Matt Foley or Matt Foley, Motivational Speaker was a character created and performed by comedian Chris Farley, popularized by his performance as the character on the American sketch comedy program Saturday Night Live (although he had performed the character in other comedy groups before being a cast member on Saturday Night Live). Essentially, Foley was the very antithesis of a good motivational speaker, and this is where most would agree the humor arose. Farley named the character after his childhood friend of the same name. The character was moderately popular, but not so much as to be carried over to a feature film.

Almost all of the eight Saturday Night Live sketches Foley appeared in found him being brought into a specific situation to speak to people about life and getting past problems. He yelled, demeaned, gave a clearly negative message, was out of shape, and lived, as he would often scream out in the middle of his tirades, "...in a van down by the river!" Farley's comedic energy was the driving force behind the character and the humor. The sketch would often include Foley falling (or jumping) onto a piece of furniture and destroying it. At the end he would usually be quickly herded out of his speaking location, where the people left behind would huddle together and comment on him, usually bemused or fearful.

Foley's first SNL appearance was on May 8, 1993. Christina Applegate was the host and she also appeared in the sketch. Foley's eighth and final appearance was when Farley guest hosted Saturday Night Live (after he had left as a cast member) on October 25, 1997.

External links

• SNL Transcripts - contains scripts from every "Matt Foley, Motivational Speaker" sketch in searchable database.