message you when you get home. That is a big section of my show. How do you deal with life and death when everything is life and death?

His first feature film, titled The Week After the Week After, is scheduled to start shooting this month and follows similar themes.

Its about a guy grieving his father who just died, he said. Hes from this small mountain town and he goes up to visit for a week. Its based on my experience on these grotesque moments in our lives that I find hilarious. You are so numb and so busy that nothing lands. You have bills, you have funeral arrangements, you have all these things and youre just going. Then that week ends and everybody leaves, and the phone calls dry up and the lasagna dries up and youre left in this week of What do I do? Can I smile? Can I be happy right now?

Youre still human and youre going through it, he said. Youre still mad you ran out of cereal. Its trying to use all the stuff I went through. Not many people openly talk about grief. In mental health we talk about grief, but its in this very clinical way or healthful way and this absolutely needs to exist. But nobody would ever joke about it. Isnt it kind of funny? There are these funny things that happen.

Gudernatchs other project is his production company, Owlie Productions, which he uses to operate Owlie Outreach, which offers cost-free, nonprofit film work for small to mid-sized local organizations that cant afford film advertising.

I own all that stuff, he said. If you have a niche skill, why not use that? Not just giving money and feel good about it for a day. Its really helping people. The only thing I charge for is if we have to rent anything. What I do, what my friends do, that comes for free.

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Laughing at Death: Tolland native putting his stamp on the national comedy stage - Journal Inquirer