Matteo Lane

Matthew "Matteo" Lane (born June 28, 1986) is an American comedian, actor, singer, and illustrator. He has made appearances on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and HBO's Crashing. His favorite performance venues in New York City are Comedy Cellar, The Stand, and New York Comedy Club. Lane is an advocate for the gay community, and was recognized by The Advocate as one of the LGBT Icons, Innovators, and Disruptors for his work in stand-up comedy.

Early life and education
Matteo Lane was born in 1986, raised in Arlington Heights, Illinois, and lived on the North Side. Through his mother, Lane is of Mexican and Italian descent. His father is a Vietnam War veteran and is of Irish descent. Lane's Italian family originates from Agrigento and Messina in Sicily. Born Matthew, he was nicknamed Matteo by his Italian family. Lane, who is gay, has an older brother who is also gay. He speaks English, Italian, Spanish, and French, and studied German in high school. Lane started to sing opera at the age of 15 under vocal coach Nick Falco. At the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he studied oil painting and drawing. Lane studied art for five months in Umbria as an oil painter and opera singer before returning to Chicago. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2009.

Career
As a singer, Lane performed in bars in Boystown before starting his comedy career in 2011 at open mics in Chicago. He moved to New York to work as a storyboard artist circa 2012. In an interview, Lane stated that it was "the most boring job in the world." He later quit the position to pursue comedy. After being featured in "New Faces" at the 2014 Just for Laughs festival, MTV invited Lane to appear on Guy Code. He was later in Joking Off and was cast in MTV's Ladylike along with Nicole Byer, Jade Catta-Preta, and Blair Socci. Lane was on a panel for a segment about Kim Davis on The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore. In 2018, Lane represented Italy at "The Ethnic Show" at the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal. He is the host of the Snapchat comedy Ghost Hunt. He is a co-star and creator of the IFC series Janice and Jeffrey. Lane and Emma Willmann were co-hosts of a queer-themed podcast, Inside the Closet which ended in February 2023. They are both also featured in Netflix's The Comedy Lineup. On May 1, 2018, Lane and Nico Tortorella were featured on a Nancy podcast.

Influences
Lane has said his biggest influence in comedy is Joan Rivers. He said about her, "I didn't realize you could use comedy as kind of a weapon. It was so empowering to watch her on stage." He also said Ellen DeGeneres and Kathy Griffin were his influences. Lane's favorite singers are Mariah Carey, Patti LaBelle, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, and Jennifer Hudson.

Personal life
On coming out, Lane stated in an interview that "I've spent my entire life feeling shame for being gay and once I came out of the closet, I realized that I'm proud to be gay." He is a long-time friend of composer and pianist Henry Koperski, with whom he sometimes performs. In a 2017 interview, Lane stated that while he does not discuss Donald Trump directly in his act, his "material in itself is a stand against Trump." On August 19, 2023, Lane announced via Instagram that he and partner Rodrigo Aburto were married.

Lane has been the victim of several homophobic incidents during his shows. On being an openly gay comedian, Lane reports, "I think it's slowly getting better but it's all such new territory in so many ways. I'm not saying they are not gay comics that have existed — I know these people exist". He added that "I'm just saying this is the first time ever that gay, queer, male comedians are sort of on the spotlight that straight comedians are being seen in. So it's all kind of just new. It's all new and discovered and all new territory. I think it's exciting."

Discography
Podcasts


 * Inside The Closet with Emma Willmann (2017–2023)
 * I Never Liked You with Nick Smith (2023–present)
 * Teach Me Daddy with Chris Distefano (2024–present)