He attended Ushio Elementary School, where he met Masatoshi Hamada. He graduated from Amagasaki Technical High School in 1982. Although he secured a job at a printing office, to pursue his dream of becoming a comedian, he was invited by Hamada in 1982 to enter Yoshimoto Kōgyō. Together, they became Downtown, and made their major debut in 1983.

He has demonstrated good physical fitness on Gaki no Tsukai. He defeated his comedy partner Hamada in a high jump competition by clearing 1.40m on the first try. In 1999, he outran Hamada, Hōsei Yamasaki and both members of Cocorico in a 100-meter race (he ran the entire length while the other four ran a quarter of the length each in the form of a relay race). Three years later, he performed notably better than them in a long jump competition.

Matsumoto was born in Amagasaki, Hyōgo, to a poor family. He has one older sister and one older brother, Takahiro Matsumoto (松本 隆博, Matsumoto Takahiro), an established folk guitarist who released an autobiographical book titled “Matsumoto’s Older Brother” (松本の兄, Matsumoto no Ani). He has expressed his feelings about growing up in a poor household in a poem titled Chicken Rice (チキンライス, Chikin Raisu) which Hamada turned into a song in 2004. In his poem, he wrote how laughter was the only way to get through those times. He credits his poverty for giving him a good imagination and sense of play, as it forced him to invent his own games to entertain himself.

It was revealed in July 2008 that Matsumoto was dating then 25-year-old tarento Ihara Rin. In the evening of May 17, 2009, it was announced that Matsumoto’s official bachelorhood had ended with a secret marriage ceremony between himself and the aforementioned Ihara. Ihara, a former weather announcer for the Japanese news program “ズームイン!! Super” (Zoom In!! Super) is nineteen years Matsumoto’s junior, and apparently became pregnant by Matsumoto, prompting the marriage. The announcement of the marriage came via fax by Matsumoto’s managing organization to several media outlets, including a personal message by Matsumoto himself: “My partner will quit her job and is currently pregnant. As this is a delicate time, I would like this to be dealt with as gently as possible. It would be best to hold a press conference, however I’m too embarrassed to, so I won’t.”

On October 6, 2009, Matsumoto and Ihara Rin became parents to a daughter. At the time, Matsumoto was in South Korea for the screening of the film “Symbol.”

On June 28, 2010, Yoshimoto Kogyo announced that Matsumoto would not be performing on any shows for two months due to an injury on his left hip, which required surgery. For two episodes, the remaining Gaki no Tsukai cast members discussed his condition, with Matsumoto returning to hosting on August 31, 2010. In subsequent segments of the show requiring rigorous physical activities, such as the annual New Year’s Eve 24-Hour Batsu Games of recent years, he is exempted and instead given idle or captive roles, in spite of the injuries.

During the 2012 Gaki no Tsukai batsu game involving the group becoming airline assistants, Matsumoto revealed he had suffered a stress fracture preparing for said batsu game, and despite doctor’s orders, he still participated in the batsu game.