In just some brief years, Matt Mathews has constructed an enormous, and fiercely loyal, fanbase, all due to his comically candid chronicles of life on his Alabama farm throughout COVID. What started as down-to-earth, sincere on-line clips rapidly went viral—one submit even notched 17 million views. His reputation had followers instantly urging him into stand-up comedy.
The outcomes? You’ll be able to name it comedically chaotic electrical energy. Deadline named Mathews one in all 2025’s Comedians to Watch, and he’s greater than lived as much as that billing, persistently delivering top-tier performances in entrance of sold-out audiences from coast to coast.
“I at all times wished to be a performer, so I simply began sharing my life on the web,” Mathews remembers. “And folks had been loving it.”
His stand-up act is an authentically edgy combine of private tales and his signature, off-the-cuff back-and-forth with the gang—a mixture that’s endeared him to hundreds of thousands, each in sold-out theaters and throughout each his YouTube and TikTok channels. This weekend, Mathews brings his Boujee on a Price range tour to Las Vegas for the primary time and only recently introduced 22 extra exhibits for 2026.
“What you see on the web isn’t scripted or a part of the present,” he says. “It’s simply crowd work. And that’s the half that’s not scripted.”
Whereas the stage could also be the place Mathews lets his improv expertise reign, the actual work awaits him again house in Birmingham. Not like stand-up’s wild unpredictability, farm life is a fastidiously choreographed routine. With 104 acres to handle and a complete host of chickens, pigs, canine, cats, and a camera-hungry goat counting on him for breakfast by 7 a.m., Mathews embraces the each day grind.
Then there are Lolo and Hush Cash, his two world-class barrel-racing horses, who require championship-level care, focus, and a focus, which is what Mathews, a championship-caliber rider himself, brings every day to their stalls.
Regardless of his packed schedule, Mathews nonetheless finds time for brand spanking new pursuits—whether or not it’s diving into music, touchdown performing gigs, or steady social media updates, It’s all propelled his rise from web sensation to nationwide comedy headliner. But, remarkably, he nonetheless manages to get to mattress at an honest hour, able to do all of it once more the subsequent day.
What’s been now holding this grueling schedule collectively—for each physique and thoughts has been Mathews’ no-holds-barred dedication to coaching.
Throughout this time, the comedian has step by step developed a larger appreciation for his physique and the transformation it’s undergone since he started taking coaching extra severely. Mathews admits that standing on stage for 90 minutes every night time was a lot simpler than trying in a mirror for 90 seconds. At one level, he even relied on shapewear to create a extra aesthetic look. However as his biceps preserve increasing, so too has the star’s stage of self-confidence.
“I grew up not likely loving my physique or feeling comfy in my pores and skin,” he admits. “I’ve at all times been on a weight reduction or health journey. However my health targets have develop into a giant a part of my actually studying tips on how to love my physique. Being sturdy and wholesome, and capable of compete, have develop into actually vital.”
Now, with a house gymnasium tailor-made to his relentless schedule, Mathews makes figuring out—whether or not for stage presence, country-life energyor that aggressive edge—a non-negotiable each day ritual. “Clearly, you don’t need to look unhealthy on stage, particularly while you’re in entrance of lots of people and your job is within the public eye. So I positively attempt to preserve it collectively.”
Staying Farm Match
At house on his sprawling farm, Mathews’ each day routine is equal elements bodily rigorous and psychologically rewarding. He’s documented this way of life for hundreds of thousands of followers, sharing candid moments from his 104-acre Alabama sanctuary on YouTube and TikTok. In a current episodehe enlisted an animal communicator to assist uncover his animals’ “ideas” about him—most notably these of his unpredictable donkey, Wookie. “Wookie is obsessive about me,” he deadpans. The episode presents a glimpse into what has fueled Mathews’ meteoric ascent within the leisure enterprise.
“I’m extra of a comedic storyteller,” Mathews explains. “I inform my tales, my experiences, nevertheless it’s the way you carry out and share them that makes it humorous.” The farm is his welcome escape from the relentless tour schedule that has him away not less than three nights every week. But regardless of a packed calendar, his “labor of affection” of morning chores is rarely skipped. “My day begins earlier than 7. First, I take care of our canine and cats. Horses, donkey, chickens, and pigs come subsequent. Solely after they’re squared away do I seize espresso and breakfast. Then it’s off to deal with the day’s work. At night time, I do all of it once more.”
Transferring from the town to his farm simply exterior Birmingham has profoundly influenced his diet. He and his husband, Robert Kilgore, purchase native meats and produce at any time when potential. “All our beef, we attempt to purchase from a neighborhood farmer—higher feed, cleaner dwelling situations. Grocery retailer meat is usually from animals fed poorly.” When he’s touring, which is sort of each weekend, Mathews battles the urge to binge on pizza and sweets. “I monitor my macros. I preserve it to about 150 grams of protein, 200 grams of carbs, and 65 grams of fats. It’s straightforward to eat junk on the street after late nights.”
Whereas his “little friends” are off-limits for consumption (“They’re my infants,” he says), having a limitless provide of eggs is truthful sport—however removed from free, he emphasizes. “We don’t purchase eggs from the grocery retailer,” he says. “However you need to feed the chickens, and that prices rather a lot—layer pellets, high-protein, non-GMO—to allow them to produce good eggs.”
