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

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Robyn Cohen (00:38):
Well hello, lovely listeners, welcome back to the
Daily Joyride.
I'm Robyn Cohen, here to journeywith you into resplendent realms
of creativity and inspiration.
Today we have a treat unlike anyother thus far, you're going to
hear why in a minute, as we takea deep dive into Matt Burke's
world.

(00:59):
Matt is a Shakespearean actorvirtuoso, a gifted educator, and
a master performer in themediums of television, film, and
live theater.
He's the real deal.
and you're going to hear allabout how Matt actually overcame
some really formidablechallenges, some personal
setbacks, and huge professionalobstacles.
And transformed them intoempowering stories of resilience

(01:22):
and artistry that provideincredible wisdom and guidance
for others today.
So get ready, folks, for thisadventure ahead and, drumroll
please, let yourself bemesmerized by his Phenom command
performance of a Shakespeareanmonologue from Othello delivered
right here on this here podcastepisode.
It's an absolute gift of poeticbrilliance and passionate

(01:45):
genius.
in that vein, if you are feelinginspired to unleash your
beautiful potential, my actingclasses are open to all auditors
for free through March 4th, wemeet Tuesday evenings at 7 p.
m.
And these classes are yourgolden ticket to a veritable
feast of creativity,inspiration, and fellowship.

(02:07):
So connect with me on Instagramat@RobynCohenActingStudio or via
email atRobyn@CohenActingStudio.Com And
let's get the fire lit, startingright here, right now.
Let's go.
Well, hello, hello, and welcomeback to the Daily Joyride
`podcast.

(02:28):
I'm your host, Robyn Cohen.
What a joyride we are in fortoday, my friends.
Oh my goodness.
I'm so excited to introducefriend of mine someone who has
dedicated nearly three decadesof his life to the craft of
acting, teaching, and helpingothers connect deeply to their
purpose.

(02:48):
Matt Burke is on the show.
Matt Burke is not only anincredibly talented, talented
performer who has graced boththe stage and screen alongside
some of the brightest luminariesin the business.
We'll get into it.
but he's also a passionate andbeloved teacher who has guided

(03:10):
young and aspiring actors towardunlocking their potential.
Fullest potential.
Love that so much.
He holds his BFA in acting fromFlorida State University, and
Delaware's professional theatertraining program, PTTP, is where
he earned his MFA.
His pursuits have led him fromJacksonville, Florida, where he

(03:32):
started in sweat filled,mosquito surrounded outdoor
stages to assisting stars suchas Mel Gibson, Tom Cruise, And
Jim Carrey in Los Angeles, a fewshort years later, he was
learning the art of theatermaking from icons such as Jewel

(03:52):
Walker and Adrian Hall.
Which aided greatly in hisperforming in three seasons at
the Tony Award winning UtahShakespearean Festival.
Wonderful, glorious theater inUtah.
If you haven't been therebefore, listeners, get there if
you can.
He has since been seen in 25major motion picture and TV

(04:13):
projects, with Luminaries likeNicole Kidman, Jason Bateman,
Melissa McCarthy, and AngelaBassett.
We actually have the same actingmanager, Angela Bassett and I I
she doesn't, I don't know.
We don't know.
She doesn't know who I, I knowwho she is, of course.
She doesn't know who

Matt B (04:31):
I am, even though we've worked together, I guarantee
you, she doesn't know.

And we love her anyway.
In 2012, Matt began exploringthe world of holistic and
somatic healing practices inAsheville, North Carolina, where
he has resided for the last 15years.
It is there where he began todiscover the other part of his
true aim, integrating his artwith spirituality, to help

(04:56):
communities create moreauthentic lives lived with
pleasure, passion, and purpose.
That's so beautiful.
And I will say that Matt is anexpert in Laban Movement
Analysis.
Shakespearean performance andtechniques that have really
helped actors connect theirbreath, their bodies, and their

(05:17):
souls to their craft.
So I am beyond thrilled to haveMatt with us today.
He's someone who truly embodiesthe joy of artistic exploration
and the power of helping otherstap into their creativity.
So buckle up or settle inbecause this is going to be a
conversation filled with wisdom,heart, and inspiration.

(05:38):
Let's dive in.
Welcome to the show, Matt Burke.
Welcome to the Daily Joyride.

Matt B (05:45):
And we have already peaked, ladies and gentlemen, it
is now all downhill from here,but it will be exciting.

Oh my gosh, Matt, it's so good to see you, first
of all, and, just have toacknowledge you're in North
Carolina, things look lovely andpeaceful, and I know there's
been a lot of, forces of naturethat have come through there,
so, how are you doing in theaftermath of some really,
serious climate changes thataffected your cities in

(06:15):
particular?

Matt B (06:16):
Uh, well, There's so many layers as usual to, what's
going on and you know, it'sfunny you asked me to do this,
but you really, and ladies andgentlemen, Robyn had absolutely
no idea how, when she wascatching me.
She's just tuned in somewheredeep in the super unconscious,

(06:36):
let's say,

but

Matt B (06:39):
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 beenstretched this much between one
end of the, of the spectrumwhere the darkness, the darkest
things have happened in my life,let's say, but then right in the
wake of those dark things havebeen the most light filled

(07:03):
miracles, of my life.
So it's been, it's been amazing.
Uh, Helene was of course, one ofthe dark occurrences that
happened.
And I don't know if that dog iscoming through or not, but he
will stop in a minute.
We

might have a feline jungle tiger of the night coming
through, uh, Joffy the cat, sono problem.

Matt B (07:23):
Okay, great.
So, I was personally and myfamily and most of my community
were, uh, unaffected, in anysignificant fashion by Helene,
but the community at large wasdevastated.
It, we're still, we're stillrecovering.
It will be still probably acouple of years before we're
really back to, I mean, we justgot running water in downtown

(07:45):
Nashville a couple of weeks ago.
We've been without how

many months that's

Matt B (07:49):
over a month.
It's that was like five, six,five, six weeks.

Unbelievable.

Matt B (07:57):
But yeah, in terms of me and the people that I know
personally, we all we landed onour feet and the losses were
minor.
But in the communities that gotit the most were outside of
Asheville, you know, 20 to 30minutes outside of Asheville,
these small towns that werealong the river got washed away,

(08:18):
totally completely washed awayroads, lost in mudslides like A
lot of the efforts are goingabout and are about
infrastructure.
That's what is needed are stilljust roads to put back into
these towns.
So the travel lines throughthese these little towns like
Hot Springs and and and Bat Caveand, Burnsville and, Spring

(08:39):
Creek.
They're going they're going totake, uh, it's going to take a
lot of a long time to get thosereally back to standing.

Wow.
Well, yeah.
Blessings and prayers and Godbless you.
I mean, it sounds like justgetting back to the bones of the
infrastructure for many of thosecommunities.
And, and speaking of gettingback to the bones, I just want
to say for those who arelistening and not necessarily
watching that if you can seeMatt, like you can hear it in
his voice if you can't see him,but I'm so struck always Matt

(09:09):
with you by the immediacy andthe vibrancy and the presence of
you every time I've been in yourpresence.
And it's yeah, it's fascinatingto experience what you're
saying, which is like, you're ina maelstrom, right?
Yes.
And then simultaneously be that.

