I was at a dirty laundry mat for over 8 hours in Los Angeles, pacing back and forth.

I was talking to myself, repeating things over and over again, then I would laugh hysterically… almost like a cackle… and I would point.
Local residents who thought they would come in for a peaceful day of washing clothes came on the WRONG day.

People were staring, intently… I could see concern, then confusion, then it was fear in their eyes.  

“Is he deranged?  Dangerous? A crazy homeless person ready to snap?”

The adrenaline shook me so hard that it poured out of my skin like I had finished last place in a horrendous 24-hour marathon.

My shirt was soaked.

I’m a refugee whose family fled for our lives, and this was the most terrified I’ve ever been.

I pried open the laundry mat doors with my weak hands and crawled across the old parking lot.

Onlookers in the laundry mat, pressed their face against the glass wanting to be a witness of what was going to surely be something on channel 5’s nightly news as a breaking story.

I stumble into an extremely busy coffee shop brimming with affluent customers and especially loud blenders. Somebody yells my name across the room. 

Time stops.

They yell it again…. and Again… and AGAIN! Each time they yell it, they get louder and louder and more upset… finally they SHOUT it.

“MAAAAATTTTTTIIIIINNNNN!!!!!!”

It’s silent.

The blenders stop.

Nobody was talking.

I slowly walk.

Everybody stares at me… watching…. judging. I walked onto the stage and looked out at the crowd of apathetic faces.

My hands shaking so bad I couldn’t get the mic out of the stand. 
Everyone in the coffee shop looked at me as I stood and finally uttered my first stand-up comedy jokes…

“My parents and I are Kurdish political refugees who fled north Iraq from Saddam Hussein and moved to Bismarck, North Dakota… because we wanted to suffer more!”

Somebody coughed, I took that as encouragement.

“My first name is ‘Matin’ pronounced Ma-teen, which sounds like a prescription drug commercial.  (Commercial Voice) Ask your doctor if ‘Matin’ is right for you, side effects include disappointing the family.”

A customer sneezed… surely that was an improvement from a cough.  I marched on.

“I went to the worse escape room ever… it’s called IKEA.”

A chuckle… and I was hooked. 

Everyone went back to their normal chatter and the blenders turned back on.

A wash of elation came over me and I knew… I was home. 

That was my first time on stage, and it was over 12 years. I still feel the same way about being an actor, stand-up comedian, and writer.

This is my home.

My goal is to help you bring your vision using all my training, skills, and instincts to the best I possibly can. Please contact me about any future projects that you feel I would be a good fit for.

Thank you.

YOUR FRIEND,

Matin Atrushi