Today we’d like to introduce you to Aaron Karo and Matt Ritter.
Hi Aaron and Matt, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We are comedians, screenwriters, and lifelong friends who co-host the podcast Man of the Year. It all started because we are part of the world’s greatest friendship tradition. Every year on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, our nine childhood friends from Plainview, New York, gather at the world-famous Peter Luger steakhouse in Brooklyn and vote on which friend had the best year. The winner receives our massive Man of the Year trophy and gets their name engraved on it. This tradition has kept our friendship going strong for 35 years.
It is also the jumping-off point for our podcast. We are witnessing an epidemic of loneliness in this country. 49% of Americans have 3 or fewer close friends and 12% have ZERO close friends! We want to change that by helping people make new friends, reconnect with old ones, and build their own amazing friendship traditions. We all took Sex Ed in school, but there has never been “Friend Ed” – until now.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
This is actually the second career for both us. Matt started his career as a corporate lawyer and Aaron began on Wall Street. It took us a while to realize that the corporate life was not for us, but we eventually figured it out and moved to LA!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
We call ourselves the Champions of Friendship – not just because we give out a trophy at the end of every year, but because we know that friendship is the lifeblood that keeps us all going. There are tons of books and podcasts about dating and relationships, but we believe we are the first and only to focus on the art of friendship – from two guys who’ve had the same friends for almost four decades.
Any big plans?
We are both comedians who have headlined across the country, but soon we are going to take the Man of the Year podcast tour out on the road and do live shows together! We’re also thinking about bringing back friendship bracelets…
Contact Info:
- Website: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/man-of-the-year/id1651712832
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/manoftheyearpodcast/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@manoftheyearpodcast
- Other: https://tiktok.com/@manoftheyearpodcast