(09:31):
It moves me.
It makes me emotional actually.
Cause I'm like, this is, youknow, it's in part why I started
this podcast.
It was in honor of my brotherwho passed away and the ripping
transformational pain that thatwas for me and for my family and
how we on assignment by Adamwere put to the test of figuring

(09:53):
out it was his blessing, hiswish that we figure out a way to
be happy in this life andexperience the aliveness of
life.
while we're still alive.
And so I just want to reflectthat it's such a, it's so
exciting to be in your presencebecause you are so sort of on
the cutting edge of now, and itbrings whoever is into your

(10:16):
spaces into that presence aswell, authentically.
And so your being, just so youknow, is really a gateway for us
getting to be ourselves And I'mreally looking forward to,
diving a little deeper aboutwhat you said about the deepest

(10:38):
dark and the brightest lightbecause I think you can't
actually have one without theother

Matt B (10:45):
true.
That's been my that's been thehuge lesson for me.
For me this year is that everytime there was the darkest
depth, right?
The darkest night right in itswake was the brightest light.
It was, that's, that's been themost amazing thing.
It's been surreal.
It's been, uh, I mean, Iprobably experienced, I never

(11:09):
thought that I would have a yearI've learned more this year than
I have in any other year of mylife.
And it really is.
It's almost like I'm achievingthis new level of being alive
too, which for me is I mean, Ithought I was pretty live before
that, but I did actually, but Idid find myself and we'll, we'll
get into this whenever we getinto it, but I did walk into, I
mean, accidentally walked intoan addiction and I, and I'll

(11:33):
tell you all about it, but, thatput me into the throes of a
world that I was completely notready to deal with.
And, but it also, it put meright into some mysterious way.
It put me right where I neededto be to, to do the things that

(11:53):
I needed to do to get to thenext level of life.

That sounds so mysterious.
I'd love to get under that.
Yeah.
In terms of like, and I also getthe specific piece about like, I
walked into something I didn'teven know was going to be a
disaster, but it was the verydisaster that when the sun rose
and when the dawn came, I wasgoing to be reborn.

Matt B (12:23):
It has been a rebirth.
I've been in the rebirth canalfor probably the last two years
and you're, you really are likethe timing.
I'm not even exaggerating.
You're, you're catching me rightas I'm coming out of the pit.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Like, it's destiny.

We call that Basharit.
Like, that's how we want it.
Raw and real.
And like, that's where That'swhere the gold is in life.
And so I guess, just sort of getinto what you were talking
about, like these lessons, whatwould you say, are you able to
encapsulate, you said, I'vegotten the biggest lessons of my
life this last year.

(12:57):
Can you talk a little bit aboutlike, what are those lessons
that you are now filled with andembodying that as a teacher, as
a performer, as an artist, as afamily member, you're now.
How are you going to be able tosomehow turn this mess into a
message?
What have you learned?
What have you been learning?

Matt B (13:15):
I'll, I'll quote Carl Jung, who said that the things
we wish, we most desire, I'mparaphrasing, the things that we
most desire to find are found inthe places we least want to
look.

Our greatest desire is often our greatest fear.

Matt B (13:37):
Correct.
Thanks.
Yeah.
What we desire most is on theother side of what we fear most.
Yes.
Right.
so again with this and that andsort of unfolding in, and also
in all of this, we, we do nothave control.
Like we, we have power.

(13:57):
That's different than control.
We don't have control.
And oftentimes what we walkaround signaling to people.
Is how we are in control.
I got it.
I'm in control.
And, and in, interestinglyenough, the hardest thing for
people to ask for, or thehardest thing for people to say

(14:18):
is not, I love you.
Not I'm sorry, not pleaseforgive me.
It's I need help.

Help.
yeah, yeah.
I

Matt B (14:26):
need help.

I need help.

Matt B (14:28):
and I've, I've, so I, I have just learned that you gotta
give, you gotta kind of give itup.
You know, you have to relinquishwhatever illusions you have
about the control that you havein your life now.
Now there's a distinction withthe difference here because that
doesn't mean that you have nopower.
That doesn't mean that you don'thave a facility to participate
in the process.

(14:49):
Quite the contrary.
You can participate with all ofyour being to the process.
Right.
And you can go after what youwant, right?
You can aim clearly and you cango with all of your being
towards what it is that you'reaimed at.
But, the process is more of a cocreative one, right?
There are other forces at play.

(15:09):
That will bring you to a placeyou never thought you wanted to
be and they'll take you toplaces.
You never thought you'd end up.

Yeah.

Matt B (15:18):
Right.
And along the way, you end up,you go through places and
traverse through places that youdidn't even think were there

or

Matt B (15:26):
available or possible to go through.
Like, how in the hell did I endup here?

Yeah.

Matt B (15:31):
But then they end up, of course, being you.
A stop that you needed to maketo get ultimately to a place
that you didn't even knowexisted that you always wanted
to be

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

Matt B (15:57):
I'm a recovering controller,

recovering perfectionist, recovering
overachiever, recovering overfunctioning type of a disease
over functioning.
And your work and what you teachand Laban and movement and
acting and Shakespeare, it isultimately so much about this,
it's coming into or generatingmyself as a human being with a

(16:25):
regulated central nervoussystem.

Matt B (16:29):
Yeah.

Cause then I can do anything.

Matt B (16:33):
That's right.

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

Matt B (16:45):
Yes.

Because it allows them to be the most loving.
Loving love, I think, is justspace 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 wherewe're regulated with the divine
space around us in congruence inflow, I think, yeah, we can't

(17:08):
control, but we actually havethe power to do, say, be, go
anywhere with anyone, wheneverwe say.
Okay.
So that's the work these days,thinly veiled as, you know, the
work of teaching actors, thework of coaching people, the
work of performing on stages orsets or TV shows.
But it all underneath all ofthat, it's like, am I breathing?

(17:32):
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 outthere.

Matt B (17:45):
No,

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 thespeed of safety.
We move and create to the degreethat we feel safe to do so.
So these days it's like, that'skind of number one on the list.
Like it's the top priority.

Matt B (18:06):
Well, and the word that word safety is so interesting
right now, because it seems tobe up very much.
So, I mean, in all kinds ofspaces, but certainly creative
spaces where, you know, all of asudden when actors don't feel
safe.

Yeah.

Matt B (18:26):
Then, like, the process stops or there's an inability to
move beyond, I feel unsafe.
Even though there's no clear andpresent danger in the room, the
feeling that an actor is unsafeis reason enough to, whoa,
let's, I have, something'swrong.
Yeah.
And that's like the newfrontier.
Like, for me, I listen to actorsthat I work with who say that

(18:49):
and I go, like, do you feel likeyou're in danger?
And they go, no, I just feelunsafe.
And it's like, okay.
I don't, you know, I'm out, I'mkind of at a loss because I'm
like, that's so fascinating thatone can, be so wrapped up in the
experience of feeling unsafe somuch so that it is, it is.
Paralyzing.
It is their, it is theirreality.

