Thriving Artists: The Daily Joyride with Robyn Cohen

How To Overcome Fear, Persevere And Create A Miraculous Life with Shakespearean Actor, Matt Burke

• Robyn Cohen • Episode 8

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Are you struggling to find your creative path? Looking for inspiration to overcome life's darkest hours? Curious about how successful artists maintain their inner peace amidst chaos? Join Robyn Cohen on the Daily Joyride podcast as she welcomes Matt Burke, an acclaimed actor, teacher, and performer who has dedicated nearly three decades to the craft. Discover Matt's journey from outdoor stages in Florida to acting alongside stars like Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman and Jim Carrey. Dive into his transformative experiences with addiction, the power of breathwork, and finding light amidst darkness. Tune in for heartfelt wisdom, practical tips on maintaining inner safety, and a command performance of a Shakespearean monologue. This episode is a true testament to the resilience and magic one can find in the journey to becoming a thriving creative.

Connect with Matt Burke:

IG: @burkusmax - https://www.instagram.com/burkusmax/?hl=en

Matt’s website: https://www.mattburkeacting.com/ 

💕 Thanks for tuning in to The Daily Joyride Podcast!

🎊 In appreciation, I made you a special MP3 Free Audio Guide called: '5 Proven Practices to Peace and Power,' that promises to infuse your days with ease, calm and strength. (in under 7 minutes!) 

FREE GIFT!👇

https://mailchi.mp/cohenactingstudio/free-gift-to-freedom

🔔 Don’t forget! Acting Classes are open to ALL Auditors - for FREE through Tuesday, March 4th!

Class Dates:

  • Feb. 25th (7pm pt: online & in-person)
  • March 4th (7pm pt: online & in-person) 

For a free audit, email:

robyn@cohenactingstudio.com

or contact me at the Studio:

www.cohenactingstudio.com 

⭐️ We've got a couple of spots left for actors to get “on their feet!” in class!

Register Here: www.cohenactingstudio.com

🎭 If you can’t make Tuesdays, never fear! Group classes and one-on-one coaching are available throughout the year-👍

👉 Follow me on Instagram: @RobynCohenActingStudio - for ongoing inspiration, updates, and encouragement!

- Thank you for leaving a review and for sharing this episode with a friend! It helps SO MUCH to spread the good word!

⏰ **Timestamps: **

00:00 - Introduction and Welcome

03:45 - Matt Burke's Acting Journey

12:30 - The Importance of Breath and Body Connection

21:00 - Teaching Philosophy and Student Safety

34:12 - Overcoming Addiction and Dark Times

46:30 - The Healing Power of Being Seen

55:40 - Matt's Personal Struggles and Miracles

01:07:20 - Shakespearean Monologue Performance

01:18:15 - Final Thoughts and Takeaways

Any Q's? Email: robyn@cohenactingstudio.com

Robyn Cohen:

Well hello, lovely listeners, welcome back to the Daily Joyride. I'm Robyn Cohen, here to journey with you into resplendent realms of creativity and inspiration. Today we have a treat unlike any other thus far, you're going to hear why in a minute, as we take a deep dive into Matt Burke's world. Matt is a Shakespearean actor virtuoso, a gifted educator, and a master performer in the mediums of television, film, and live theater. He's the real deal. and you're going to hear all about how Matt actually overcame some really formidable challenges, some personal setbacks, and huge professional obstacles. And transformed them into empowering stories of resilience and artistry that provide incredible wisdom and guidance for others today. So get ready, folks, for this adventure ahead and, drumroll please, let yourself be mesmerized by his Phenom command performance of a Shakespearean monologue from Othello delivered right here on this here podcast episode. It's an absolute gift of poetic brilliance and passionate genius. in that vein, if you are feeling inspired to unleash your beautiful potential, my acting classes are open to all auditors for free through March 4th, we meet Tuesday evenings at 7 p. m. And these classes are your golden ticket to a veritable feast of creativity, inspiration, and fellowship. So connect with me on Instagram at@RobynCohenActingStudio or via email at Robyn@CohenActingStudio.Com And let's get the fire lit, starting right here, right now. Let's go. Well, hello, hello, and welcome back to the Daily Joyride`podcast. I'm your host, Robyn Cohen. What a joyride we are in for today, my friends. Oh my goodness. I'm so excited to introduce friend of mine someone who has dedicated nearly three decades of his life to the craft of acting, teaching, and helping others connect deeply to their purpose. Matt Burke is on the show. Matt Burke is not only an incredibly talented, talented performer who has graced both the stage and screen alongside some of the brightest luminaries in the business. We'll get into it. but he's also a passionate and beloved teacher who has guided young and aspiring actors toward unlocking their potential. Fullest potential. Love that so much. He holds his BFA in acting from Florida State University, and Delaware's professional theater training program, PTTP, is where he earned his MFA. His pursuits have led him from Jacksonville, Florida, where he started in sweat filled, mosquito surrounded outdoor stages to assisting stars such as Mel Gibson, Tom Cruise, And Jim Carrey in Los Angeles, a few short years later, he was learning the art of theater making from icons such as Jewel Walker and Adrian Hall. Which aided greatly in his performing in three seasons at the Tony Award winning Utah Shakespearean Festival. Wonderful, glorious theater in Utah. If you haven't been there before, listeners, get there if you can. He has since been seen in 25 major motion picture and TV projects, with Luminaries like Nicole Kidman, Jason Bateman, Melissa McCarthy, and Angela Bassett. We actually have the same acting manager, Angela Bassett and I I she doesn't, I don't know. We don't know. She doesn't know who I, I know who she is, of course. She doesn't know who

Matt B:

I am, even though we've worked together, I guarantee you, she doesn't know.

Robyn Cohen:

And we love her anyway. In 2012, Matt began exploring the world of holistic and somatic healing practices in Asheville, North Carolina, where he has resided for the last 15 years. It is there where he began to discover the other part of his true aim, integrating his art with spirituality, to help communities create more authentic lives lived with pleasure, passion, and purpose. That's so beautiful. And I will say that Matt is an expert in Laban Movement Analysis. Shakespearean performance and techniques that have really helped actors connect their breath, their bodies, and their souls to their craft. So I am beyond thrilled to have Matt with us today. He's someone who truly embodies the joy of artistic exploration and the power of helping others tap into their creativity. So buckle up or settle in because this is going to be a conversation filled with wisdom, heart, and inspiration. Let's dive in. Welcome to the show, Matt Burke. Welcome to the Daily Joyride.

Matt B:

And we have already peaked, ladies and gentlemen, it is now all downhill from here, but it will be exciting.

Robyn Cohen:

Oh my gosh, Matt, it's so good to see you, first of all, and, just have to acknowledge you're in North Carolina, things look lovely and peaceful, and I know there's been a lot of, forces of nature that have come through there, so, how are you doing in the aftermath of some really, serious climate changes that affected your cities in particular?

Matt B:

Uh, well, There's so many layers as usual to, what's going on and you know, it's funny you asked me to do this, but you really, and ladies and gentlemen, Robyn had absolutely no idea how, when she was catching me. She's just tuned in somewhere deep in the super unconscious, let's say,

Robyn Cohen:

but

Matt B:

she's catching me in the midst of the most incredible year of my life. there's just been so much. both dark and light. I've been, I've never been stretched this much between one end of the, of the spectrum where the darkness, the darkest things have happened in my life, let's say, but then right in the wake of those dark things have been the most light filled miracles, of my life. So it's been, it's been amazing. Uh, Helene was of course, one of the dark occurrences that happened. And I don't know if that dog is coming through or not, but he will stop in a minute. We

Robyn Cohen:

might have a feline jungle tiger of the night coming through, uh, Joffy the cat, so no problem.

