Rose Matafeo takes a crack at creating a New Year's Eve movie canon

It probably won’t surprise you to hear that a standup special called On And On And On is “about repeating behaviors and it’s about trying to learn yourself out of these cycles,” as writer and performer Rose Matafeo puts it. Even some of the jokes from the new show, premiering  December 19 on Max, echo ideas that were first explored in her 2020 special Horndog. Returning to those ideas might be “subconscious” for Matafeo, but it also illustrates her driving force of “going through the same things and trying to learn, and approach them in slightly different ways.” Matafeo’s beautifully structured standup shows can be deceptive like that—for instance, a show seemingly about endless cycles is also very much about endings. 

Matafeo is a documented cinephile—in the late Starstruck, which she created and also starred in, her character even worked at a movie theater. So The A.V. Club thought it would be a good way to ring in the season by asking for her favorite holiday films. And it may not surprise you, given the themes of On And On And On, that Matafeo’s preferred holiday subgenre is the New Year’s Eve film. After all, isn’t that a holiday all about cycles and endings? With her own new year wide open, she might be the one to write the next entry in that canon—unless any casting directors give her a call first. 

The A.V. Club: You opened Horndog by rushing to the theater, as if you were going to be late for the show. In On And On And On, you’re pacing around anxiously backstage waiting to get started. Would you say that’s reflective of how your attitude toward performing has changed since doing the last show? 

Rose Matafeo: I love this read on it. I’d say maybe there’s an element of lying in Horndog in that I’m not the kind of person who is late to my own show. I like to be there with a lot of time to spare because I’m a very nervous person when it comes to performing and I need a lot of time before going on. But I think Horndog, maybe there’s some truth to that because I remember when I was doing that show in Edinburgh, I was living so close to my venue that I would do my makeup and everything, because there [were] no dressing rooms in any of the Edinburgh venues. So, that’s accurate. 

To be absolutely honest, I think in the start of this show, I seem much more relaxed than I actually am before a show. So, yeah, it was a bit of me trying to just, like, look cool nowadays. 

AVC: Watching Horndog and On And On And On, it felt like there were really companion pieces. There’s a lot of topics from the first special that you return to in this one, like period tracking apps or people who write in notebooks taking another L in this one. 

RM: Yeah, sorry, guys. Sorry about that. 

AVC: Was it a conscious choice to revisit those topics, or did you feel like your approach changed from then to now? 

RM: Absolutely not. It’s a complete lack of imagination, Mary Kate. That is what you call “Rose forgetting she’s written jokes about these things already.” But I think that just happens with many comedians, right? You return to similar things, you don’t change as a person terribly from show to show. And so you do tend to gravitate towards similar things. I don’t think it’s intentional. I think it’s subconscious possibly? And lazy, to be hard on myself. 

But yeah, I think there is something interesting to the fact that I do tend to…I’m attracted to certain ideas and concepts, or just themes in a way, just because [of] how my brain works. But it’s really kind of interesting how as time goes by and then you just get a little bit older, the different opinions you have, or the different views you have on those same topics is really quite interesting. 

AVC: That goes back to something from Horndog about obsession and love and what lights your fire. Which leads me to the topic of romance in general, which has been a through line for your work. What makes you keep coming back to that as a theme, to examine it from all angles? And also, when did you first fall in love with love? 

RM: I think it’s a juicy topic. Like, it’s the most juicy topic when it comes down to it. It’s a very age-old tradition, isn’t it? I feel like, I wouldn’t call anything I do art in any way, but in lots of culture, people are fucking obsessed with love. Like, they are obsessed with it! And I think standup’s just a much more blunt way of approaching it or discussing it, and a much more personal way of discussing it. So, I think the sort of slight preoccupation with it as a theme doesn’t feel new, but I can’t deny it is a big through line of lots of my work. 

But I think it’s the same thing as, like [in] Horndog as I say, it’s about passion, you know? It’s having I guess some sort of vigor for something. And this one, I mean, I can’t avoid the fact that it is heavily about the way in which I deal with relationships ending. But I think it’s a sort of door into–I think with Horndog, it felt like I was saying it was about something, and it was [actually] about something else. So, it was a show I was saying was about obsession, and then it kind of devolves into, “Oh, it’s also about breakups and love.” My friend Alice pointed out that Horndog ends in this dance and then this one begins with the dance. [On And On And On] is about a breakup, and breakups in general, and then it actually is, I think, a lot about cycles and things ending. And I’m also preoccupied with death. Like, I did an entire show about my own funeral. That was the first Edinburgh show I ever did. So, I’m obsessed with death, and I’m obsessed with love. So, it might be a little bit of a red herring sometimes, the love stuff. 

AVC: It was interesting that you mentioned the dancing in both Horndog and On And On And On, because I had also noticed that and I think it also ties in with that implication at the end of the special that it’s all kind of on a time loop. How did you land on that to tie it all together? And what does it mean to you? 

RM: I think that that idea came to me late in the game. I think it was probably about maybe just under a year of working on this as a show. I wanted to find some sort of structure to it. And I was trying to look at the material that I had and realized that it’s about endings and it’s about repeating behaviors and it’s about trying to learn yourself out of these cycles of behavior that I find myself in with so many things in my life. And—that sounds bloody heavy, actually. 

