Matthew is best known as the male half of the musical comedy double act Frisky & Mannish, with Laura Corcoran. The duo's first full-length show, School of Pop (2009), was hailed as the "undisputed hit of the Edinburgh Fringe" (Herald). Garlanded with five-star raves, the show transferred to Soho Theatre in London for a sell-out limited run, after which the pair embarked upon an international tour that included Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Adelaide Cabaret Festival, New Zealand International Arts Festival, and the Sydney Opera House. They subsequently won the Editor's Choice Award at Brighton Fringe, received a nomination for the Chortle Award for Best Music and Variety Act, and were named "talents to watch" by both The Independent and The Sun. They returned to Edinburgh with a critically-acclaimed sequel, The College Years (2010), which achieved second place out of over 2500 productions in Edinburgh Festival Guide's 'Top-Rated Shows'. Their third show, Pop Centre Plus (2011), was a sell-out smash, culminating in the duo's biggest solo gig to date at Shepherd's Bush Empire. Extra-Curricular Activities (2012) won the pair an award for Best Comedy at Adelaide Fringe Festival, and after a year's hiatus, they returned to form with Just Too Much (2014), touring the UK and Australia. They have headlined three West End variety nights - two at the Lyric Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue and one at Koko in Camden - and played all of the major UK festivals including Glastonbury, Bestival, Latitude, and T in the Park. Their profile was significantly raised after a well-received live performance on BBC Radio 1's The Scott Mills Show in 2011, and the following year they were invited to write an original Christmas song for the programme, which became the popular Perfect Christmas Single. They have been featured on BBC Radio 2's The Arts Show, BBC Radio 3's The Verb, BBC Radio 4's Sketchorama, BBC2's The Culture Show and Dick and Dom's Funny Business, and BBC3's Three at the Fringe. The act has been described as "superb and uncontrollable" (Times), "wildly talented" (Independent), "glittering" (Telegraph), "riotous" (Guardian), "effortless" (Observer), "unbelievable" (Sun), "a gold-star masterclass" (Mail on Sunday), "fully blown superstars" (Time Out), "extraordinary" (New Zealand Herald), "a force of nature" (West Australian), and "pure exhilarating brilliance from start to finish" (Chortle).
As an actor, Matthew has appeared at the National Theatre, Old Vic, Peacock Theatre, Trafalgar Studios, King's Head, Greenwich Theatre, New Wolsey Theatre, Oxford Playhouse, Waterfront Hall, Sherman Theatre, Leicester Square Theatre, theatre503, and Latitude. In 2012, he originated the title role in Punch at the Edinburgh Fringe, for which he was variously described as "a terrific lead" (Time Out), "a joy" (Exeunt), "charismatic" (Scotsman), and possessing "acting skills as fine as his singing voice" (Stage). In 2014, he was a member of the cast of Dickie Beau's Camera Lucida at the Barbican, a production which received the Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust Award. In 2015, he received an Arts Council England grant to produce his first solo show, Psychodermabrasion, which premièred at Jacksons Lane and was singled out as a 'top theatre pick' in The Guardian. His alt-drag character act, Ruth Less, was crowned the winner of 'Miss Twin Peaks 2013' at The Double R Club, and has been performed at Glastonbury, Soho Theatre, Barbican, London Wonderground, Udderbelly, Theatre Delicatessen, Pleasance, Royal Vauxhall Tavern, Bethnal Green Working Men's Club, Madame Jojo's, Black Cap, The Glory, Voodoo Rooms, Gatehouse Theatre, and The Wet Spot.
Matthew wrote, produced and starred in The Artist-Critic Conflict (2014), which was long-listed for a British Comedy Award in the category of 'Best Internet Comedy Programme', and the viral short film Too Cabaret (2012), which was featured in The Independent and The Guardian, the latter calling it a "hugely entertaining video riposte" by "some of our brightest and most talented producers and performers." He also co-wrote the book, music and lyrics for 2012: An Olympic Vaudeville (2012), part of Greenwich Theatre's Emerging Artists Season and described in Time Out as "bursting with inventive attention to music, comedy, visual impact and dramatic structure." He has composed original music for Gingerline, Pimlico Opera, and The Oxford Revue, and worked as a musical director on Merman at the Jermyn (2008) and the Edinburgh Comedy Award-nominated The Reunion (2013). As a director, his work on Screwtopia! (2013) and The Big Screw-Up (2014) garnered critical acclaim at the Edinburgh Fringe, transferring to St. James Theatre and Adelaide Fringe.
Matthew trained with the National Youth Music Theatre, and earned an Advanced Performance Certificate in piano from Trinity College London. He graduated from the University of Oxford with an exhibition prize, a scholarship, a Full Blue award, and a joint honours degree in Classics and English. He writes articles for Exeunt, and has contributed to The Scotsman and The Huffington Post.