Matt B:

Okay, great. So, I was personally and my family and most of my community were, uh, unaffected, in any significant fashion by Helene, but the community at large was devastated. It, we're still, we're still recovering. It will be still probably a couple of years before we're really back to, I mean, we just got running water in downtown Nashville a couple of weeks ago. We've been without how

Robyn Cohen:

many months that's

Matt B:

over a month. It's that was like five, six, five, six weeks.

Robyn Cohen:

Unbelievable.

Matt B:

But yeah, in terms of me and the people that I know personally, we all we landed on our feet and the losses were minor. But in the communities that got it the most were outside of Asheville, you know, 20 to 30 minutes outside of Asheville, these small towns that were along the river got washed away, totally completely washed away roads, lost in mudslides like A lot of the efforts are going about and are about infrastructure. That's what is needed are still just roads to put back into these towns. So the travel lines through these these little towns like Hot Springs and and and Bat Cave and, Burnsville and, Spring Creek. They're going they're going to take, uh, it's going to take a lot of a long time to get those really back to standing.

Robyn Cohen:

Wow. Well, yeah. Blessings and prayers and God bless you. I mean, it sounds like just getting back to the bones of the infrastructure for many of those communities. And, and speaking of getting back to the bones, I just want to say for those who are listening and not necessarily watching that if you can see Matt, like you can hear it in his voice if you can't see him, but I'm so struck always Matt with you by the immediacy and the vibrancy and the presence of you every time I've been in your presence. And it's yeah, it's fascinating to experience what you're saying, which is like, you're in a maelstrom, right? Yes. And then simultaneously be that. It moves me. It makes me emotional actually. Cause I'm like, this is, you know, it's in part why I started this podcast. It was in honor of my brother who passed away and the ripping transformational pain that that was for me and for my family and how we on assignment by Adam were put to the test of figuring out it was his blessing, his wish that we figure out a way to be happy in this life and experience the aliveness of life. while we're still alive. And so I just want to reflect that it's such a, it's so exciting to be in your presence because you are so sort of on the cutting edge of now, and it brings whoever is into your spaces into that presence as well, authentically. And so your being, just so you know, is really a gateway for us getting to be ourselves And I'm really looking forward to, diving a little deeper about what you said about the deepest dark and the brightest light because I think you can't actually have one without the other

Matt B:

true. That's been my that's been the huge lesson for me. For me this year is that every time there was the darkest depth, right? The darkest night right in its wake was the brightest light. It was, that's, that's been the most amazing thing. It's been surreal. It's been, uh, I mean, I probably experienced, I never thought that I would have a year I've learned more this year than I have in any other year of my life. And it really is. It's almost like I'm achieving this new level of being alive too, which for me is I mean, I thought I was pretty live before that, but I did actually, but I did find myself and we'll, we'll get into this whenever we get into it, but I did walk into, I mean, accidentally walked into an addiction and I, and I'll tell you all about it, but, that put me into the throes of a world that I was completely not ready to deal with. And, but it also, it put me right into some mysterious way. It put me right where I needed to be to, to do the things that I needed to do to get to the next level of life.

Robyn Cohen:

That sounds so mysterious. I'd love to get under that. Yeah. In terms of like, and I also get the specific piece about like, I walked into something I didn't even know was going to be a disaster, but it was the very disaster that when the sun rose and when the dawn came, I was going to be reborn.

Matt B:

It has been a rebirth. I've been in the rebirth canal for probably the last two years and you're, you really are like the timing. I'm not even exaggerating. You're, you're catching me right as I'm coming out of the pit. Yeah. Yeah. Like, it's destiny.

Robyn Cohen:

We call that Basharit. Like, that's how we want it. Raw and real. And like, that's where That's where the gold is in life. And so I guess, just sort of get into what you were talking about, like these lessons, what would you say, are you able to encapsulate, you said, I've gotten the biggest lessons of my life this last year. Can you talk a little bit about like, what are those lessons that you are now filled with and embodying that as a teacher, as a performer, as an artist, as a family member, you're now. How are you going to be able to somehow turn this mess into a message? What have you learned? What have you been learning?

Matt B:

I'll, I'll quote Carl Jung, who said that the things we wish, we most desire, I'm paraphrasing, the things that we most desire to find are found in the places we least want to look.

Robyn Cohen:

Our greatest desire is often our greatest fear.

Matt B:

Correct. Thanks. Yeah. What we desire most is on the other side of what we fear most. Yes. Right. so again with this and that and sort of unfolding in, and also in all of this, we, we do not have control. Like we, we have power. That's different than control. We don't have control. And oftentimes what we walk around signaling to people. Is how we are in control. I got it. I'm in control. And, and in, interestingly enough, the hardest thing for people to ask for, or the hardest thing for people to say is not, I love you. Not I'm sorry, not please forgive me. It's I need help.

Robyn Cohen:

Help. yeah, yeah. I

Matt B:

need help.

Robyn Cohen:

I need help.

Matt B:

and I've, I've, so I, I have just learned that you gotta give, you gotta kind of give it up. You know, you have to relinquish whatever illusions you have about the control that you have in your life now. Now there's a distinction with the difference here because that doesn't mean that you have no power. That doesn't mean that you don't have a facility to participate in the process. Quite the contrary. You can participate with all of your being to the process. Right. And you can go after what you want, right? You can aim clearly and you can go with all of your being towards what it is that you're aimed at. But, the process is more of a co creative one, right? There are other forces at play. That will bring you to a place you never thought you wanted to be and they'll take you to places. You never thought you'd end up.

Robyn Cohen:

Yeah.

Matt B:

Right. And along the way, you end up, you go through places and traverse through places that you didn't even think were there

Robyn Cohen:

or

Matt B:

available or possible to go through. Like, how in the hell did I end up here?

Robyn Cohen:

Yeah.

Matt B:

But then they end up, of course, being you. A stop that you needed to make to get ultimately to a place that you didn't even know existed that you always wanted to be

Robyn Cohen:

I got it. I got it. It's like a riddle It's a it's a poem. Yes odysseus, you know, That's such a huge piece as a recovering control freak, recovering, recovering perfectionist,

Matt B:

I'm a recovering controller,

Robyn Cohen:

recovering perfectionist, recovering overachiever, recovering over functioning type of a disease over functioning. And your work and what you teach and Laban and movement and acting and Shakespeare, it is ultimately so much about this, it's coming into or generating myself as a human being with a regulated central nervous system.

Matt B:

Yeah.

Robyn Cohen:

Cause then I can do anything.

Matt B:

That's right.

Robyn Cohen:

From that place. I'm noticing like about power. I think the most powerful person in the room is the one whose central nervous system is the most regulated.

Matt B:

Yes.