But you know, what I found interesting about going through a relationship ending at this age is that it’s not the first time it’s happened. Like, the first time you go through a heartbreak, it’s like, “No one has ever felt this before. I am the first person ever to go through a breakup and have my heart broken.” And then the more it happens you go, Okay, so I do the same stuff every time. This knowledge about yourself as you get older fascinates me as well. I find it really interesting that you approach these certain things in life the same ways, and you’re trying to just sort of edge yourself out of doing the same thing over and over again with accrued wisdom, right? And the idea of it being about going through the same things and trying to learn, and approach them in slightly different ways was something I thought was a cool idea. 

And then I was like, “Oh, how do I iterate that in the show?” And it’s just to make it feel like I’m on an endless loop. Even in the pre-show music I always tried to do like, weird psycho nods to things that no one would understand, like playing a Kylie Minogue track of a music video that is her going around in a circle, and there’s multiple versions of her. So it’s like all these weird Easter egg-y things that are only for me. But yeah, that’s kind of how I came to that idea really.

AVC: To switch gears a little bit, just knowing that you’re a movie buff, I had pitched doing your favorite holiday movies. But that was before seeing the special and realizing that Elf is also taking a bit of an L.

RM: [Laughs] I said this in my shows when I was doing the U.S. shows. On stage, I was like, “You guys got to understand”—Americans don’t understand how obsessed with Elf British people are. That’s like the number one Christmas movie in a way that I really don’t think Americans appreciate how well it’s done over here. So, well done. 

But yes, holiday films. Thank you for asking. I’ve been thinking about this all day actually, and I was like, fuck. Christmas movies—I’m actually more into New Year’s Eve movies, which can often overlap. But what do you want from me? How many do you want? 

AVC: I mean, however many you’re willing to give—I’d just love to hear a few of your top films and why you think they should be appreciated. 

RM: Okay, okay. So, it’s a year-round film, but When Harry Met Sally is one you can obviously watch again for Christmas. But of course, every rom-com puts in Christmas because, um…I don’t know why. I don’t know why Christmas is an element in every rom-com when you think about it. Bridget Jones, When Harry Met Sally…

AVC: You’ve Got Mail. 

RM: You’ve Got Mail, yeah. Nancy Myers and Nora Ephron, they really like Christmas. So that’s a classic. 

I will defend The Holiday to my dying day and I know that means I’ll never make it to the Criterion Closet, but I don’t fucking care. I care about the people’s princess, and the people’s princess is The Holiday. I think we’ll come to understand The Holiday as a camp Christmas favorite. It’s a film I’ve seen many times. It’s not art but it doesn’t have to be, it’s The Holiday. 

While You Were Sleeping: Pretty good! Pretty good Christmas one; actually, it’s slightly underrated. An insane premise and slightly annoying soundtrack, but Bill Pullman is like, his look was a huge inspiration for Liam’s character in [the] third series of Starstruck. We would just keep showing Lorne [MacFadyen], the actor, pictures of Bill from that film. 

And then New Year’s films. The Apartment, great New Year’s film. Always watch it around New Year’s. And oh, 200 Cigarettes is a very underrated New Year’s Eve film that not many people seem to have seen. But I think the entire thing is uploaded to YouTube. Which, maybe [it] won’t be still now that I mentioned it in this article. But yeah, that one’s great. Courtney Love, Paul Rudd–millions of people in that one actually. Janeane Garofalo. And then a spicy choice for a New Year’s Eve film is Phantom Thread, in my opinion. I think Phantom Thread is a perfect New Year’s Eve film. Or a New Year’s Day film. There’s at least one scene at New Year’s Eve. 

AVC: Do you feel like New Year’s should be a bigger movie tradition than Christmas? Is there an argument to be made there? 

RM: I think so. I think also, I don’t like New Year’s Eve as a party night. It’s always deeply disappointing to me. I think it’s a horrible thing for people who have low expectations. But yeah, New Year’s Eve is good. But then obviously New Year’s Eve, the film, I’d say, look, a disappointment after I think the absolutely tolerable film Valentine’s Day. Not even tolerable; I think it’s an alright film. But New Year’s Eve didn’t work for me personally. So, yeah, I don’t know. I’m not sure on that one. Could make one, though. Could be a good idea. 

AVC: Your 2024 is ending with a real bang with On And On And On as well as Moana 2. After experiencing this huge moment, do you have any wish list of things you’re trying to accomplish in the future? 

RM: Hm, I’m not sure. I think I’ve been very lucky this year where something I’ve been working on has come out. I’ve done the show Junior Taskmaster here, which has been on telly at the same time, and then Moana 2 coming out at the same time has made me look much busier than I think I actually am. [Laughs] But I think I just want to continue writing stuff. I think doing both standup and writing stuff for TV, stuff for film…I’m not very good at focusing on lots of different things at the same time. So, I think it might be time for me to pivot back to that kind of stuff. But I’m not sure. I’m very excited about this next year though, because I feel like I’ve got a bit of a clean slate where I can kind of figure out what I want to sort of throw [myself] into for the next few years. 

But if anyone’s casting, honestly, I am available, which is a tactic—to announce that publicly, I believe, has not worked in my favor. Because I haven’t actually got many auditions from saying that desperately in interviews. But hey, if you want to include that, go for it, it might help me out.