(19:10):
Yeah.
Even though they're clear thatthe reality beyond them is safe.
Yes.
But that's, that's a somethingthat'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 questionfor me as, as I was getting
trained and, and is, I always,like, I just knew that I was

(19:31):
safe and so anything inside ofme that felt, however it felt, I
was like, Ugh, my feelings andI've gotta like be with all this
stuff and I still have to do thejob.
So I, I don't know, like I,that's how I started to develop
the nervous system regulationstrategies and like, you gotta
work with your breath.
You have to be conscious.
every single step and noticewhere, what's going on now.

(19:55):
How do I feel now?
What's going on with me now?
What is this?
And that has really invited adepth, a dive into the plunges
of like my soul to figure outwhy can't this be a sanctuary
for me all the time?
You know, like what's up withme, but that's clearly a me with
me thing when out here I know issafe.
And that's been, uh, that's beena huge part of the journey.

In either case, whether It's you internally and
your internal experience beingunsafe or your external
experience being unsafe.
What do you tell yourselfliterally?
Or what do you tell yourstudents?
So let's say a student isfeeling, I'm terrified to get up
to perform.

(20:37):
I have massive stage fright.
I, it feels like I'm going todie, right?
Or on the contrary, if it's.
where there is an, you know, foryou, if there isn't something
that feels dangerous, how do youtalk to yourself and how do you
talk to your students to givethem a tool or a practice that

(20:57):
can transform that?

Matt B (21:00):
I mean that, okay, so this is when you're about to

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

Matt B (21:08):
Well, this is where, well, first of all, what I tell
my, well, I've been doing thisfor so long that I don't, if
nervousness comes up for me,it's just something that's there
that I move with.

Yeah.

Matt B (21:19):
I don't ever go shh.

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

Matt B (21:23):
I tend, I pay attention to whatever I, first of all, I
locate where the, where theunsafety 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 heresomewhere?
Right?
Where is it, where is theunsafe?
So I locate it and then I ask,what do you need?

(21:44):
I just have a conversation withit.
Sometimes out loud where I go,tell me what you need.
What do you need?
I need, and sometimes all itneeds is that attention.
Sometimes all it needs is to beseen and heard.
Now with my students, what we'vestarted doing, and I just
learned this recently, whichapparently is part of the lingo

(22:06):
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 anyprocess, we go around the circle
and people will say.
I'm a green light, meaning I'mgood.
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.

(22:26):
I've had a, had a conversationtoday 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 tofunction.
I am dealing, I'm having a verybad day.
It was hard for me to even bringmyself 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 wherethe other way it's very quick,

(22:48):
right?
You just go around red, green,yellow, boom, right?
You don't say why you just sayred light, yellow light, green
light.
Right.
And you can share a little bitafter that, but then everyone
right off the bat is seen.
They're seeing their witness.
Now what they're in the room andthey're not hiding.
They're not, uh, Okay.

(23:09):
We're going to get going withthis thing, even though there's
this thing going on inside of methat is sucking up all of my
energy right now.
And I can't, it's like thisweight that I'm carrying around.
But if everyone knows that yougot 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 herwith care, with care, right?

(23:30):
I'm going to be, I'm going to beaware 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 attentionon you and the thing that's
moved, that you're moving inwith.
that's a real simple way to getoff to, to a beginning with
something.

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

Matt B (23:59):
Ah!

just to clarify, like, we are in a culture right
now, Where the talk aboutaddiction to likes and being
seen and all the things rightthat this social media culture,
you know, is overflowing withand saturated with.
So how, how do we get ourselvesseen healthily on the daily in

(24:25):
our everyday lives?
If we don't get to go to classwith you and we're just walking
around trying to get through theday, how do we get ourselves
seen healthily so that wearen't?
Fleeing, racing to that nextquick fix, which is an addiction
cycle of getting seen or gettingmore likes, getting, getting the
approval, getting the audition.
Then I can breathe because thenthey really saw me.

(24:47):
Oh, getting the applause.
Right.
How do we interrupt thatunending desire?
Like see me, feel me, love me.
It can turn out so badly when wechase it.
So how do we get ourselves seenand heard such that we don't

(25:08):
start running around looking forthe next quick fix that could be
down a rabbit hole to the end ofour lives, literally, when
you're talking about addiction,

Matt B (25:17):
right?
Well, the first thing for me isto you first you see yourself
first you check in with yourselfin the morning.
And you, I have, there's amorning routine there.
Now there's the differencebetween self care and self love.
Those are not the same thing.
Self care is

through this morning routine.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So

Matt B (25:38):
you wake up.
The first thing I do is I drinka glass of water.
I give my, I give my internalorgans a shower

and

Matt B (25:45):
I, and in the water I put, you can put a little bit of
lemon juice and you can put alittle bit of mineral, uh, like
Celtic sea salt or somethingjust to get just to replenish
minerals.
And the lemon juice is foralkalization if you want to do
that, right?
But you ate the 12 ounces bangand then you you can do some
breathing right there.
Just simple 10 breaths big inthe nose, out the mouth, just or

(26:06):
in the, in the mouth, out themouth, whatever it is that you
got to kind of feel intoyourself and whatever it is you
need in the morning in the mouthand out the mouth activates the
emotional body, if you will.
It will, invite your emotionsinto the day.
Let's say in the nose and outthe mouth will stimulate the
brain a little bit more and, getthe, like kind of wake the brain

(26:28):
up.
or you can do a mix of both,but, but 10 is all you need.
You can do a square, uh, boxbreathing.
I think it's called where youinhale for four seconds, hold
for four seconds, exhale forfour seconds, hold for four
seconds, and you do 10 to 20 ofthose.
You can do that, you can do thatin your, you can do that in your

(26:50):
bed, in your water, in yourbreathing.
That, that

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

Matt B (26:58):
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 likethat.
I am not like that.
I need to wake up and ease myway out of the bed.
Like I need to kind of come intomy body first.
And, and, you know, and afterI've done my breathing, that
makes it easier for me to getoutta bed.
It kind of energizes and chargesthe battery, so to speak.

(27:19):
I get out and then immediately,I just reach up in the air and
I'd stretch.
I reach my body in all differentways possible.
Your body will tell you whichways it wants to move.
Hmm.
If you need to stretch up, yourbody will tell you that.
You, I mean, you're, listen,your body will speak to you and
tell you which way you needs tomove.
It will tell, move me this way.

(27:40):
Yeah.
Right.
But if you need a routine, it'sjust as simple as you can do a
simple stretch, fold over yogasun salutations, real simple
ones.
Yeah.
Any kind of physical act and anyphysical activity is fine.
You can go and run with your runaround with your dog, but get
your heartbeat, get yourheartbeat going.

Yes, yes, yes.

Matt B (27:58):
Get into sunlight within 30 minutes of waking up.
Go outside and just get light inyour eyes.
That will, that, that's betterthan caffeine.
A lot of people get up and theypound caffeine the first, if you
do that, that's like signalingoff the alarm bells.
That's like putting your body ina mild state, your nervous
system in a mild state of fightflight.
Right.
So, but I, so get some sunlightimmediately and if you can walk

(28:21):
around in the sunlight or justget out in the sun for about 10
minutes.
That's good.
Yeah.
And there's no particular orderwith any of this.
You really can.
If you're someone that springsout of bed early, get in the
sunlight immediately.
Yeah.
But those are the first things,hydration, sunlight, and, and
some activity to get the heartrate up.