Robyn Cohen:

Because it allows them to be the most loving. Loving love, I think, is just space and all divine potential all in one. It's equanimity. I think love is, you know, it's, it's everything, And I think when we're in a place where we're regulated with the divine space around us in congruence in flow, I think, yeah, we can't control, but we actually have the power to do, say, be, go anywhere with anyone, whenever we say. Okay. So that's the work these days, thinly veiled as, you know, the work of teaching actors, the work of coaching people, the work of performing on stages or sets or TV shows. But it all underneath all of that, it's like, am I breathing? Am I, am I like, am I at peace? Am I at peace? Right. Have I created inner safety? Cause it doesn't look safe out there.

Matt B:

No,

Robyn Cohen:

it's not safe. We're not getting out alive. Right. We've hurricane Helene. It's not right. How do I generate inner safety? Cause I think we move at the speed of safety. We move and create to the degree that we feel safe to do so. So these days it's like, that's kind of number one on the list. Like it's the top priority.

Matt B:

Well, and the word that word safety is so interesting right now, because it seems to be up very much. So, I mean, in all kinds of spaces, but certainly creative spaces where, you know, all of a sudden when actors don't feel safe.

Robyn Cohen:

Yeah.

Matt B:

Then, like, the process stops or there's an inability to move beyond, I feel unsafe. Even though there's no clear and present danger in the room, the feeling that an actor is unsafe is reason enough to, whoa, let's, I have, something's wrong. Yeah. And that's like the new frontier. Like, for me, I listen to actors that I work with who say that and I go, like, do you feel like you're in danger? And they go, no, I just feel unsafe. And it's like, okay. I don't, you know, I'm out, I'm kind of at a loss because I'm like, that's so fascinating that one can, be so wrapped up in the experience of feeling unsafe so much so that it is, it is. Paralyzing. It is their, it is their reality. Yeah. Even though they're clear that the reality beyond them is safe. Yes. But that's, that's a something that's still kind of up for me is trying to figure out like, well, wow, how do we contend now with that particular, hurdle, you know, like, I don't know. That was never really a question for me as, as I was getting trained and, and is, I always, like, I just knew that I was safe and so anything inside of me that felt, however it felt, I was like, Ugh, my feelings and I've gotta like be with all this stuff and I still have to do the job. So I, I don't know, like I, that's how I started to develop the nervous system regulation strategies and like, you gotta work with your breath. You have to be conscious. every single step and notice where, what's going on now. How do I feel now? What's going on with me now? What is this? And that has really invited a depth, a dive into the plunges of like my soul to figure out why can't this be a sanctuary for me all the time? You know, like what's up with me, but that's clearly a me with me thing when out here I know is safe. And that's been, uh, that's been a huge part of the journey.

Robyn Cohen:

In either case, whether It's you internally and your internal experience being unsafe or your external experience being unsafe. What do you tell yourself literally? Or what do you tell your students? So let's say a student is feeling, I'm terrified to get up to perform. I have massive stage fright. I, it feels like I'm going to die, right? Or on the contrary, if it's. where there is an, you know, for you, if there isn't something that feels dangerous, how do you talk to yourself and how do you talk to your students to give them a tool or a practice that can transform that?

Matt B:

I mean that, okay, so this is when you're about to

Robyn Cohen:

walk onto the set or onto the stage or into an audition, like what would you tell them? What would you tell yourself?

Matt B:

Well, this is where, well, first of all, what I tell my, well, I've been doing this for so long that I don't, if nervousness comes up for me, it's just something that's there that I move with.

Robyn Cohen:

Yeah.

Matt B:

I don't ever go shh.

Robyn Cohen:

What do you So how do you, what do you mean? You just

Matt B:

I tend, I pay attention to whatever I, first of all, I locate where the, where the unsafety is happening in my body. Where is it in my body or is it, is it someplace in my mind? Am I seeking it? Does it feel like it's out here somewhere? Right? Where is it, where is the unsafe? So I locate it and then I ask, what do you need? I just have a conversation with it. Sometimes out loud where I go, tell me what you need. What do you need? I need, and sometimes all it needs is that attention. Sometimes all it needs is to be seen and heard. Now with my students, what we've started doing, and I just learned this recently, which apparently is part of the lingo in the intimacy coordination, milieu, which is check ins and we do red light, yellow light, green light check ins. So before we engage in any process, we go around the circle and people will say. I'm a green light, meaning I'm good. I'm green. I'm good. I'm ready to go. Right? Yellow light is, I'm a little, I've had, I'm, I, I'm, I'm fair to Midland. I've had a, had a conversation today that didn't, left feeling the conversation kind of crappy, blah, blah, blah, but I'm all right. Right? Red light is, I am struggling to function. I am dealing, I'm having a very bad day. It was hard for me to even bring myself into the room. I am very preoccupied. I do not feel like being here, whatever it is, right? But so right off the bat. The creative team knows where the other way it's very quick, right? You just go around red, green, yellow, boom, right? You don't say why you just say red light, yellow light, green light. Right. And you can share a little bit after that, but then everyone right off the bat is seen. They're seeing their witness. Now what they're in the room and they're not hiding. They're not, uh, Okay. We're going to get going with this thing, even though there's this thing going on inside of me that is sucking up all of my energy right now. And I can't, it's like this weight that I'm carrying around. But if everyone knows that you got that going on, well, then all of a sudden you got support. Then I go, Oh God. Okay. Robyn's got a red light. All right. Well, I'm going to handle her with care, with care, right? I'm going to be, I'm going to be aware of that. And then that always makes it, if you're, if you're with a group of people that you know, to any degree, you immediately feel safer because you're seen, right? Because you have the attention on you and the thing that's moved, that you're moving in with. that's a real simple way to get off to, to a beginning with something.

Robyn Cohen:

ah, it's great, it's great, and so clear and something practicable. What is this thing about being seen?

Matt B:

Ah!

Robyn Cohen:

just to clarify, like, we are in a culture right now, Where the talk about addiction to likes and being seen and all the things right that this social media culture, you know, is overflowing with and saturated with. So how, how do we get ourselves seen healthily on the daily in our everyday lives? If we don't get to go to class with you and we're just walking around trying to get through the day, how do we get ourselves seen healthily so that we aren't? Fleeing, racing to that next quick fix, which is an addiction cycle of getting seen or getting more likes, getting, getting the approval, getting the audition. Then I can breathe because then they really saw me. Oh, getting the applause. Right. How do we interrupt that unending desire? Like see me, feel me, love me. It can turn out so badly when we chase it. So how do we get ourselves seen and heard such that we don't start running around looking for the next quick fix that could be down a rabbit hole to the end of our lives, literally, when you're talking about addiction,

Matt B:

right? Well, the first thing for me is to you first you see yourself first you check in with yourself in the morning. And you, I have, there's a morning routine there. Now there's the difference between self care and self love. Those are not the same thing. Self care is

Robyn Cohen:

through this morning routine. Yeah. Yeah. So

Matt B:

you wake up. The first thing I do is I drink a glass of water. I give my, I give my internal organs a shower

Robyn Cohen:

and

Matt B:

I, and in the water I put, you can put a little bit of lemon juice and you can put a little bit of mineral, uh, like Celtic sea salt or something just to get just to replenish minerals. And the lemon juice is for alkalization if you want to do that, right? But you ate the 12 ounces bang and then you you can do some breathing right there. Just simple 10 breaths big in the nose, out the mouth, just or in the, in the mouth, out the mouth, whatever it is that you got to kind of feel into yourself and whatever it is you need in the morning in the mouth and out the mouth activates the emotional body, if you will. It will, invite your emotions into the day. Let's say in the nose and out the mouth will stimulate the brain a little bit more and, get the, like kind of wake the brain up. or you can do a mix of both, but, but 10 is all you need. You can do a square, uh, box breathing. I think it's called where you inhale for four seconds, hold for four seconds, exhale for four seconds, hold for four seconds, and you do 10 to 20 of those. You can do that, you can do that in your, you can do that in your bed, in your water, in your breathing. That, that

