Matteo Lane
Matthew "Matteo" Lane (born June 28, 1986) is an American comedian, opera singer, and oil painter. Early life and education. Matthew 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. He was nicknamed Matteo by his Italian family. Lane has an older brother who is also gay. He speaks English, Italian, Spanish, and French. Lane 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. Career. As a singer, Lane performed in bars in Boystown before starting his comedy career circa 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". Lane is  an advocate for the gay community. He 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." His favorite performance venues in New York City are Comedy Cellar, The Stand, and New York Comedy Club. He is a co-star and creator of the IFC series "Janice and Jeffrey". Lane and Emma Willmann are co-hosts of a queer-themed podcast, "Inside the Closet". 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. 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." Lane's favorite singers are Mariah Carey, Patti LaBelle, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, and Jennifer Hudson. He is a long-time friend of composer and pianist Henry Koperski, with whom he sometimes performs. Political views. In a 2017 interview, Lane stated that while he does not discuss Trump directly in his acts, his "material in itself is a stand against Trump." Awards and honors. In 2018, Lane was recognized by "The Advocate" as one  of the LGBT Icons, Innovators, and Disruptors for his work in the field of stand-up comedy. Nominated for the 2020 best Barbara Corcoran, sadly disqualified as judges claimed it was too Barbara Walters for their liking. When asked for comment, Matteo says “and for that reason, I’m out"