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

Matt B (28:49):
Yeah.
Um,

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

Matt B (28:57):
It's, it's ease.
It should be easeful, it shouldbe things that are gentle,
should it's not.
Some people feel, again, withthe caffeine they're used to,
they need to get like zero to 10and under 10 seconds, you know?
And it's like, no, take thattime in the morning to be easy
with yourself and gentle withyourself.
Yeah.
And then you're calibratingyourself to be more calm
throughout the day.

(29:17):
Yeah.
And I've read, I mean, this isall from, uh, just listening to
neuroscientists and such, but inall the esoteric, if you will,
healers of Asheville, which weare a, a nest of them, but,
giving yourself two hours, ifyou can, before waking up,
before you ingest your firstcaffeine will make the caffeine
last longer and you won't crashand you won't need as much of

(29:41):
it.
Two hours before you ingestcaffeine, before, after you wake
up and you'll be, you'll just bebetter off.

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

Matt B (30:08):
Yeah

And I love that.
I do.
And I, and I, and I know you dotoo.
And I, my body won't, doesn'twanna risk what caffeine will do
to it, but everything else, I'mfull til boogie in and I just
wanna full til pause.
Like I, I just have to stop thecar for a moment.
We're not driving so we're safe,but so.
So, you know, why am I, I haveMatt Burke, this incredible

(30:32):
actor, artist, performer,Shakespearean wizard, you know,
I have you in this conversationon this podcast.
And it's like, why am I even,why are we talking about this?
And, you know, for those of youlistening or watching, so like
Matt, you're such anextraordinary actor, and I think
it has so much to do, and Ihaven't even seen you do a full

(30:55):
play like I've seen him do likea lick of Shakespeare, you know,
and I probably will ask you todo a lick of your favorite
Shakespearean monologue just forfun, like as a blowout, but, One
of the reasons I'm so curiousabout like, what do you do when
you wake up is because Matt, youshow up in the world of arts and
crafts like a boss.
And there's somethingelectrifying about Matt.

(31:17):
I'm sure if you can't see him,like you can hear it in his
voice and his work and withShakespeare and acting is just
vibrating with that.
So I was curious to kind of gobehind the on like, what is your
regimen?
Because it, like people don'tjust happen, they do happen by
default, but to generate thatkind of, life force that you

(31:43):
Matt pour into your arts andcrafts and your teaching and
your being in TV and movies,there's definitely a curiosity.
And I think for a lot of mylisteners, like, how do we
actually How do we wrangle ourlife force in the best possible
way so that we can show up andbe like a galvanizing, show
stopping performer such asyourself?
So why are you, what is the dealwith Shakespeare in acting?

(32:07):
Why are you an actor?
I mean, It's so obvious to methat you're an actor because you
have so much vitality and somuch to give energetically that
like there's got to be a placeand there's got to be language
and of course Shakespeare withhis heightened language is such
a brilliant container forsomeone with your full
potential.
Fierce intelligence and creativemind.

(32:28):
Like, of course it's Shakespearefor you.
But like you tell me, cause I'mjust like from the outside
saying like, of course you're anamazing actor.
That's doing all the mediums.
Like that's your vibe.
Right.
But I'm curious, like from yourperspective, why Shakespeare,
why acting, why this medium, whyarts and crafts and why giving
it away to the next generationand all that you teach with

(32:51):
movement and Laban and breathwork and so on.
Why, why are you doing it?
What's it for?

Matt B (32:57):
Uh, well, when I was very young, I did not have a
father in the house and it wasme and my mother and my brother.
And my mother left my fatherwhen I was two years old.
And as early as I was makingmemories, it was just me and my
brother who was four years olderthan me and my mom.
And.
Uh, we would go to familyreunions and we, we lived in an

(33:23):
apartment complex where my daddidn't live, but all of his, his
mom and his brothers and sisterslived, and we would just get
together for real family gettogethers.
And I started doing lip syncsto, to, uh, old country songs.
And, uh, if you, Elvira by aband called the Oak Ridge Boys
was, was one and some Statlerbrothers tunes like flowers on

(33:44):
the wall.
And that's a little bit morewell known that was in Pulp
Fiction, but I would get up andlip sync these things.
And my family seemed to reallyget a kick out of them and I
really liked entertaining myfamily.
So I started to take my show onthe road when I was in
kindergarten and I did a, uh, Idid one of those lip syncs for a
room full of strangers and mybrother, it was this.
talent show where the Wizard ofOz was like the through line

(34:07):
encasing all of the acts andDorothy 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 onthe way to the Wizard.
And I was getting ready to domine, and my brother played the
Tin Man.
For whatever reason in thisversion of The Wizard of Oz,

(34:28):
Dorothy met the Tin Man beforethe Scarecrow.
I don't know who, someone didn'tdo their research.
But so, Dorothy came on with theTin Man, who was my brother.
And they asked me, can you tellus anything about Oz?
And I said, there's only onething I can tell you about Oz.
And they said, what's that?
And I said, nothing got a littlechuckle from the audience.
That was actually pretty wellwritten.

(34:49):
And then they went off and hereI wasn't with my guitar that was
on backwards.
I had it left handed, but theguitar had no strings.
And of course I was doing a lipsync, so it didn't matter.
But my brother, for whateverreason, was like on the
sidelines, like, dude, dude,your guitar is on backwards.
And I was looking at him and helooked freaked out.

(35:09):
So I was freaked out and I waslike, Oh my God, my guitar is on
backwards.
And they had started the music.
And I said, stop.
And, um, my mom remembers thismoment very clearly.
She says, I thought you werehaving stage fright.
I was so scared.
You were going to like, juststop.
And they stopped the music.
I took my hat off my cowboy hat.
I was dressed in cowboy hat andboots and a plaid shirt.
I've got a picture.

(35:30):
If you want to see it, I flippedthe guitar.
Right.
And I looked at, of course, thewhole audience is like, is he
okay?
And I went, my guitar was onbackwards 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.

(35:52):
That got me.
I was like, I want to do this ina good

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

Matt B (36:09):
I belong.
This is where I belong.
I belong on a stage entertainingpeople.
Yep.
And so then after that, I justdid plays in the neighborhood
where I could.
I did another talent show twoyears, two years later, and we
were a hit there.
We did Ghostbusters, two ofthem, two, a couple of friends
of mine got up and did it.
Did a routine to the Ghostbustersong by Ray Parker.
And, uh, and I won a modelingcontest when I was in sixth

(36:31):
grade, which is beyond mebecause I had a mullet, but this
was a big, legit modelingcontest in Atlanta, Georgia.