Robyn Cohen:

alone, I mean, yeah, well, then what? Well, so

Matt B:

I mean, for people like me who have never sprung right the hell out of bed, like boo, all right. Cause some people are just like that. I am not like that. I need to wake up and ease my way out of the bed. Like I need to kind of come into my body first. And, and, you know, and after I've done my breathing, that makes it easier for me to get outta bed. It kind of energizes and charges the battery, so to speak. I get out and then immediately, I just reach up in the air and I'd stretch. I reach my body in all different ways possible. Your body will tell you which ways it wants to move. Hmm. If you need to stretch up, your body will tell you that. You, I mean, you're, listen, your body will speak to you and tell you which way you needs to move. It will tell, move me this way. Yeah. Right. But if you need a routine, it's just as simple as you can do a simple stretch, fold over yoga sun salutations, real simple ones. Yeah. Any kind of physical act and any physical activity is fine. You can go and run with your run around with your dog, but get your heartbeat, get your heartbeat going.

Robyn Cohen:

Yes, yes, yes.

Matt B:

Get into sunlight within 30 minutes of waking up. Go outside and just get light in your eyes. That will, that, that's better than caffeine. A lot of people get up and they pound caffeine the first, if you do that, that's like signaling off the alarm bells. That's like putting your body in a mild state, your nervous system in a mild state of fight flight. Right. So, but I, so get some sunlight immediately and if you can walk around in the sunlight or just get out in the sun for about 10 minutes. That's good. Yeah. And there's no particular order with any of this. You really can. If you're someone that springs out of bed early, get in the sunlight immediately. Yeah. But those are the first things, hydration, sunlight, and, and some activity to get the heart rate up.

Robyn Cohen:

I love that. I'm taking it on and it's, I'm going to incorporate it because I do have a version of that and I'm going to sort of borrow and mix and match.

Matt B:

Yeah. Um,

Robyn Cohen:

but my, my daily on the daily, it's something. With all of that. Yes. Yeah. Um, and it's, it's, and it's easy.

Matt B:

It's, it's ease. It should be easeful, it should be things that are gentle, should it's not. Some people feel, again, with the caffeine they're used to, they need to get like zero to 10 and under 10 seconds, you know? And it's like, no, take that time in the morning to be easy with yourself and gentle with yourself. Yeah. And then you're calibrating yourself to be more calm throughout the day. Yeah. And I've read, I mean, this is all from, uh, just listening to neuroscientists and such, but in all the esoteric, if you will, healers of Asheville, which we are a, a nest of them, but, giving yourself two hours, if you can, before waking up, before you ingest your first caffeine will make the caffeine last longer and you won't crash and you won't need as much of it. Two hours before you ingest caffeine, before, after you wake up and you'll be, you'll just be better off.

Robyn Cohen:

I'll tell you a secret. I've never had a cup of coffee in the morning. I don't drink coffee. And I have no idea why. I'm thinking if I'm gonna get addicted to something maybe like it seems so yummy and I do love the smell But I can't risk I have such a sensitive nervous system.

Matt B:

Yeah

Robyn Cohen:

And I love that. I do. And I, and I, and I know you do too. And I, my body won't, doesn't wanna risk what caffeine will do to it, but everything else, I'm full til boogie in and I just wanna full til pause. Like I, I just have to stop the car for a moment. We're not driving so we're safe, but so. So, you know, why am I, I have Matt Burke, this incredible actor, artist, performer, Shakespearean wizard, you know, I have you in this conversation on this podcast. And it's like, why am I even, why are we talking about this? And, you know, for those of you listening or watching, so like Matt, you're such an extraordinary actor, and I think it has so much to do, and I haven't even seen you do a full play like I've seen him do like a lick of Shakespeare, you know, and I probably will ask you to do a lick of your favorite Shakespearean monologue just for fun, like as a blowout, but, One of the reasons I'm so curious about like, what do you do when you wake up is because Matt, you show up in the world of arts and crafts like a boss. And there's something electrifying about Matt. I'm sure if you can't see him, like you can hear it in his voice and his work and with Shakespeare and acting is just vibrating with that. So I was curious to kind of go behind the on like, what is your regimen? Because it, like people don't just happen, they do happen by default, but to generate that kind of, life force that you Matt pour into your arts and crafts and your teaching and your being in TV and movies, there's definitely a curiosity. And I think for a lot of my listeners, like, how do we actually How do we wrangle our life force in the best possible way so that we can show up and be like a galvanizing, show stopping performer such as yourself? So why are you, what is the deal with Shakespeare in acting? Why are you an actor? I mean, It's so obvious to me that you're an actor because you have so much vitality and so much to give energetically that like there's got to be a place and there's got to be language and of course Shakespeare with his heightened language is such a brilliant container for someone with your full potential. Fierce intelligence and creative mind. Like, of course it's Shakespeare for you. But like you tell me, cause I'm just like from the outside saying like, of course you're an amazing actor. That's doing all the mediums. Like that's your vibe. Right. But I'm curious, like from your perspective, why Shakespeare, why acting, why this medium, why arts and crafts and why giving it away to the next generation and all that you teach with movement and Laban and breath work and so on. Why, why are you doing it? What's it for?

Matt B:

Uh, well, when I was very young, I did not have a father in the house and it was me and my mother and my brother. And my mother left my father when I was two years old. And as early as I was making memories, it was just me and my brother who was four years older than me and my mom. And. Uh, we would go to family reunions and we, we lived in an apartment complex where my dad didn't live, but all of his, his mom and his brothers and sisters lived, and we would just get together for real family get togethers. And I started doing lip syncs to, to, uh, old country songs. And, uh, if you, Elvira by a band called the Oak Ridge Boys was, was one and some Statler brothers tunes like flowers on the wall. And that's a little bit more well known that was in Pulp Fiction, but I would get up and lip sync these things. And my family seemed to really get a kick out of them and I really liked entertaining my family. So I started to take my show on the road when I was in kindergarten and I did a, uh, I did one of those lip syncs for a room full of strangers and my brother, it was this. talent show where the Wizard of Oz was like the through line encasing all of the acts and Dorothy was going through Oz with the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Lion. And they were meeting these, these entertainers on the way to Oz. And there were little bits on the way to the Wizard. And I was getting ready to do mine, and my brother played the Tin Man. For whatever reason in this version of The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy met the Tin Man before the Scarecrow. I don't know who, someone didn't do their research. But so, Dorothy came on with the Tin Man, who was my brother. And they asked me, can you tell us anything about Oz? And I said, there's only one thing I can tell you about Oz. And they said, what's that? And I said, nothing got a little chuckle from the audience. That was actually pretty well written. And then they went off and here I wasn't with my guitar that was on backwards. I had it left handed, but the guitar had no strings. And of course I was doing a lip sync, so it didn't matter. But my brother, for whatever reason, was like on the sidelines, like, dude, dude, your guitar is on backwards. And I was looking at him and he looked freaked out. So I was freaked out and I was like, Oh my God, my guitar is on backwards. And they had started the music. And I said, stop. And, um, my mom remembers this moment very clearly. She says, I thought you were having stage fright. I was so scared. You were going to like, just stop. And they stopped the music. I took my hat off my cowboy hat. I was dressed in cowboy hat and boots and a plaid shirt. I've got a picture. If you want to see it, I flipped the guitar. Right. And I looked at, of course, the whole audience is like, is he okay? And I went, my guitar was on backwards and they all lost, they lost it. They laughed. Now that was inadvertent. I wasn't trying to tell a joke, but when you're five years old and a whole room laughs at you, that's going to get you. And so that got, that's it. That got me. I was like, I want to do this in a good

