Los Angeles Comic Comes Home to Dayton Roots

Typically we feature Food Adventure jaunts to local food joints, but today here is a story of a local comedian friend who will be feeding the crowd some comedy next weekend.  It is the “in progress” story of a man settling in from L.A. back to Dayton.  For 2 years and 2 months he has been back in the Miami Valley (not that he’s counting).  It has given him time to reflect and process where he has been, and see how he can use those skills to further develop a career in his hometown.

Matthew Barnard grew up in Centerville, Ohio and moved to Los Angeles in the late 1990’s to pursue a love of all things entertainment.  This included writing, acting, producing, directing with a heavy dose of improv and stand up comedy.   After 16 years in the city of Angels, he came back home to Dayton in 2015.  He has continued to feed his passion for comedy and entertainment, which is near and dear to his heart.

One example of  his current works is getting familiar with the comedy scene in Ohio.  Matt will be performing at Wiley’s Comedy Club on Sunday,

April 30 at 8 pm with lots of local comedians in an open mic format.  He has recently performed there and other comedy clubs in Cincinnati, etc.  It is really second nature for this seasoned artist.

 

MATT’S COMEDY and ENTERTAINMENT RESUME:

Matt trained in comedy at places like The Groundlings, ACME Comedy Theatre, Improv Olympic and Second City-Los Angeles.  One of his long running improv groups was “Swordfight” which included comedians who had won Oscars in Animation.  One of his comedy mentors, Peter Murrieta,  is a two time Emmy winner as a comedy writer.

Matt worked for Paramount Pictures music division, Dreamworks, The Hollywood Reporter, The Celebration Theatre (the longest running gay themed play and theatre company in LA) and the Writers Guild of America.  He rubbed shoulders with many brilliant performers, some who went on to success, such as Tessa Thompson, who played the main love interest in the 2016 movie “Creed.”

 

FOND MEMORIES OF L.A.

Matt always says “Comedy broke me out of my shell, expanded my perspective and made me willing to tap into any situation and never be afraid.”

He enjoyed living in LA during his late 20’s and 30’s, but as time went by, the big city can grind on anyone.  After 16 years, it was his desire to return to his roots and begin new ventures.  But coming home to the Midwest brings new challenges and new obstacles.

Being a gay man in L.A. was easy.  So many people are “out.” and it’s no big deal. to find friends and network with people in show business who have an artistic streak.

Dating can be tougher when you are not in a big city and even if you are in a metropolis, dating that leads to committed relationships can be difficult as well.  Matt used to say “it can be tough to find a great Regaytionship”.  And a new term and company was born!

Earlier this year, Matt launched Regaytionships.com, a personalized match-making service for the LGBT community.  For more info on membership, please visit Regaytionships.com or for marketing, blog, advertising, PR or other business related questions, please send an email to [email protected].  Or follow them on twitter.

It was this new confidence that lead him to write, create and co-star in his own scripted web series “Spin The Bottle” which was accepted by FunnyOrDie.com and has achieved over 600,000 hits.  Another goal of Matt is to keep that series going, possibly with local filmmakers.  He would also like to move on to other acting, writing and producing projects that he has up his sleeve.

Matt may have left the capital of entertainment behind, but it’s still deeply rooted in his heart and mind.

Come see Matt and other comics April 30th at open mic night.  Eat, Drink and be Merry…

WILEYS COMEDY CLUB
101 Pine Street
Dayton OH 45402
937 224 5653

“SUNDAY COMICS”-APRIL 30th
$5 ADMISSION

Here is the food and drink menu at Wiley’s, may we suggest the Cheese Con Queso and the Pulled Pork Sliders as two “MUST EATS.”

Turn it into a Food Adventure.

 

We would be remiss if we didn’t ask Matt about his favorites…. comedy and foodwise …

Matt Barnards favorite comics:

• Ellen DeGeneres  
• Kathy Griffin 
• Ross Matthews 
• Joan Rivers
• Margaret Cho

Now of course we must ask him about his favorite restaurants…

Matts favorite restaurants in Dayton:

• Roost
• Carrabas
• China Cottage 
• Amar India
• His Moms Kitchen – she makes a great shepard’s pie

See you at the comedy club !!!!

Food Adventures is a local food blog run by Chef House, Hungry Jax and the Big Ragu.  We leave no plate unturned.  Original events, original weekly articles on MostMetro, an original website, and a Facebook following that will knock your socks off !