Oh, this wasn't

Matt B (36:39):
some off the beaten path, whatever.
Like I beat like professionalmodels in that contest, but it's
just because I was comfortableon stage.
And I remember throwing togethermy old, routine, like right
before we went out on stage andI just had a blast.
And so everybody else had ablast and I got modeling.
I didn't last too long cause Iwasn't very good at modeling,
but I, uh, but I continued to dostage plays.
And then in the ninth grade, Iplayed Romeo in a stage in a

(37:03):
school production of Romeo andJuliet for the English class.
And I played Romeo.
We parsed it out.
I did Romeo in the balcony sceneand then Romeo in the death
scene.
Yeah.
And that got me the next levelof, Whoa, dude, like that's
your, you're in your elementthere.
And, uh, and that was in a newhigh school.
I had moved down from Atlanta toJacksonville, Florida, and I was

(37:23):
in a place I didn't knowanybody.
And I, it was a really hard,sad, lonely time.
And I remember that was when Ifelt, Oh, here I am.
I belong again.
Now I belong somewhere just likeI did when I was five.
And so went on to college, got,you know, and just continue to
like, I want more, I want tobecome the best possible actor

(37:46):
that I can be in this thing thatwith this place where I feel
like I belong, I want to, I wantto more, give me more.
I want to, I had an insatiableappetite to get better and
better at it.
And after after Florida StateUniversity, where I got my
degree, I came out to L.
A.
And tried my hand out there.
And I came out there right after911.

(38:06):
So I remember that very clearlydriving from Jacksonville to Los
Angeles Coast Coast with a buddyof mine.
We came out together.
And it happened a month after 911.
Wow.
So, I wasn't ready for L.
A.
L.
A.
completely overwhelmed me.
I was just like, huh.
But I managed to, to getinvolved with a couple of
productions.

(38:27):
One out of International CityTheater in Long Beach.
I don't know if it's stillthere.
Is it still there?
Yes, of course.

Absolutely.
They're doing great.

Matt B (38:33):
And then, uh, A Noise Within in Glendale.

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

Matt B (38:39):
in a production of Measure for Measure out there.
and so I, I still manage to getin with some really good theater
makers.
The

best.
Best.
So, again, just

Matt B (38:48):
reflected back, like, You're, yeah, I keep finding
myself where I belong.
It's never been a problem in mylife to find myself on a stage
which is where I belong.
So then, but I wasn't ready forLA so I decided, because I
realized I need more training, Ineed more intensive training, I
need classical training.
So that's when I went andfocused on trying to get into

(39:09):
grad school and I didn't eventry to get into Delaware.
Delaware kind of Popped up onthe screen.
I was looking at NYU andJuilliard and Yale and, you
know, the big ones, but Delawarewas this sort of, you know, I
had heard of their program andheard things about them, but
they were, you know, very, stillsort of obscure in a way, like
the University of Delaware.

(39:30):
What?
What?
Is that really a place, letalone a place where a school is?
Yeah.
Or a top

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

Matt B (39:39):
Yeah.
But I went and the, you know,like they had all six members of
their acting faculty in thataudition and they took 12 people
in for two hours.
Whereas every other program hadone or two people, you had to
pay 50 to a hundred bucks to goin and audition for like 10
minutes.
So you got to meet the wholefaculty, which were, you got,
you got to like work with sixartists.

(40:03):
Like these, Jewel Walker, one ofthose being the master teacher
that he was, was a completely,he was a revelation.
He was from an ancient lineageof corporeal mind and trained in
the ways of the, the, thetechniques of commedia.
And he was classmates withMarcel Marceau and he was a
different breed, you know, hedidn't care how you felt.

(40:26):
The only acting teacher I'veever had that was like, I, I
don't care how you feel.
I want to feel something, youknow, and which completely
reoriented how I worked onstuff.
I was then like, Oh my God, I'vebeen, I've been trying to get me
to feel something who get right.
Why?
Why?
That's not what this is.

(40:47):
I'm trying to get the audienceto feel something.
Right.
Okay.
All right.
Now I was in a different game.

Yeah.
How do we do that?
Right?
What makes an audience feelsomething?
That's right.
It's when they recognizethemselves and the struggle and
the fight that you're trying notto cry and they relate to.
That's'cause that's how we walkaround trying to squash our
feelings and get through theday.
Wow.
Wow.
so that was revelatory.
So that program.

(41:14):
you ended up going there,obviously.
And that was the fulfillment.
It sounds like of like levelingup.
you know, if you're going to bea dancer on Broadway, you're
going to do classical ballet.
It seems analogous in terms oflike something in you knew that
this was the training that wouldbe the kind of springboard or

(41:35):
catapult,

Matt B (41:37):
it was another example of a place that I didn't know
existed ended up being the placethat I, It was the place that I
wanted to be that I didn't evenknow was there to, to go to.
but I, I do want to saysomething just for people
listening, kind of wondering ifthis is for them, you know, ever
since that moment on stage, Ijust knew in my bones that I

(41:58):
wanted to be an actor and that Iwould be an actor.
That was just there for me.
And not that that has to be thatway, but I can just say, I can
only speak from my ownexperiences that, if you don't
know or you aren't sure ifacting is for you, then it it's
all the more, necessary for youto get your why clear.

(42:20):
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 atwisted maniacal out of your
mind individual, and it's likethe craziness of it and the, the
chaos of it just is your breadand butter and your tea and your
jam.
That's fine, right?
Like it's not, don't worry aboutwhat the why sounds like.

(42:45):
All that matters is that yourwhy lights you up because that's
what's going to get you throughthe slings and arrows.
That's what's going to get youthrough the times when you feel
completely, totally, utterlyalone and you feel like nobody
gives two rats asses, excuse me,whether or not you're alone.
That's what's going to fuel youthrough those times when you

(43:07):
feel lost.
And alone,

though, you found a sense of belonging, speaking of
the Wizard of Oz and Dorothy.
And like, there's this idea oflike, yeah, once I'm in the
right theater community, thereis this feeling of belonging.
It just feels right.
And I'm so interested these daysand like how we can belong to

(43:32):
ourselves.
Even if I never acted again, ifI was never in another play.
If I never stepped foot on thestage, regardless of actually,
you know, your profession, likewhether you ever get the MBA,
whether you ever, become, youknow, if you're a lawyer,
whatever your profession is,like, how do we belong to
ourselves when there's no onearound, you know, and continue
to develop that relationshipwith self so that when it gets

(43:58):
rough and those slings andarrows how do we walk ourselves
back home to ourselves, so thatwe can generate a feeling of
belonging, even if they didn'tsay.
Yes, at that audition, and wedidn't get into the theater
company, and we didn't get intothe TV show, or they canceled
the pilot, or, you know, we shotit and then, you know, they, or

(44:21):
you, you made it to the set andthen they replaced you.
incredible, yeah,

Matt B (44:26):
there's just tons of stories too of people.
not really having much to speakof until they got into their
50s.
Yeah.
You know, and there's, there'speople like in here in
Asheville, since the Southeasthas become this big boom, I've
watched people who've donestage.
There's a 60 something year oldwoman who has now become a
regular.
She was a regular on star girl.

(44:48):
And she's pretty formidablestage actress, but she'd kind of
given up on TV and film until itkind of popped open here.
And then the studio in Ashevillethat houses the agency here, she
started taking classes and kindof getting into the film and TV
thing, and now she's killing it.
Wow.
You know, so there's, there'slots of stories about people who
are sort of having a, you know,a rebirth, if you will.

(45:11):
Yes.

Yes.