Robyn Cohen:

way. Cause there's the other way like when you're at recess when the bully and they're laughing and then your whole life is shut down. But this was the flip side of that coin. It was like the joie de vivre. It was like, This is it. This is where

Matt B:

I belong. This is where I belong. I belong on a stage entertaining people. Yep. And so then after that, I just did plays in the neighborhood where I could. I did another talent show two years, two years later, and we were a hit there. We did Ghostbusters, two of them, two, a couple of friends of mine got up and did it. Did a routine to the Ghostbuster song by Ray Parker. And, uh, and I won a modeling contest when I was in sixth grade, which is beyond me because I had a mullet, but this was a big, legit modeling contest in Atlanta, Georgia.

Robyn Cohen:

Oh, this wasn't

Matt B:

some off the beaten path, whatever. Like I beat like professional models in that contest, but it's just because I was comfortable on stage. And I remember throwing together my old, routine, like right before we went out on stage and I just had a blast. And so everybody else had a blast and I got modeling. I didn't last too long cause I wasn't very good at modeling, but I, uh, but I continued to do stage plays. And then in the ninth grade, I played Romeo in a stage in a school production of Romeo and Juliet for the English class. And I played Romeo. We parsed it out. I did Romeo in the balcony scene and then Romeo in the death scene. Yeah. And that got me the next level of, Whoa, dude, like that's your, you're in your element there. And, uh, and that was in a new high school. I had moved down from Atlanta to Jacksonville, Florida, and I was in a place I didn't know anybody. And I, it was a really hard, sad, lonely time. And I remember that was when I felt, Oh, here I am. I belong again. Now I belong somewhere just like I did when I was five. And so went on to college, got, you know, and just continue to like, I want more, I want to become the best possible actor that I can be in this thing that with this place where I feel like I belong, I want to, I want to more, give me more. I want to, I had an insatiable appetite to get better and better at it. And after after Florida State University, where I got my degree, I came out to L. A. And tried my hand out there. And I came out there right after 911. So I remember that very clearly driving from Jacksonville to Los Angeles Coast Coast with a buddy of mine. We came out together. And it happened a month after 9 11. Wow. So, I wasn't ready for L. A. L. A. completely overwhelmed me. I was just like, huh. But I managed to, to get involved with a couple of productions. One out of International City Theater in Long Beach. I don't know if it's still there. Is it still there? Yes, of course.

Robyn Cohen:

Absolutely. They're doing great.

Matt B:

And then, uh, A Noise Within in Glendale.

Robyn Cohen:

Oh, wow. I was just there yesterday. Or Sunday. I was

Matt B:

in a production of Measure for Measure out there. and so I, I still manage to get in with some really good theater makers. The

Robyn Cohen:

best. Best. So, again, just

Matt B:

reflected back, like, You're, yeah, I keep finding myself where I belong. It's never been a problem in my life to find myself on a stage which is where I belong. So then, but I wasn't ready for LA so I decided, because I realized I need more training, I need more intensive training, I need classical training. So that's when I went and focused on trying to get into grad school and I didn't even try to get into Delaware. Delaware kind of Popped up on the screen. I was looking at NYU and Juilliard and Yale and, you know, the big ones, but Delaware was this sort of, you know, I had heard of their program and heard things about them, but they were, you know, very, still sort of obscure in a way, like the University of Delaware. What? What? Is that really a place, let alone a place where a school is? Yeah. Or a top

Robyn Cohen:

conservatory top, which it is a top conservatory. Yeah.

Matt B:

Yeah. But I went and the, you know, like they had all six members of their acting faculty in that audition and they took 12 people in for two hours. Whereas every other program had one or two people, you had to pay 50 to a hundred bucks to go in and audition for like 10 minutes. So you got to meet the whole faculty, which were, you got, you got to like work with six artists. Like these, Jewel Walker, one of those being the master teacher that he was, was a completely, he was a revelation. He was from an ancient lineage of corporeal mind and trained in the ways of the, the, the techniques of commedia. And he was classmates with Marcel Marceau and he was a different breed, you know, he didn't care how you felt. The only acting teacher I've ever had that was like, I, I don't care how you feel. I want to feel something, you know, and which completely reoriented how I worked on stuff. I was then like, Oh my God, I've been, I've been trying to get me to feel something who get right. Why? Why? That's not what this is. I'm trying to get the audience to feel something. Right. Okay. All right. Now I was in a different game.

Robyn Cohen:

Yeah. How do we do that? Right? What makes an audience feel something? That's right. It's when they recognize themselves and the struggle and the fight that you're trying not to cry and they relate to. That's'cause that's how we walk around trying to squash our feelings and get through the day. Wow. Wow. so that was revelatory. So that program. you ended up going there, obviously. And that was the fulfillment. It sounds like of like leveling up. you know, if you're going to be a dancer on Broadway, you're going to do classical ballet. It seems analogous in terms of like something in you knew that this was the training that would be the kind of springboard or catapult,

Matt B:

it was another example of a place that I didn't know existed ended up being the place that I, It was the place that I wanted to be that I didn't even know was there to, to go to. but I, I do want to say something just for people listening, kind of wondering if this is for them, you know, ever since that moment on stage, I just knew in my bones that I wanted to be an actor and that I would be an actor. That was just there for me. And not that that has to be that way, but I can just say, I can only speak from my own experiences that, if you don't know or you aren't sure if acting is for you, then it it's all the more, necessary for you to get your why clear. If you want to go into it, Define very clearly for yourself why you want to do it. And if that's because you're a twisted maniacal out of your mind individual, and it's like the craziness of it and the, the chaos of it just is your bread and butter and your tea and your jam. That's fine, right? Like it's not, don't worry about what the why sounds like. All that matters is that your why lights you up because that's what's going to get you through the slings and arrows. That's what's going to get you through the times when you feel completely, totally, utterly alone and you feel like nobody gives two rats asses, excuse me, whether or not you're alone. That's what's going to fuel you through those times when you feel lost. And alone,

Robyn Cohen:

though, you found a sense of belonging, speaking of the Wizard of Oz and Dorothy. And like, there's this idea of like, yeah, once I'm in the right theater community, there is this feeling of belonging. It just feels right. And I'm so interested these days and like how we can belong to ourselves. Even if I never acted again, if I was never in another play. If I never stepped foot on the stage, regardless of actually, you know, your profession, like whether you ever get the MBA, whether you ever, become, you know, if you're a lawyer, whatever your profession is, like, how do we belong to ourselves when there's no one around, you know, and continue to develop that relationship with self so that when it gets rough and those slings and arrows how do we walk ourselves back home to ourselves, so that we can generate a feeling of belonging, even if they didn't say. Yes, at that audition, and we didn't get into the theater company, and we didn't get into the TV show, or they canceled the pilot, or, you know, we shot it and then, you know, they, or you, you made it to the set and then they replaced you. incredible, yeah,

Matt B:

there's just tons of stories too of people. not really having much to speak of until they got into their 50s. Yeah. You know, and there's, there's people like in here in Asheville, since the Southeast has become this big boom, I've watched people who've done stage. There's a 60 something year old woman who has now become a regular. She was a regular on star girl. And she's pretty formidable stage actress, but she'd kind of given up on TV and film until it kind of popped open here. And then the studio in Asheville that houses the agency here, she started taking classes and kind of getting into the film and TV thing, and now she's killing it. Wow. You know, so there's, there's lots of stories about people who are sort of having a, you know, a rebirth, if you will. Yes.

