Interviewing Matt Friend is a wild experience. One minute you’re speaking to him about attracting global attention for his spot-on TikTok impressions and short-form routines, the next you’re speaking to Nicolas Cage. Then Jeff Goldblum. Then Austin Butler. Then Barack Obama. Switching in and out of characters with the flick of a facial expression, Friend’s expert knack for celebrity impersonations has seen his career shoot to the top of a new comedy generation: social media loves him; he’s hosted on the Grammy’s red carpet; he was invited to perform at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in front of the President; and – oh, my golly – he was spontaneously brought on stage by Jeff Goldblum to have a Goldblum-off with the man himself. Friend’s next moves see him touring a longer-form stand-up set and launching a new talk show podcast with Bill Maher’s production company, where he can live out his Johnny Carson fantasy.

Alex James Taylor: Who are the first comedians you remember really grabbing your attention and making you laugh? 
Matt Friend: When I was four-years-old I watched the movie Austin Powers and that was my initial hook, it got me very obsessed with comedy. I grew up with YouTube, so I just devoured old talk shows: Late Night, Johnny Carson, Don Rickles, I loved that era of show business, Frank Sinatra, The Rat Pack. Then Robin Williams and Jim Carrey. Then I discovered SNL, obviously some British stuff, Monty Python. The Simpsons, Key & Peele, more recently. I became a student of comedy. I grew up in Chicago like five minutes away from The Second City, a very famous school for comedy, and that had a big impression on me. Then I went to NYU and that’s when I really started to jump into live performance and comedy. Doing stand- up in New York City while I was still in school I was starting to build a name for myself and getting paid by comedy clubs – then the pandemic hit. I was in the class of 2020 and had to graduate at home in Chicago. It was that period of time that changed my life, I started posting comedy bits, sketches, impressions and jokes on TikTok, Instagram, and Truth Social – I’m kidding! [laughs] That’s when I started to build a following and people began discovering me. Jimmy Kimmel found me, the Today show had me on, and people saw me based on videos I posted from my phone. I then moved back to New York and did my first full hour of stand-up at a club called Carolines – that was the first time I’d pieced together an attempt at 60 minutes’ worth of material. Over the past year there’s been a lot of crazy momentum, I did Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest, and then I did all these comedic interviews on the awards show circuit, at the Golden Globes, where I was doing [goes into an impression of Paul Giamatti] Paul Giamatti next to Paul Giamatti, and the Succession cast. I got to perform at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, doing voice over stuff for Family Guy and The Simpsons, then I’m also touring my hour stand-up. So there’s a lot of exciting stuff happening. 

“It’d be interesting to see where I’d be in this moment without social media, it accelerated and changed everything.”

AJT: When you initially began doing your own comedy, was it stand-up or impressions that came first? 
MF: It was kind of all of it. You have to get noticed somehow, and I have this talent [for impressions], or whatever you want to call it, and now it’s evolving into something more. I love comedy more broadly, but I’ve always loved people who do impressions, whether that’s Dana Carvey or Bill Hader. Ultimately what I want to do, I look at Late Night and that’s definitely an area I want to focus on and be a part of, the Colbert, Kimmel, Fallon universe.

AJT: In terms of writing stand-up and incorporating impressions into your routine, how did you figure out that dynamic? 
MF: It’s been a process, but essentially I’m doing this hour where it’s stories of interactions with celebrities weaved in, because I’ve met a lot of the people I do impressions of, so like Jeff Goldblum, Andy Cohen, Howard Stern, Sebastian Maniscalco, Jim Gaffigan, big comedians and political figures. I describe those stories, I also have ways of analysing different people and have hypothetical scenarios of celebrities speaking to each other. It’s not like the traditional impressionist set-up of like, “This is Robert De Niro on an airplane,” it’s more scripted.

AJT: I suppose it gives you a structure to work with when writing, having these characters you know you want to incorporate. 
MF: Absolutely. In my show, it’s a wide range that includes a lot of topical and younger references, and then there are older things I reference like the 50s, and that’s just my personality, I’m an old soul. There’s a political element, pop culture, some original characters and personal stories.