Matt B (45:12):
The reinvigoration of their, uh, of their careers and,
and they're able to do thingsthey thought had long past and
long since said goodbye to them.

You had mentioned, you know, we can't control any
of it.
The timing that this woman couldnever predicted that she would
stop chasing film and televisionand then suddenly she's, as you
said, she's crushing it.
She's on all these TV shows, hispart of your journey this past
year, which has been sochallenging.
Is it like, Yeah, even when theworld says no, you're not it,

(45:44):
we're not casting you, or we'refiring you, or we know you're
the best actor, but you stilldon't get the part, and so
you're not going to pay yourmortgage, like all these things,
or, or a storm, literally avirtual storm, an actual storm.
So, how did you manage tomaintain a sense of belonging?
You know, even when the world issaying no to you, you don't

(46:06):
belong, you're not part of thiscast, you're not part of this
show, you're not part of thisschool, you didn't get in, you
didn't get the part, next.
So how do we hold on?

Matt B (46:15):
so now we get into the addiction.
So two years ago, uh, Thingswere hard for a long time.
I had the best year of my lifein 2019.
Professionally, I was in sixprojects, including like the
Walking Dead and the residentand um, a couple of movies like
called called Fear Street.
I mean, I was having a great, Ihad, I was, I was all my, I was

(46:36):
like, all of a sudden herecomes, Oh my gosh, I was having
a hot streak in 2019 and thenCovid hit and it just like
knocked everything over.
Like I was, you know, I kind ofwas hanging on by threads that's
when we joined the teachingartists alignments and I had
some sort of life preservers, Iguess, but I was running on life
support.
Like I felt like I felt soisolated and all of a sudden I

(46:58):
was in this different postapocalyptic world of like, where
the, where did, where, how inthe hell did we get here?
Yeah.
And then 2021 came and that wasokay.
Like starting to climb back onthe horse, if you will.
I got a few things and I waslike, all right, but then 22,
this, you know, the strikesweren't too far.
I think what the strikeshappened in 23 or 20 was a 23 or

(47:22):
23.
So the rumblings of all of thatwas going on.

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

Matt B (47:26):
the rumblings of the strikes were happening before
they happened in 23 and thingswere just clearly topsy turvy
and not stable and I, I justkind of felt in my body that
this was going to be the waythat it was.
Well, it was painful as hell,and I, my job became not
quitting my job became like,okay, gotta find something to

(47:49):
keep me engaged and interested.
And yes, the teaching saved mylife.
Like having my group of studentsthat I came to to work with,
like we held on to each otherand just said, well, we can do
it here.
Yeah, better than nowhere.
Yeah.
Right.
And we really got, we developedlifelong bonds in that time.
Yes, because we just held on toeach other.

(48:10):
Yes.
Um, but needless to say, now Iwas leading this group of people
and I felt like I could grabonto them, but I also felt like
I needed to be the anchor in away.
And I was losing, I was losingground.
So I started taking thesubstance called kratom.
Have you heard of this?

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

Matt B (48:32):
doesn't it it does right?

It's from

Matt B (48:34):
an

Asian

Matt B (48:34):
plant It's a point.
It's it's plant medicine, right?
Yeah.
Yeah, they sell it now You canget it by itself in in in a
powdered form when you seep itand you make a tea out of it Or
you can get it.
They have it in these X liquidextract shots And I was taking
these shots called Feel freeshots, they're Kratom and Kava

(48:54):
shots.
So it's Kratom mixed with Kava,which I've taken, which I knew
was 100%.
Kava's another extract, but it'ssafe, Kava's safe.
Kava doesn't mess you up, itisn't addictive, nothing,
nothing.
So I thought, oh, it's withKava, it's fine.
Like it didn't even, there'snothing on the bottle that says
it's addictive.
It does say don't take more thantwo bottles a day.
Now, this is where I knew I was,I was taking too much.

(49:16):
Because after a while, I startedtaking three, then four, then
five.
Up to eight.
So, now what it does is itactually functions of the
painkiller.
So it is not an opiate, but itplays on the same receptors in
the brain as opiates do.
Okay.
So I was in the throes of beforeI knew it.
Like, yes, I knew something.

(49:37):
I knew these bottles were notokay, but I just decided to
ignore it because I liked theway they made me feel and it had
so that ultimately I didn't haveto feel the pain that was there
to feel.
After about a year of that, Idecided, okay, I need to come
off of this.
This is bad news bears.
When I started to come off ofit.
Now this is where it gets real.

(49:58):
This was in March of this year,

2024,

Matt B (50:02):
2024, I started to come off of it.
And I went into a five daystretch of no sleep.
I did not sleep for five days.
All right.
Day three, I get an invitationfrom a buddy of mine to audition
for this project filming closeby.
I can't talk too much about it,but with the certain big name in

(50:26):
it.
and, I was in the throes ofessentially, my father was an
alcoholic, and essentially whatI was doing was now fighting the
demons of addiction that myfather, that killed my father.
And he was 48 when he died, andI was 47 in March.

(50:46):
This is the first time that Ihad ever, ever noticed thoughts
in my head about Ending it likethose thoughts.
I never seriously was going toact out that act that out.
But I just noticed the thoughtsthere and I was like, Whoa, what
is going on?
Like this isn't what is like allof a sudden I'm in this struggle

(51:07):
that didn't feel like it wasmine.
But there I was having thestruggle, right?
So day three, I get theinvitation to go in and audition
for this thing.
And I put something on tape thatis absolutely, totally
substandard.
I looked like a zombie, but itwas serviceable.
My technique, you want to talkabout why you train boys and
girls?
That's why you train.
Because

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

Matt B (51:39):
Correct.
You're correct.
Your technique will get youthrough.
Um, it can get you, but, but ifit can get me through that, then
it can get you through notfeeling safe.
Let's put it that way.
Right?
Yeah.
so I put that on tape.
I leave the studio and I go upto my brother's to kill some
time.
No one was at my brother'shouse.
My brother lives in Asheville,North Carolina.

(52:00):
I go up there to kill some timeand I'm up there and my little
six year old nephew comes homefrom school.
His name is Elkin and he comeswalking 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, isunusual and he's kind of weepy
and I'm like, what's up?

(52:20):
And he breaks down and he justsays, I took the wrong bus and I
was so scared that nobody wasgoing 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 childinside and he just fell in my
arms and I just said, buddy,it's okay.

(52:42):
I gotcha.
And, uh, he calmed down in 30seconds 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 wasfine, but I'm going hell.
In that moment, I recalled aconversation that I had with a
buddy of mine who's a clinicalpsychologist who, going over the
stuff with my dad months prior,had said that I needed to

(53:05):
reconstruct my relationship withthe spirit of the father.
Because my relationship with myfather not being there when I
was growing up caused damage.
And that absent.
Uh, that absentee relationshipin him, you know, I had it that
he chose to drink rather than bea dad and a father, a father and

(53:26):
a husband.
so I had judgment towards him.
He died when he was 48 and Ialways just had this, and I'd
done a lot of work aroundforgiving him and yada yada and
thought I'd done all the thing,but there was still this thorn
of judgment sitting in me that Ijust didn't know was there.
It was just like this thingsticking in my, judging him.
And when I was in the throes ofaddiction, I could feel what he

(53:47):
was, what he was under, and hedidn't know he needed help.
He had no idea.
He was drinking.
Alcohol was totally fine, right?
But he was an addict before hewas even 17 years old or because
of other circumstances.
I just learned all of thisrecently, by the way, I've been
putting together the pieces likemy life and my, and my upline

(54:08):
and nuts.
So, I remembered also, wellfirst of all in that moment when
I was holding my nephew, Iremember, I just realized that I
never got to run to my fatherfor protection.
Like that's a rite of passagefor a young boy to be able to
run to his dad to protect him,to be safe.
Yeah.
And here I was being the safespace.