Robyn Cohen:

Yes.

Matt B:

The reinvigoration of their, uh, of their careers and, and they're able to do things they thought had long past and long since said goodbye to them.

Robyn Cohen:

You had mentioned, you know, we can't control any of it. The timing that this woman could never predicted that she would stop chasing film and television and then suddenly she's, as you said, she's crushing it. She's on all these TV shows, his part of your journey this past year, which has been so challenging. Is it like, Yeah, even when the world says no, you're not it, we're not casting you, or we're firing you, or we know you're the best actor, but you still don't get the part, and so you're not going to pay your mortgage, like all these things, or, or a storm, literally a virtual storm, an actual storm. So, how did you manage to maintain a sense of belonging? You know, even when the world is saying no to you, you don't belong, you're not part of this cast, you're not part of this show, you're not part of this school, you didn't get in, you didn't get the part, next. So how do we hold on?

Matt B:

so now we get into the addiction. So two years ago, uh, Things were hard for a long time. I had the best year of my life in 2019. Professionally, I was in six projects, including like the Walking Dead and the resident and um, a couple of movies like called called Fear Street. I mean, I was having a great, I had, I was, I was all my, I was like, all of a sudden here comes, Oh my gosh, I was having a hot streak in 2019 and then Covid hit and it just like knocked everything over. Like I was, you know, I kind of was hanging on by threads that's when we joined the teaching artists alignments and I had some sort of life preservers, I guess, but I was running on life support. Like I felt like I felt so isolated and all of a sudden I was in this different post apocalyptic world of like, where the, where did, where, how in the hell did we get here? Yeah. And then 2021 came and that was okay. Like starting to climb back on the horse, if you will. I got a few things and I was like, all right, but then 22, this, you know, the strikes weren't too far. I think what the strikes happened in 23 or 20 was a 23 or 23. So the rumblings of all of that was going on.

Robyn Cohen:

of course it's 23. Yes, yes. So

Matt B:

the rumblings of the strikes were happening before they happened in 23 and things were just clearly topsy turvy and not stable and I, I just kind of felt in my body that this was going to be the way that it was. Well, it was painful as hell, and I, my job became not quitting my job became like, okay, gotta find something to keep me engaged and interested. And yes, the teaching saved my life. Like having my group of students that I came to to work with, like we held on to each other and just said, well, we can do it here. Yeah, better than nowhere. Yeah. Right. And we really got, we developed lifelong bonds in that time. Yes, because we just held on to each other. Yes. Um, but needless to say, now I was leading this group of people and I felt like I could grab onto them, but I also felt like I needed to be the anchor in a way. And I was losing, I was losing ground. So I started taking the substance called kratom. Have you heard of this?

Robyn Cohen:

No, it sounds like a nutritional supplement, but it's probably not

Matt B:

doesn't it it does right?

Robyn Cohen:

It's from

Matt B:

an

Robyn Cohen:

Asian

Matt B:

plant It's a point. It's it's plant medicine, right? Yeah. Yeah, they sell it now You can get it by itself in in in a powdered form when you seep it and you make a tea out of it Or you can get it. They have it in these X liquid extract shots And I was taking these shots called Feel free shots, they're Kratom and Kava shots. So it's Kratom mixed with Kava, which I've taken, which I knew was 100%. Kava's another extract, but it's safe, Kava's safe. Kava doesn't mess you up, it isn't addictive, nothing, nothing. So I thought, oh, it's with Kava, it's fine. Like it didn't even, there's nothing on the bottle that says it's addictive. It does say don't take more than two bottles a day. Now, this is where I knew I was, I was taking too much. Because after a while, I started taking three, then four, then five. Up to eight. So, now what it does is it actually functions of the painkiller. So it is not an opiate, but it plays on the same receptors in the brain as opiates do. Okay. So I was in the throes of before I knew it. Like, yes, I knew something. I knew these bottles were not okay, but I just decided to ignore it because I liked the way they made me feel and it had so that ultimately I didn't have to feel the pain that was there to feel. After about a year of that, I decided, okay, I need to come off of this. This is bad news bears. When I started to come off of it. Now this is where it gets real. This was in March of this year,

Robyn Cohen:

2024,

Matt B:

2024, I started to come off of it. And I went into a five day stretch of no sleep. I did not sleep for five days. All right. Day three, I get an invitation from a buddy of mine to audition for this project filming close by. I can't talk too much about it, but with the certain big name in it. and, I was in the throes of essentially, my father was an alcoholic, and essentially what I was doing was now fighting the demons of addiction that my father, that killed my father. And he was 48 when he died, and I was 47 in March. This is the first time that I had ever, ever noticed thoughts in my head about Ending it like those thoughts. I never seriously was going to act out that act that out. But I just noticed the thoughts there and I was like, Whoa, what is going on? Like this isn't what is like all of a sudden I'm in this struggle that didn't feel like it was mine. But there I was having the struggle, right? So day three, I get the invitation to go in and audition for this thing. And I put something on tape that is absolutely, totally substandard. I looked like a zombie, but it was serviceable. My technique, you want to talk about why you train boys and girls? That's why you train. Because

Robyn Cohen:

when you're having a psychotic break, because you haven't slept for three days and running, that's when you can really pull out your toolkit and deliver a performance. Okay. So we hope it doesn't come to that. We hope it doesn't come to that though.

Matt B:

