Meet Matt Hoverman | Emmy-winning TV Writer, Playwright, Actor & GO-SOLO Founder/Teacher

We had the good fortune of connecting with Matt Hoverman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Matt, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
As a young actor and playwright living in NYC in 2001, the last thing I on my mind was starting my own business. I wanted to be a star.

But I was in danger of losing my side gig temping for Goldman Sachs (and my means of paying rent), because I was getting more and more auditions, and I kept having to cancel my temp bookings. It became clear to me that I needed more than a day job. I needed a parallel career – something that was flexible time-wise, that would financially support my creative dreams until they could support me – and that was something I might even enjoy.

A friend suggested, “Why don’t you teach an acting class in the evenings?”

I said, “I’d rather stab a knitting needle in my eye.”

So she gave me an assignment: I was to make a list of every job of ever had, and then add what I loved – and what I hated – about each of them.

“Then you just put together all the things you love about the different jobs you’ve had – and that’s the description of the job you’re mean to do!”

I reluctantly did what she said, and besides my temping, I found myself listing a lot of teaching experience I did realize I’d accumulated over the years: I’d taught public speaking to undergrads in grad school, Acting in Shakespeare while on tour with a theatre company, improv to at-risk elementary students, playwriting to inner city high-schoolers and storytelling to formerly unhoused men in a shelter. And so much more. And I thought about what I loved about each of these teaching gigs.

And then I read my newly minted ideal job description to a career counselor at what was then called The Actor’s Fund:

“I’d like a job where I help people tell their own stories. I’d like the classes to be small, with folks who really wanted to be there, not far from my apartment, and I’d like to be paid at least $50 an hour” – which was an exorbitant rate for a gig-worker in 2001.

The counselor blinked, “Matt, that job doesn’t exist. We can help you be a teaching artist or a temp.”

I left her office, discouraged – and then rollerbladed downtown to the Strand Used Bookstore, to wander along the store’s miles of bookshelves, looking for inspiration. After an hour or two, my eyes were drawn to a book by Marianne Williamson, hidden on a bottom shelf. I opened it up to a random page, closed my eyes and let my finger fall upon a sentence.

It read, “We are being trained for jobs that do not yet exist.”

I decided in that moment that I would start a class empowering writers, actors and regular folk turn the details of their lives into compelling, hilarious solo shows for the theatre.

That class eventually became my business GO-SOLO – which has now been the subject of a New York Times feature, a documentary, and through which I’ve helped hundreds of solo show artists win awards, rave reviews, book deals, movie deals and so much more. This business has supported me when my acting (or, now TV writing) hasn’t. And it’s been a career I’ve found incredibly rewarding and fulfilling.

What should our readers know about your business?
I’m an Emmy-winning TV writer, playwright and actor – who, since 2001, has also empowered hundreds of writers, actors and regular folk turn their personal stories into funny, powerful, career changing solo shows through my GO-SOLO workshops.

My students have won MANY “Best of the Fest” awards in places like: Off-Broadway’s United Solo Fest, the NYCFringe Festival, the FringeNYC Festival (yes, they’re two different things), the Midtown International Theatre Festival and the grandpappy of them all – the Edinburgh Fringe. And they’ve also garnered rave reviews, audience acclaim, international tours, major representation, book deals and film deals.

But just as importantly, my students have also experienced the joy, terror and fulfillment that comes from owning their stories onstage with humor, courage and depth.

In short, they’ve grown.

I’d like to think creating the space where both professional and personal growth can occur is the secret sauce of my workshops – and my secret mission. I want to help every one of my students grow more fully into the person and artist they were always meant to be. (As they also get a new agent.)

Folks usually sign up for my classes for one of three reasons: they dream of showcasing themselves to the industry as actors or writers; they have a particular story they’re burning to tell and make an impact on the world; or they’re just creatively burnt out from throwing themselves at the entertainment machine – hoping someone chooses them – and they want to reconnect to the spark that started them on their journey.

Writing and performing a solo show can (and will!) give you all of the above. But it does so much more.

Many of us – especially those who are drawn to the arts – come from dysfunctional families (or maybe just our dysfunctional society). In these families or social structures, one member – usually a parent – dominates. They control the story. Everyone else in the family is just a supporting character – and the way those supporting characters are painted don’t fully reflect who they are deep inside.

When you dare to tell your own story, you shift from being the two-dimensional day-player in someone else’s script, to becoming the fully-formed, nuanced hero and smart, insightful director of your own film you have always truly been. You finally get to have YOUR say.

It’s challenging work. Because you need to risk stepping outside of what you’ve been told is okay for you to express. You need to unearth who you really are, define for yourself what your truest goals and dreams were and are, and then craft a tale from your memories that shows all the brave and ingenious steps you’ve taken to pursue your dreams (and the falls you’ve had along the way).

And you have bravely taken those steps. You have been courageously gotten up after those falls.

Because you’re still here.

And you are a hero.

Even though my students are excited to tell their stories, they’re also afraid. Afraid that what they have to share will be seen as boring, self-indulgent or will destroy the people they love.

The truth is the opposite.

When you share what is most private to you – those feelings and experiences and thoughts you may hide for fear of rejection – that’s when you will connect most fully to others. It’s what they’ll find most fascinating. It’s what will lead to your greatest professional success – and it will inspire others in ways you can’t begin to imagine.

I began my classes in the living room of my NYC apartment, then taught in studios in New York and LA – and now I teach to folks worldwide via Zoom.

Everyone has a story to tell. Find me at GO-SOLO.org. I’d love to help you tell yours.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
My favorite LA haunts are mostly theatre-related:

Beyond the biggest theatres like Center Theatre Group in downtown LA and the Geffen Playhouse in Westwood, I recommend the Pasadena Playhouse – where artistic director Danny Feldman consistently produces a rich and exciting array of plays, musicals and solo shows.

To see plays and screenplays in development, I highly recommend the Naked Angels Tuesdays@9 cold reading series and the similar Second Draft cold reading series on Monday nights at 8:30pm. Both series feature five writers a night trying out ten pages of new material read without rehearsal by wonderful actors before a packed theatre. It’s wild, wacky, and there’s a wonderful sense of community. They also have musical guests!

I’m a parent of a nine-year-old, so I’m not up to date on the hippest clubs. But our favorite treat is shrimp burritos at the Desvalados Mexican restaurant in Kenneth Village (Glendale) followed by cashew-based ice cream at Yoga-Urt across the street!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’d like to dedicate my shoutout to my hundreds of solo show students – who, for the last 2 decades, continue to astonish me with the courage, talent and spiritual generosity to delve into some of the most personal, painful moments of their lives… and then shamelessly mine them for other people’s entertainment! 😉

Website: https://go-solo.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matthoverman1/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@matthoverman4553

Other: To learn more about my TV writing and playwriting adventures, visit: matthoverman.com

Image Credits
Michael Thomas Holmes (in class photos)
Christa Meola (headshot photo against white background)