AJT: And today’s a big day for one of your main political impressions [it’s the day Donald Trump was found guilty of 34 convictions]. 
MF: [goes into Trump impression] It really is, there’s a lot of stuff happening in the news. A sad day, a sham trial, a corrupt judge. [goes out of the impression] There’s a lot of material.

“I’ve always loved people who do impressions, whether that’s Dana Carvey or Bill Hader.”

AJT: How do you tend to begin an impersonation? Do you see someone and think, “I want to nail that” or do you know more instinctively? 
MF: You know, it depends. Imagine if I said, “I don’t pick the impression, the impression picks me.” [both laugh] I look at who’s being talked about and who is relevant in the news, and also I’m just a big fan of TV in general. Like, I’m watching Shōgun and I find myself doing an impression of the main British dude [Cosmo Jarvis]. Watching so many TV shows, talk shows, keeping up with the news, the impressions or characters are found through that.

AJT: Do you have any favourites? 
MF: [goes into King Charles impression] I need to perfect my King Charles, it’s very fun to do when I come to London for a show. [goes out of the impression] Politically, there’s Trump and [Mitch] McConnell, and all the big American politicians. During the awards season I was doing Paul Giamatti and Cillian Murphy, people love Jeff Goldblum.

AJT: I love your impression of Tom from Succession [Matthew Macfadyen].
MF: [goes into Matthew Macfadyen impression] Oh hey buddy, knuckle up fucklehead. [goes out of the impression] Another great Brit. I love doing Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, very random. There are so many I love to do.

AJT: And what have been the best reactions when you’ve done an impression in front of that person? 
MF: I think Goldblum was the best one, when he brought me on stage. That was an unusual experience to say the least. But doing these at award shows was such a rare opportunity. Austin Butler was a particularly big moment, he won last year at the Golden Globes for Elvis, and it was a crazy moment because he was being ushered in by his team but then he stopped and recognised me and said, [goes into Austin Butler impression], “Hey I love your videos, let’s do a little video together right now.” [goes out of impression] That was a surreal moment.

AJT: Social media has played a huge part in your career, did you go onto social media as a consequence of the pandemic? Was it an outlet you had planned before that? 
MF: It was weird timing. Like I said, I was in college and it was an amazing moment where this new app, TikTok, came about, and the way the algorithm was structurally designed for people to get discovered. As opposed to you following people, it’d show you people. I was at this point, 21 or 22, starting out, wanting to create opportunities, and then this discoverability tool enters right at that exact moment. Then it’s the pandemic and everybody is at home on their phone doing nothing. I was very lucky to have been creating videos every day, non-stop writing. I had a mini late-night talk show I created during the pandemic, I did like 60 episodes with my friend from college, I did a topical monologue and desk bits. So I was very productive during that time. It’d be interesting to see where I’d be in this moment without social media, it accelerated and changed everything.

AJT: Especially for comedians, social media has made such an impact in terms of being able to share their work and gaining visibility. Whereas before, the only real way of showcasing yourself was through physical sets or, if you’re lucky, TV specials, now you can share sets to millions of viewers around the world. 
MF: Absolutely, it really has. It’s a weird thing to think about. Before, to have a profile like this, you’d have to have a Late Night set, but now I’m creating stuff from my phone.

AJT: Let’s talk about your new podcast, Friend in High Places, can you tell me what we can expect from that? 
MF: I’m very excited. I’m working with Bill Maher on it, and obviously he’s a huge name and a big inspiration. It’s going to be all the elements of the things I grew up loving. There are so many podcasts out there, but I think what’s going to separate this is it’s going to feel a little more elevated. It’ll have a traditional talk show feel and we’re going to get into topical, political and pop culture subjects. I’m excited for people to see this other side of me beyond the 30 second clip. They’ll see longer form conversations and how I actually think. I’m thrilled for people to listen.

AJT: This is your Johnny Carson moment. 
MF: A lot less of a budget – but yes! [both laugh]

MATT wears all clothing and accessories by ZEGNA SS24