Correct. You're correct. Your technique will get you through. Um, it can get you, but, but if it can get me through that, then it can get you through not feeling safe. Let's put it that way. Right? Yeah. so I put that on tape. I leave the studio and I go up to my brother's to kill some time. No one was at my brother's house. My brother lives in Asheville, North Carolina. I go up there to kill some time and I'm up there and my little six year old nephew comes home from school. His name is Elkin and he comes walking up the driveway and I see him. I said, what's up, buddy? And he has this, he looks upset, visibly upset. Now this is a scrappy kid. So for him to like get upset, is unusual and he's kind of weepy and I'm like, what's up? And he breaks down and he just says, I took the wrong bus and I was so scared that nobody was going to be here. It completely melts down. And I'm just looking at this go, man, this kid looks how I feel. Like I feel like a scared child inside and he just fell in my arms and I just said, buddy, it's okay. I gotcha. And, uh, he calmed down in 30 seconds and I said, when I go, you know, get you inside and, you know, you want something to eat? Got him calmed down and he was fine, but I'm going hell. In that moment, I recalled a conversation that I had with a buddy of mine who's a clinical psychologist who, going over the stuff with my dad months prior, had said that I needed to reconstruct my relationship with the spirit of the father. Because my relationship with my father not being there when I was growing up caused damage. And that absent. Uh, that absentee relationship in him, you know, I had it that he chose to drink rather than be a dad and a father, a father and a husband. so I had judgment towards him. He died when he was 48 and I always just had this, and I'd done a lot of work around forgiving him and yada yada and thought I'd done all the thing, but there was still this thorn of judgment sitting in me that I just didn't know was there. It was just like this thing sticking in my, judging him. And when I was in the throes of addiction, I could feel what he was, what he was under, and he didn't know he needed help. He had no idea. He was drinking. Alcohol was totally fine, right? But he was an addict before he was even 17 years old or because of other circumstances. I just learned all of this recently, by the way, I've been putting together the pieces like my life and my, and my upline and nuts. So, I remembered also, well first of all in that moment when I was holding my nephew, I remember, I just realized that I never got to run to my father for protection. Like that's a rite of passage for a young boy to be able to run to his dad to protect him, to be safe. Yeah. And here I was being the safe space. For Elkin in that moment to feel protected and safe. So in that moment, I embodied the role of the spirit of the father, you know? And so that was a very healing moment in like a holy look that'll just happen moment. But then I also remember when I was Elkin's age, when I was six years old, I, my brother, my dad, his second wife, her kids. And we were all on this stream out in central Georgia. And I had made my way out of this rock, slipped off the rock. And the current was pulling me strong enough where it was pulling my little six year old body. And I had the rock like this, and I'm, I'm like parallel with the earth, like perpendicular, you know. Parallel flat on the stream, hanging onto the rock for dear life, yelling out to my dad to come get me and he already was drunk. It was midday and he had slipped on a rock, fell on his ass. He looked at me screaming at him to come help me and he laughed. So he had no idea what was going on. My brother ended up, I think, snatching me and pulling me up, but I had forgotten that that had happened, but in that moment I remembered. So like when I was Elkins age, that happened. And so all these things are unraveling and unwinding. And then I go and, um, sit in a sauna and try to sweat some of it out, and I'm crying, and I'm praying, and I'm sweating, and I'm And I go home, surely I'm gonna get some sleep. I get in the bed and I try to go to sleep and nope, the waking, the waking nightmares start again. It's like, it felt like there were claws clawing at my insides. Like there were things trying, something trying to get me. When they say alcohol is spirits, there's a reason for that, you know, because it does, it, it does get me. When you get sick with alcoholism, it is as if your brain gets possessed. Um, and so I said a prayer for the first time in my life. I prayed for help. I just said, please help me. Please help me. Please. And then one minute later, I get a phone call. It's my buddy. I said, hello. He said, dude, you got the part. And I said, what? What? That's fantastic. I mean, that's great. But what? And he sends me the trailer. The trailer like blows my mind. I'm looking at this going, what? This looks awesome. And then it was stock footage and then um, there was a caption at the end of the trailer that said, there is a world where the end becomes the beginning. So that unfolded into, now here's, here's the kicker. Here's kind of the kicker. I mean, there are tons of kickers. It was like kickers all over the place. But two weeks after that, my, that same friend of mine hands me a book, and the book is called Imagine the God of Heaven, about near death experiences in the author's name, John Burke. It's my dad's name. My dad did not write that book. It's just that my dad's name was on the book, called Imagine the God of Heaven.

Robyn Cohen:

What's your favorite shakes? What's your favorite shakespearean monologue?

Matt B:

Oh, are we at time? I have a bunch, but here's here. We're not at time.

Robyn Cohen:

We're not at time I just want to know where you put all of this Just so if you would be so generous just to grace us with where you put all of this. Yeah, here's miraculous Overflow, where do you put it? Where do you put it? Let's hear it. Let's hear it

Matt B:

Thus do I ever make my fool my purse, For I mine own gain knowledge should profane, If I should time expend with such a snipe, But for my sport and profit I ate the moor, And it is thought abroad that twixt my sheath He has done my office. I know not it to be true, but I for mere suspicion in that cause will do as if for surety. He holds me well, the better shall my purpose work on him. Cassio's a man. Let me see now to get his place and to plume up my will in double knavery. After some time to abuse Othello's ears that he is too familiar with his wife, he hath a person in the smooth disposed to be suspected, framed to make women false. The Moor is of a free and open nature that thinks men on us that but seem to be so, and will as tenderly be led by the nose as asses are. I have it. It is engendered. Hell and night must bring this monstrous birth to the worlds. I

Robyn Cohen:

mean, life, art, Andy Warhol did it. Soup, or is it art?

Matt B:

Or is it soup? That banana peel came up recently. Or is it art? He totally, he stuck a banana peel with that piece of tape over it. And it's like, hey, this is art. This is now two million dollars.

Robyn Cohen:

This is art, this is life. I am knocked back by your human beingness, Matt. It's, I don't, I don't share the necessarily the particulars of your lineage, your story. But I feel so I've hearing that and I know people listening like feel so held and that there's a place for them to and there's a place for the depth and the rage and the pain and the joy, as you just so miraculously wove yourself into that speech from Othello and, you know,

Matt B:

yeah and I and I really do want to, I really do like, I've been so humbled by everything that has happened and I I do not say or share any of this from a place of, uh, um, I don't know what the word is other than to say that I, I, I am humbled life has been humbling and I consider myself to be incredibly lucky and fortunate and blessed and I don't know why I do not know why I don't consider myself to be special. I don't consider myself to be. I feel like I am an average human. I do. I really, really, really do. I think I've been doing this, this thing longer than a lot of people have. And so that, that makes me appear like I'm maybe, I don't know, like I'm special. I don't know, but I, it's important for me to say that, like, I'm not doing this. I'm participating and, and I have my desires and I have my wants and I, and, and I am human and, but I am all of the stuff that is going on is magical. it's, I

Robyn Cohen:

think that is what it is. Some

Matt B:

are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.

Robyn Cohen:

Twelfth Night.

Matt B:

Yeah.

Robyn Cohen:

I think that is part of what makes you so, such a rare breed. That you're not trying to, it's not let me show you, it's come with me, I'm just like you. And that is very special on this here planet. To be operating from that. To be operating not from, let me show you, but come with me, let's share, let's share. I'm actually, I'm not trying to be special, I'm trying to be more like you. With everyone. With everyone. On this wild, unimaginable ride that we're on. Well,

Matt B:

because I do believe, I do believe that each individual has his or her own special place. Yes, we really do. Everyone has. So back to this. Thing about being seen. There's a, there's an author of a book. Who's also a Western African shaman. He's no longer with us, but his name was Malidoma Some, and he wrote a book called of water in the spirit. And he, you want to talk about a story. He was Kidnapped by French Jesuit missionaries when he was four years old out of his Western, African tribe, and is the Dagara is what they're called, and he was kidnapped at age four by French Jesuit missionaries only to run away at age 16 back to his tribe to then be re anointed into, re initiated into the tribe, but he says that everyone's deepest desire is to, give their gifts And to be seen giving their gifts. So we all have, we really do all have necessary gifts to give.

