Comedian Matt Braunger finds his act in everyday places

Matt Braunger isn’t afraid of looking like a doofus. In fact, it’s part of his act. The stand-up comedian, who performs at the Bartlett on Sunday, knows that the worst thing a comic can be is too cool.

“The only time people will turn on a comedian is if they tell some story where they come off in a really awesome way,” he said. “I feel the Richard Pryor lesson is the best one, in which the more human you can be, the better. … Often something will happen to me that’s so absurd or I’ll do something so witless that I have to tell the story. One of the big lessons I’ve learned in the last couple of years is that you can’t tell a too embarrassing story.”

Braunger’s career got a jump start when he joined the cast final season of the sketch comedy show “MADtv” in 2008, a gig he admits he didn’t expect to land.

“It was my first real job-job,” Braunger said. “The thing I really loved about it was that you’d be riffing in the hallway, and a producer would walk by and go, ‘That’s a great idea. Why don’t you go write that up?’ Something you were just joking about could end up on the show, which is mind blowing.”

That spontaneity helped with his stand-up, and Braunger said he’s constantly writing down inspiration for new material everywhere he goes.

“I’m one of those guys who keeps a little notebook in his pocket, which I often leave at home,” he said with a laugh. “So I’ll make a note in my phone. Thank God for that notepad app. But it’s really anything that strikes me as funny in the moment.”

Braunger also has a podcast called “Ding-Donger with Matt Braunger,” and each 30-minute episode features a free association, one-sided chat about whatever’s going on in his life at the time.

“It feeds my act, and vice versa,” Braunger said. “I’ll get ideas while I’m talking, or sometimes I’ll be doing stand-up and think, ‘Oh, I have to talk about that on the podcast.’ … I’ll always get something off each show.”

His latest stand-up special, “Big Dumb Animal,” premiered on Comedy Central in February; Netflix later purchased the rights, and it’s currently available to stream.

“As much as I love Comedy Central, their format isn’t set up as well. Netflix jumped over everyone because it’s just immediately accessible,” Braunger said. “I’m excited to have a wider audience for this special that I’m really proud of, and I just want to see where it goes from here.”

Braunger has had consistent acting work since his “MADtv” days: He’s made one-off appearances on shows like “Happy Endings,” “The Middle” and “iCarly,” he had a recurring role on the NBC sitcom “Up All Night” and he has a part in Christopher Guest’s upcoming film “Mascots.”

And while stand-up is his primary focus right now, he said he’s open to spending more time in front of the camera.

“You can only sit there and write so many jokes, and eventually you’re going to want to work on something else,” Braunger said. “You kind of have to keep putting irons in the fire.”