(54:30):
For Elkin in that moment to feelprotected and safe.
So in that moment, I embodiedthe role of the spirit of the
father, you know?
And so that was a very healingmoment in like a holy look
that'll just happen moment.
But then I also remember when Iwas Elkin's age, when I was six
years old, I, my brother, mydad, his second wife, her kids.
And we were all on this streamout in central Georgia.

(54:53):
And I had made my way out ofthis rock, slipped off the rock.
And the current was pulling mestrong enough where it was
pulling my little six year oldbody.
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 tocome get me and he already was

(55:14):
drunk.
It was midday and he had slippedon a rock, fell on his ass.
He looked at me screaming at himto come help me and he laughed.
So he had no idea what was goingon.
My brother ended up, I think,snatching me and pulling me up,
but I had forgotten that thathad happened, but in that moment
I remembered.
So like when I was Elkins age,that happened.
And so all these things areunraveling and unwinding.

(55:38):
And then I go and, um, sit in asauna and try to sweat some of
it out, and I'm crying, and I'mpraying, and I'm sweating, and
I'm And I go home, surely I'mgonna get some sleep.
I get in the bed and I try to goto sleep and nope, the waking,
the waking nightmares startagain.
It's like, it felt like therewere claws clawing at my
insides.

(55:59):
Like there were things trying,something trying to get me.
When they say alcohol isspirits, there's a reason for
that, you know, because it does,it, it does get me.
When you get sick withalcoholism, it is as if your
brain gets possessed.
Um, and so I said a prayer forthe first time in my life.
I prayed for help.

(56:21):
I just said, please help me.
Please help me.
Please.
And then one minute later, I geta 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?

(56:41):
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 footageand then um, there was a caption
at the end of the trailer thatsaid, there is a world where the
end becomes the beginning.

(57:02):
So that unfolded into, nowhere's, here's the kicker.
Here's kind of the kicker.
I mean, there are tons ofkickers.
It was like kickers all over theplace.
But two weeks after that, my,that same friend of mine hands
me a book, and the book iscalled Imagine the God of
Heaven, about near deathexperiences in the author's

(57:22):
name, John Burke.
It's my dad's name.
My dad did not write that book.
It's just that my dad's name wason the book, called Imagine the
God of Heaven.

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

Matt B (57:42):
Oh, are we at time?
I have a bunch, but here's here.
We're not at time.

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

Matt B (58:04):
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 sportand profit I ate the moor, And

(58:26):
it is thought abroad that twixtmy sheath He has done my office.
I know not it to be true, but Ifor mere suspicion in that cause
will do as if for surety.
He holds me well, the bettershall my purpose work on him.

(58:48):
Cassio's a man.
Let me see now to get his placeand to plume up my will in
double knavery.
After some time to abuseOthello's ears that he is too
familiar with his wife, he hatha person in the smooth disposed

(59:08):
to be suspected, framed to makewomen false.
The Moor is of a free and opennature that thinks men on us
that but seem to be so, and willas tenderly be led by the nose
as asses are.
I have it.
It is engendered.

(59:29):
Hell and night must bring thismonstrous birth to the worlds.
I

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

Matt B (59:47):
Or is it soup?
That banana peel came uprecently.
Or is it art?
He totally, he stuck a bananapeel with that piece of tape
over it.
And it's like, hey, this is art.
This is now two million dollars.

Robyn Cohen (01:00:01):
This is art, this is life.
I am knocked back by your humanbeingness, Matt.
It's, I don't, I don't share thenecessarily the particulars of
your lineage, your story.
But I feel so I've hearing thatand I know people listening like

(01:00:22):
feel so held and that there's aplace for them to and there's a
place for the depth and the rageand the pain and the joy, as you
just so miraculously woveyourself into that speech from
Othello and, you know,

Matt B (01:00:41):
yeah and I and I really do want to, I really do like,
I've been so humbled byeverything that has happened and
I I do not say or share any ofthis from a place of, uh, um, I

(01:01:01):
don't know what the word isother than to say that I, I, I
am humbled life has beenhumbling and I consider myself
to be incredibly lucky andfortunate and blessed and I
don't know why I do not know whyI don't consider myself to be
special.
I don't consider myself to be.

(01:01:22):
I feel like I am an averagehuman.
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 meappear like I'm maybe, I don't
know, like I'm special.
I don't know, but I, it'simportant for me to say that,

(01:01:44):
like, I'm not doing this.
I'm participating and, and Ihave my desires and I have my
wants and I, and, and I am humanand, but I am all of the stuff
that is going on is magical.
it's, I

think that is what it is.
Some

Matt B (01:02:05):
are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have
greatness thrust upon them.

Twelfth Night.

Matt B (01:02:10):
Yeah.

I think that is part of what makes you so, such
a rare breed.
That you're not trying to, it'snot let me show you, it's come
with me, I'm just like you.
And that is very special on thishere planet.
To be operating from that.
To be operating not from, let meshow you, but come with me,

(01:02:35):
let's share, let's share.
I'm actually, I'm not trying tobe special, I'm trying to be
more like you.
With everyone.
With everyone.
On this wild, unimaginable ridethat we're on.
Well,

Matt B (01:02:49):
because I do believe, I do believe that each individual
has his or her own specialplace.
Yes, we really do.
Everyone has.
So back to this.
Thing about being seen.
There's a, there's an author ofa book.
Who's also a Western Africanshaman.
He's no longer with us, but hisname was Malidoma Some, and he

(01:03:11):
wrote a book called of water inthe spirit.
And he, you want to talk about astory.
He was Kidnapped by FrenchJesuit missionaries when he was
four years old out of hisWestern, African tribe, and is
the Dagara is what they'recalled, and he was kidnapped at
age four by French Jesuitmissionaries only to run away at
age 16 back to his tribe to thenbe re anointed into, re

(01:03:33):
initiated into the tribe, but hesays that everyone's deepest
desire is to, give their giftsAnd to be seen giving their
gifts.
So we all have, we really do allhave necessary gifts to give.

