Friday, December 10, 2010
Sunday, December 5, 2010
A Far Out Comedian
Matt Farley poses. Photo by Michael Acker
Lights glare in his face and the microphone screeches to life. The crowd quiets down. Matt Farley starts another comedic routine.
“I used to be really awkward in front of people like most kids that had braces growing up on their legs!” says Matt Farley. “When I got them off I really came out of my shell!”
Matt Farley is a junior pursuing a political science degree with a minor in English at the University of Oklahoma. But at the moment he is proud he is the first ever comedy series director for OU’s Union Programming Board.
Matt grew up in Edmond Oklahoma. He was the class clown in every school he attended. Many of his friends would characterize Matt as a funny guy. When attending his local church he was the fun-loving teenager that many younger kids enjoyed. Matt has an unusual relationship with a NFL head coach. He met the coach of the Washington Redskins Mike Shanahan through his dad. He has become friends with Shanahan, and this sparked his interest in the career of a sports agent. But at the moment he continues to do standup.
He never thought of doing standup, but enjoyed watching comedians on television. Matt started school at OU with no intention to do standup comedy as a hobby. He joined Sigma Phi Epsilon, and learned about a coffee night event they have to showcase talents. He practiced at comedy routine, and was met with applause. He then signed up for last year’s Comedy Fight Night, and took home third prize. This sparked Matt’s idea to continue his hobby of standup comedy.
“I was once told, Matt, you are kind of a smart ass, and I took that seriously and turned this into a comedic routine. I’ve been able to use my outlandishly amazing skills at being as funny as I am and turned that into a position that I could put onto my resume.”
Matt went to apply for a position in the Union Programming Board last year. He read over the application, and found many of the positions generic. As a joke he had an idea to write in “comedy chair” at the bottom of the application. The board interviewed him anyway, and impressed by his pitch and gave him the position.
Matt has planned several UPB events this year.
“I started the year by putting on a comedy concert with Michael Palascak as the headliner and I opened for him,” said Matt. “The big event I put on was the Comedy Fight Night, which is the OU standup comedy competition.”
The Comedy Fight Night has 350 people in attendance, and was hosted by the Last Comic Standing finalist Taylor Williamson. The event is part of a two day event at the Oklahoma Memorial Union; this year Comedy Fight Night was followed by a concert from musician Ben Kweller. The Comedy Fight Night competition rewards scholarship money to the top three contestants. The crowd votes on who gets the top three spots and who is the crowd favorite.
OU junior Wesley Jackson attended Comedy Fight Night.
“Matt performed really well as did the other contestants,” said Jackson. “Last year was good, but since Matt has taken over the level of good comedy has increased.”
Matt is working on getting more funding for the Speaker’s Bureau to bring a big name comedian to OU next semester. The Speaker’s Bureau has a larger budget than the UPB, and Matt could offer comedians more to come to OU. Matt wants to get comedian Bo Burnham as a headliner. Matt continues to pursue his degree, and plans to attend law school.
Here is audio of Matt Farley's latest comedy routine.