Puzhitsky, who grew up in North York, is a creator with Rally, Narcity's new talent and creator division, and you may have spotted him at local clubs like Yuk Yuk's, Absolute Comedy, and the Corner Comedy Club. This March, he'll be hosting Boulevard's Food Station panel in Toronto.
Puzhitsky started doing stand-up just before the pandemic hit, but when comedy clubs closed during lockdown, he had to take his jokes online.
"I only got a few open mics in, and then I had all this material — mostly for stage, just premises and ideas — and I started playing around with that, mostly on TikTok since there was nothing else to do. And it kind of started doing well over the pandemic," Puzhitsky told Narcity.
Puzhitsky's rise on social media served as a launchpad for his comedy career, leading to performances at clubs like Bluma Appel Theatre in Toronto and the Vogue Theatre in Vancouver — although you can still catch him on TikTok, where he's known for his skits on the cultural differences between Canadians, Europeans, and Americans.
Coming off his recent performance at Just For Laughs Vancouver, we interviewed Matt to get to know the man behind the popular uploads.
When did you know you wanted to be a comedian & how did you develop your brand?
Puzhitsky has been a fan of comedy for as long as he can remember.
Recently, while moving out of his parents' house, he found a piece of his childhood that hinted at his future career.
"I found a picture that I drew from grade school — I must have been like, like eight years old or something — in art class where I drew myself on stage bombing."
The two-panel comic strip featured a cartoon of himself telling a joke and getting "crickets" from the audience with a speech bubble that read "ouch."
While the seeds of comedy were planted in Puzhitsky young, he didn't start his comedy career until he was 19 years old, right before the pandemic.
"I finally got the courage to do it and then everything shut down. So those three years, instead of just sitting around, I focused on social media and kind of got a head up on that," says Puzhitsky.
He's amassed over 80K followers on Instagram and over 120K on TikTok who tune in for his sketch comedy, podcast clips and stand-up.
Turning to social media over the pandemic helped Puzhitsky build a following and get his name out in the comedy scene while forcing him to learn additional skills like editing, cinematography and acting.
Puzhitsky says almost all of his opportunities in comedy have stemmed from social media and putting himself out there online, from opening up for comedian Christina Pazsitzky to performing at big venues across the country.
What's been the hardest part of your career so far?
Puzhitsky says the hardest part of his career so far has been believing in himself.
He says that he's had to battle with "constant self-doubt" following the unconventional career path of comedy and content creation and that getting started was the hardest part.
Puzhitsky says the most nervous he's ever been was not before performing for a crowd of 1,300 people but his first open mic night — which he says is never good for anybody.
"The hardest thing is coming back. It's saying, 'Okay, that happened. Next.'"
Despite the challenges that come with betting on yourself, Puzhitsky says he feels lucky to have found his passion in comedy when so many other people struggle to find or pursue their own passions.
"I guess I'm lucky that I found comedy and that as soon as I stepped off stage at that first open mic night, even though I probably completely bombed, I kind of knew I'd found the thing I wanted to do for the rest of my life."
Last year, Puzhitsky says he considered getting a "normal job" with his master's degree in synthetic organic chemistry, but he pushed through the doubt and committed to his dream.
"I decided to say, 'You know what? You're doing this all in.' And some pretty cool things have happened since then. So I feel like if you commit, and you believe in yourself, that's the best thing you can do," says Puzhitsky, who's quick to admit it's also the hardest thing you can do.
What is the weirdest thing you've run into while posting your life online?
Puzhitsky says getting recognized in public can feel "weird," but that most interactions are "great."
But he has had some odd moments.
"I've had people DM me that they saw me in my apartment building. They're like, 'Do you live there?'" he recounted.
"As if I'm going to respond like, 'Yeah, do you want to come over?'"
What's the biggest impact your platform has had on somebody or a community?
Puzhitsky says his skits about growing up in a Slavic household have resonated with a larger community and that he's never gotten such a "positive response" online before.
Many of the skits are based around a character called Uncle Ivan, which Puzhitsky says he was inspired to create through collaboration with his friend Jesse Jaurji, who creates skits about growing up in a family of Arab immigrants.
The pair have made videos together and Puzhitsky says that "there's something about tapping into that community where people really enjoy it."
"I get a lot of DMs saying like, 'This is hilarious,' 'This is my life,' 'This happened to me literally when I was growing up,' 'Keep going.'"
"I've never had more of a positive response from a skit or a character. I guess because it kind of hits home with a big community of people who grew up with immigrant Slavic parents."
Puzhitsky says that since North America is such a "melting pot of cultures," there's a large group of first-generation Canadians and Americans who resonate with the skits.
How do you make money through online content creation?
"The first cheque I ever made was just sponsored content. Just a brand reaching out to me, emailing me, and being like, 'Hey, make a video and we'll give you this much,'" says Puzhitsky.
Puzhitsky says he makes his money through branded content and ticket sales for his comedy shows, although he chooses to be picky with what sponsored opportunity he takes to keep his audience growing online and not spam his followers with ads.
In the last year, Puzhitsky says he made around $10K from sponsorships and around $5K in ticket sales for five to six live shows.
"The weird thing about this whole thing is that it highly depends on your following and how smart you are about it," he says. "There's people with way more followers than me that make less just because you have to capitalize on what you have and you have to be smart about it."
If you want to meet Puzhitsky in person, he'll be at Boxcar Social Harbourfront in Toronto on March 20 hosting an event for local content creators called Food Station.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