Robyn Cohen:

I believe, and some might not want to hear it, but I think if you have those gifts to give, If you have garnered those lessons and if you are in touch with them, I do think that if you have something like you do, like each and every person has, I think it's your moral obligation to share it with the world, which is why I'm so glad that you happen to be in this game of acting because it's an, it's kind of a way that you do get to share it with the world. I mean, on TV, it's millions, it's actually millions of people, your light, your unique light. And it is such a gift and I love that you were just figuring out ways not to quit because you're such, I mean, it's just such a demarcation of like, you're such a good guy, Matt. So of course, like you're going to be like, I'm not going to quit. It's going to get messy and the addiction and you grappled and grew through that. Yeah. But it's like. at the cornerstone is like, I'm going to keep going because you do have a light and I have to, I have to share

Matt B:

one last thing about this piece with my dad because I think this particular piece is very cool. Please. So a few weeks ago, my dad by all reports was a fantastic amateur golfer everyone said he could have turned it could have been pro if he wanted to be. And I have never, ever had any desire to pick up a golf club in my life. I've, that's always been a sport that I've been like, and I played other sports, but that one, I go, what? I played twice in my life and it was a complete shit show. I, it was, I was awful. And I just, you know, but I was like, I never had a desire. Well, the other day I wasn't even sitting around consciously thinking, I should, you know, I should give golf a second try. It was like, I was just sitting there, found finding myself thinking one day I should go to the golf course. Really? Yeah, I should. Two days later, a couple of buddies of mine call me and they never call me to do this. They're like, dude, we're going to Topgolf. You want to go? Topgolf is this place where you go and it's just a driving range. And they call me to say, you want to go? And I said, yes. So I went down, I picked up a driver and I proceeded to hit 80. Out of a hundred balls. And apparently like the hardest thing to do is to, is to hit the ball. That's the first thing you got to learn how to do. And I smacked the shit out of about 80 balls and they, and these guys golf, you know, and they went, how long has it been since you picked up a golf club? I said, 25 years, but I wouldn't even count those. And they said, that's, that's pretty good. So after they called my brother, like, dude, your brother's f'n with us, right? Like he's, he plays golf. Doesn't he? And Wes is like, no, he doesn't. So, I guess what I would say to the listeners, if there's anything, you know, if you miracles are out there miracles that are beyond your wildest dreams are available. And I, I don't know, I wish to God that I knew how to tell you to go, how to get there and find them, you know, but that is for you to find out, but just know that they're there.

Robyn Cohen:

And knowing that they're

Matt B:

there,

Robyn Cohen:

we can start to listen for them.

Matt B:

Yes.

Robyn Cohen:

Golf was my brother Adam's game And when he, he got sick when he was 37 and he had a brain surgery to try to remove the tumor, which they could not. But before he passed, he went around golf courses around the country with either my parents by his side or me holding him up and we would just walk the courses, 18 holes slowly. And he would talk out the entire game. Maybe it was a hole or two, sometimes more, sometimes up to nine. And we would just talk through what kind of iron we were going to use, where he was going to aim, and we would play golf without picking up a golf club. So speaking of miracles, it's just, of course, of course, you would share that last piece. and bring us, bring us home

Matt B:

once again. And you gotta bring, you gotta bring me back next year because there's more to this story that I won't be able to tell until next year, so.

Robyn Cohen:

teaser! That is, all right, I'm taking the bait. That's a deal. In the meantime, Matt. Will you please tell us where people can find you and, you know, some of the things that you might have upcoming or, you know, how they can be in touch with you and support you and watch you dazzle, or, and or study with you

Matt B:

Right. You can check. Well, my website is mattburkeacting. com and you can go there and see, you can see my mission and what I'm up to. get in touch with me there. And if you, if you want to, I offer private lessons over zoom. I am, I reside in Asheville, North Carolina, and I teach both in Asheville and in Greenville. and, I, the thing that I'm working on right now, I can't talk about. So again, that's, that's, yeah. other than that, I'm actually working on, I can tell you this, but this is very scary to say out loud, but, I am in the midst of I'm looking at a situation that is very promising about becoming a producing artistic director at a theater that will be of my own invention and will be outside of Asheville, North Carolina. Now that, now I have no idea, like that is, it is so, it is so like in the beginning stages, but it's one of those things where I, I really feel like it's gonna happen.

Robyn Cohen:

Oh yeah, and God said, let there be light, and there was, and he saw it was good, we're gonna keep listening for the miracles. That's all, there's nothing to do. Just keep tuning in. Just keep tuning in. Well, Matt, this was beyond, beyond. It's such a, it's such a joy to be with you. In any medium, in any fashion. Telecom, cyberspace, in person. It really is so special. There's no one like you. I'm so appreciative of your, your heart is so huge. Your contribution is just massive. You're such a blazing light in the world. Thank you. You know, thank you for, as I like to say, and as salt and pepper likes to say, for giving it away, give it away, give it away, give it away. Now that's the red hot chili

Matt B:

peppers.

Robyn Cohen:

Oh, what did I say?

Matt B:

You said salt and pepper. Salt and pepper is P p p push it good! And the Red Hot Chili Peppers is giving it away, giving it away, giving it away now.

Robyn Cohen:

All right, we can't top that. This is the greatest ending of a podcast of all time. God bless you. Thank you so much, Matt. Thank you again and again. And yes, we will see you back here in the new year. Stats, as they say. God bless you. Thank you.

Matt B:

Thank you very much. Thank

Robyn Cohen:

you. Thank you. Appreciate you too. You're welcome to the moon and beyond. Adios. Adios amigo. Well, that was spectacular. what a wonderful contributing human being who is just right in the middle of, the mud and the grapple, just like we all are that he maintains his guiding light, his north star, his focus on getting out there and giving away his gifts, even when, even in his darkest hour. And I think what a beautiful lesson, you know, that even in our darkest hour, if we can hold on to that, there is light that the dawn will come. I think that can really take us the distance as it clearly has with Matt. So yeah, that's a such a big takeaway. And there are many, many more. I'll put it in the show notes but thanks for being here today. It is always such a joy. Please, um, email me, like any questions you have, or if there, you know, something that comes to your mind related to some of the topics we discussed. and please, you know, feel free to share your stories that have to do with your daily joyrides. Cause I know we're all going through it and it's, it is just such a gift. to be in it together with you here and now. So thanks for tuning in. Please, if you enjoyed this, got something out of it, share it with your friends and family who may also be in need of a friend, even, and even if they don't know Matt or the other friends that come on here personally, I think we all do get the experience that we are in it together, that we're not alone and there are good. There are awesome people out there that care about you and that care, as do I. So, love you, appreciate you, and see you next time. Thanks so much. Bye bye. Thank you wonderful friends for joining this powerful and mesmerizing convo with Matt and me. Really, through Matt's incredible narrative and his gorgeous Shakespearean prowess, We've witnessed the abounding potential inherent in all of us. So let's keep this electrifying energy going and flowing. If these stories had you fly a little higher, go a little deeper, ignited your creative spark, or you saw something possible for yourself and for your life, please subscribe, leave a review, and spread the love by sharing this episode with a friend or a beloved. together. We can actually make a huge, helpful impact and ignite an even wider girth. I love that word, girth. Of human beings. And don't forget to email me, robyn@cohenactingstudio.com it's all in the show notes to start nurturing your talent and letting your dreams flourish in acting class. We have a few spots left. I'm also working with a limited number of people, one on one, so reach out if that's your jam, And let's strike it up. Until we meet again, let's captain our ships with passion and purpose. Remembering that life is a work of art, a picture, a painting that we create. So let's savor each Brushstroke. sending you much love and blessings till next time on the Daily Joyride, Bye bye.