About this episode
Marty Dundics interviews Matt Visconage about his experiences in temp jobs and corporate life, leading to his book on surviving day jobs.
Talkward: Cringeworthy Tales — Matt Visconage and the Day Job That Broke Him This week on Talkward, host Marty Dundics welcomes improviser, writer, and office-culture survivor Matt Visconage for a painfully relatable deep dive into temp jobs, cubicles, customer service trauma, and the quiet despair of corporate life. Matt—an alum of iO Theater and Upright Citizens Brigade, and co-host of CAGEMATCH—talks about the long road that led to his new book, The Day Job Survival Handbook , a satirical “orientation manual” for anyone who’s ever cried in a bathroom stall at work. The conversation covers everything from his viral Onion guacamole photo that refuses to die, to being a literal cog in the customer-service machine, to the emotional toll of talking to 150 furious strangers a day. Matt breaks down the fictional company at the center of the book—Smart Haven—and its unforgettable cast of employees, shadow executives, party subs, and the relentlessly upbeat organizational guide COG 760 (“David”), who’s always there to help… no matter how bad things get. Marty and Matt also dig into workplace romances, holiday party bingo, corporate gaslighting, bacon costumes worn at the office, and…
People in this episode
Host: Marty Dundics
Guest: Matt Visconage
Topics covered
- temp jobs
- corporate life
- customer service
- workplace culture
- satire
- improvisation
Keywords
- day job
- corporate despair
- customer service trauma
- workplace romance
- satirical handbook
- improvisation
- office culture
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: iO Theater, Upright Citizens Brigade, The Onion, Smart Haven
Books & works: The Day Job Survival Handbook
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