I believe, and some might not want to hear it, but I
think if you have those gifts togive, If you have garnered those
lessons and if you are in touchwith them, I do think that if
you have something like you do,like each and every person has,
I think it's your moralobligation to share it with the

(01:04:13):
world, which is why I'm so gladthat 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 uniquelight.
And it is such a gift and I lovethat you were just figuring out

(01:04:34):
ways not to quit because you'resuch, I mean, it's just such a
demarcation of like, you're sucha good guy, Matt.
So of course, like you're goingto be like, I'm not going to
quit.
It's going to get messy and theaddiction and you grappled and
grew through that.
Yeah.
But it's like.
at the cornerstone is like, I'mgoing to keep going because you

(01:04:55):
do have a light and I have to, Ihave to share

Matt B (01:04:58):
one last thing about this piece with my dad because I
think this particular piece isvery cool.
Please.
So a few weeks ago, my dad byall reports was a fantastic
amateur golfer everyone said hecould have turned it could have
been pro if he wanted to be.
And I have never, ever had anydesire to pick up a golf club in
my life.
I've, that's always been a sportthat I've been like, and I

(01:05:20):
played other sports, but thatone, I go, what?
I played twice in my life and itwas a complete shit show.
I, it was, I was awful.
And I just, you know, but I waslike, I never had a desire.
Well, the other day I wasn'teven sitting around consciously
thinking, I should, you know, Ishould give golf a second try.
It was like, I was just sittingthere, found finding myself
thinking one day I should go tothe golf course.

(01:05:43):
Really?
Yeah, I should.
Two days later, a couple ofbuddies of mine call me and they
never call me to do this.
They're like, dude, we're goingto Topgolf.
You want to go?
Topgolf is this place where yougo and it's just a driving
range.
And they call me to say, youwant to go?
And I said, yes.
So I went down, I picked up adriver and I proceeded to hit
80.
Out of a hundred balls.

(01:06:04):
And apparently like the hardestthing to do is to, is to hit the
ball.
That's the first thing you gotto learn how to do.
And I smacked the shit out ofabout 80 balls and they, and
these guys golf, you know, andthey went, how long has it been
since you picked up a golf club?
I said, 25 years, but I wouldn'teven count those.
And they said, that's, that'spretty good.
So after they called my brother,like, dude, your brother's f'n

(01:06:27):
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 tothe listeners, if there's
anything, you know, if youmiracles are out there miracles
that are beyond your wildestdreams are available.
And I, I don't know, I wish toGod that I knew how to tell you

(01:06:51):
to go, how to get there and findthem, you know, but that is for
you to find out, but just knowthat they're there.

And knowing that they're

Matt B (01:07:00):
there,

we can start to listen for them.

Matt B (01:07:04):
Yes.

Golf was my brother Adam's game And when he, he got
sick when he was 37 and he had abrain surgery to try to remove
the tumor, which they could not.
But before he passed, he wentaround golf courses around the
country with either my parentsby his side or me holding him up

(01:07:27):
and we would just walk thecourses, 18 holes slowly.
And he would talk out the entiregame.
Maybe it was a hole or two,sometimes more, sometimes up to
nine.
And we would just talk throughwhat kind of iron we were going
to use, where he was going toaim, and we would play golf
without picking up a golf club.

(01:07:49):
So speaking of miracles, it'sjust, of course, of course, you
would share that last piece.
and bring us, bring us home

Matt B (01:07:58):
once again.
And you gotta bring, you gottabring me back next year because
there's more to this story thatI won't be able to tell until
next year, so.

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

Matt B (01:08:26):
Right.
You can check.
Well, my website ismattburkeacting.
com and you can go there andsee, you can see my mission and
what I'm up to.
get in touch with me there.
And if you, if you want to, Ioffer 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'mworking on right now, I can't

(01:08:46):
talk about.
So again, that's, that's, yeah.
other than that, I'm actuallyworking on, I can tell you this,
but this is very scary to sayout loud, but, I am in the midst
of I'm looking at a situationthat is very promising about
becoming a producing artisticdirector at a theater that will
be of my own invention and willbe outside of Asheville, North

(01:09:08):
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'sgonna happen.

Oh yeah, and God said, let there be light, and
there was, and he saw it wasgood, we're gonna keep listening
for the miracles.
That's all, there's nothing todo.
Just keep tuning in.
Just keep tuning in.
Well, Matt, this was beyond,beyond.
It's such a, it's such a joy tobe with you.
In any medium, in any fashion.

(01:09:39):
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 justmassive.
You're such a blazing light inthe world.
Thank you.
You know, thank you for, as Ilike to say, and as salt and
pepper likes to say, for givingit away, give it away, give it

(01:10:02):
away, give it away.
Now that's the red hot chili

Matt B (01:10:05):
peppers.

Oh, what did I say?

Matt B (01:10:07):
You said salt and pepper.
Salt and pepper is P p p push itgood! And the Red Hot Chili
Peppers is giving it away,giving it away, giving it away
now.

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

Matt B (01:10:36):
Thank you very much.
Thank

you.
Thank you.
Appreciate you too.
You're welcome to the moon andbeyond.
Adios.
Adios amigo.
Well, that was spectacular.
what a wonderful contributinghuman being who is just right in
the middle of, the mud and thegrapple, just like we all are

(01:10:59):
that he maintains his guidinglight, his north star, his focus
on getting out there and givingaway his gifts, even when, even
in his darkest hour.
And I think what a beautifullesson, you know, that even in
our darkest hour, if we can holdon to that, there is light that

(01:11:20):
the dawn will come.
I think that can really take usthe distance as it clearly has
with Matt.
So yeah, that's a such a bigtakeaway.
And there are many, many more.
I'll put it in the show notesbut thanks for being here today.
It is always such a joy.
Please, um, email me, like anyquestions you have, or if there,
you know, something that comesto your mind related to some of

(01:11:43):
the topics we discussed.
and please, you know, feel freeto share your stories that have
to do with your daily joyrides.
Cause I know we're all goingthrough it and it's, it is just
such a gift.
to be in it together with youhere and now.
So thanks for tuning in.
Please, if you enjoyed this, gotsomething out of it, share it
with your friends and family whomay also be in need of a friend,

(01:12:07):
even, and even if they don'tknow Matt or the other friends
that come on here personally, Ithink we all do get the
experience that we are in ittogether, that we're not alone
and there are good.
There are awesome people outthere 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.

(01:12:28):
Thank you wonderful friends forjoining this powerful and
mesmerizing convo with Matt andme.
Really, through Matt'sincredible narrative and his
gorgeous Shakespearean prowess,We've witnessed the abounding
potential inherent in all of us.
So let's keep this electrifyingenergy going and flowing.
If these stories had you fly alittle higher, go a little

(01:12:51):
deeper, ignited your creativespark, or you saw something
possible for yourself and foryour life, please subscribe,
leave a review, and spread thelove 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.

(01:13:11):
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 startnurturing your talent and
letting your dreams flourish inacting class.
We have a few spots left.
I'm also working with a limitednumber of people, one on one, so

(01:13:31):
reach out if that's your jam,And let's strike it up.
Until we meet again, let'scaptain our ships with passion
and purpose.
Remembering that life is a workof art, a picture, a painting
that we create.
So let's savor each Brushstroke.
sending you much love andblessings till next time on the

(01:13:52):
Daily Joyride, Bye bye.

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

True Crime Tonight

The Joe Rogan Experience

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}How To Overcome Fear, Persevere And Create A Miraculous Life with Shakespearean Actor, Matt Burke

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}True Crime Tonight

The Joe Rogan Experience

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

All Episodes

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

True Crime Tonight