Barrel Racing Beginnings
Earlier than going all-in on comedy, Matt Mathews turned utterly caught up on the earth of barrel racing—a fast-paced rodeo sport during which the objective is to finish a cloverleaf sample round three barrels within the quickest time potential.
His introduction to racing changed into obsession close to the top of highschool. “I boarded a horse at a neighborhood boarding facility, and the proprietor’s daughter barrel raced, so we simply form of rode collectively rather a lot within the summers. I began enjoying round with it along with her and simply form of fell in love with it,” he remembers.
Mathews quickly honed his expertise, qualifying for 3 world championships. Although life on the street now dominates his work schedule, he insists on sustaining his aggressive edge, coaching a number of instances every week with each Lolo and Hush Cash.
“Clearly, I don’t make a dwelling doing that, nevertheless it’s form of how I refill my cup,” he says. “It’s what I try this brings me pleasure exterior of labor. I get to take pleasure in it and have enjoyable.”
Aggressive using, Mathews says, relies on grip energy and a strong core and again. With the intention to keep energy and conditioning ranges, Mathews says weightroom instances turns into virtually as vital as saddle time. “You positively have to remain in your sport. It’s very intense. run comes all the way down to the a whole bunch to hundreds of a second,” he observes.
Making ready his physique for that stage of strain is a each day mission. “A powerful core is an important. And a robust again—you need to be very, very sturdy in your core to have the ability to preserve your stability and keep up with a horse.”
House Gymnasium Guidelines
Whereas barrel racing requires energy, stamina, and loads of nerves, coaching extends into each facet of Mathews’ life and profession. Together with his journey schedule, time at house turns into extra precious, and he makes probably the most of it. To chop down on journeys to the gymnasium, Mathews reworked a nook of his home right into a private health middle. It comes full with a treadmill, Smith machine, and sufficient dumbbells for any routine.
He trains three to 4 instances every week, splitting his periods between higher and decrease physique. “Two days higher, two decrease, and a sauna after each session,” he says.
Mathews normally kicks off his exercises with cardio. He incorporates incline walks or jogs to construct stamina for each saddle and stage. On higher physique days, he sticks to weight room staples. Workouts reminiscent of bench and shoulder presses, lateral raises, and body weight classics like push-ups dominate these exercises. Leg days embrace goblet squats, break up squats, and sumo squats—key for energy and the flexibleness wanted to experience out a horse’s unpredictable actions. Again periods deal with rows and pull-downs, with hammer curls to maintain his grip sturdy. Each exercise session ends within the sauna: “The sauna is like God’s biggest reward. That helps me a lot.”
One transfer you’ll not discover in his program is the deadlift. Years of CrossFit led to a lumbar damage that now prevents him from lifting heavy with out ache. “I even have a bulging disc in one in all my lumbar vertebrae,” he says. “Nothing actually helped however relaxation and in the end quitting CrossFit. I don’t do a complete lot of deadlifts. It messed me up so unhealthy that I attempt to keep away from them.”
Journey typically disrupts Matt’s coaching rhythm. “I don’t work out once I’m on the street, as a result of that’s simply tremendous tough.” It’s a purpose why sustaining a stable food regimen stays important. Clear consuming and counting macros assist him keep self-discipline throughout time zones.
Stand-Up Highlight
For years, Matt Mathews discovered inventive retailers elsewhere. He studied nursing and even took up boudoir pictures earlier than his farm video went viral and took his profession to new ranges. “I posted a video and it blew up—17 million views. That was the wild begin.” Instantly, hundreds of thousands had been tuning into his TikTok channel and different socials.
In the present day, staying match has helped energy up his stage presence. It’s additionally given a former chubby youth a next-level feeling of self-confidence. It’s one thing the comedian admits to missing all through parts of his life. “I’ve at all times form of had physique dysmorphia, and thought that I appeared rather a lot completely different than I truly appeared,” he admits. “I’ve at all times form of been the chunky child, and so I’ve at all times form of been on a weight reduction or health journey.”
He’s even gone so far as carrying Spanx throughout his first tour to carry in his abs, and even throughout an look on the Kelly Clarkson present. Since then, Mathews has slowly however persistently developed, embracing his more and more muscular look that he’s labored laborious for. He advises others dealing with comparable self-doubts to embrace every small enchancment every day. “I began to work out to do higher for myself,” he says. “It’s progress, not perfection. We’re by no means going to have the physique that we love, and we’re by no means going to be 100% pleased, even when we’ve got a six pack and 1% physique fats.
Together with his schedule busier than ever and massive plans on the horizon—he’s filming his first-ever film, engaged on a debut music album, and making ready to movie his second comedy particular in December—Matt Mathews is simply getting began, and he’s taking everybody and all the pieces—followers and furry associates alike—alongside for the experience.
The Spanx, nevertheless, have been retired.
“I need to look higher, and I need to really feel higher, and I need to do higher for myself. And I actually hated carrying Spanx that complete first tour, so I used to be like, I’m not doing this shit once more,” he says.
