As they say, success does not come easy, but for actor-comedian Matt Rife, the rise of TikTok changed his career in ways he never would have predicted. Known for his guest roles on MTV’s Wild ‘n Out, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Fresh Off the Boat, he is about to release his first Netflix special, Matt Rife: Natural Selection, which will mark a major career milestone. That being said, he is extremely grateful for this opportunity, already having accumulated over 17 million fans on TikTok.
But before his hilarious abilities were revealed to a worldwide audience, Rife was just another struggling comedian. Even a year before, it appeared that his comedic career was coming to an end due to an existential crisis, as he revealed in a 2023 interview with The New York Times.
Matt Rife’s Career Almost Ended Due to An Existential Crisis
A comedian’s life can be demanding. From personal experience, Matt Rife knew what it was like to be a struggling comedian trying to make it big in the crowded comedy scene.
Until now, the majority of his current followers had no idea about his past struggles. Well, according to Rife, his comedic career looked to be almost ending just a year ago. He revealed to the New York Times that last July, he had traveled to Montreal for a festival to which he had not been invited. He had to pay for his own flight out. He was going to upload this crowdwork video but he watched it first and thought that was “so stupid”. To quote him:
“Last July, I was in Montreal for a festival I was not invited to. I had to fly myself out, put myself up for no pay. I was sitting there at dinner with my friend and my manager. I’m about to post this video of crowdwork. I was watching it, and I was like, This is so stupid. Why am I even doing this?”
Fortunately for us, Rife, who has 6.1 million followers on Instagram, knows how to curate visually appealing content for social media. As he told The New York Times, his life completely changed after his social media video titled ‘The Lazy Hero’ went viral:
“That video did 20 million views in two or three days. It became this massive chain reaction and an explosion of an audience. From then on, every video I posted went viral.”
Rife’s popularity in the virtual world has apparently translated into real life, as reported by The New York Times.
“When he announced his ‘ProbleMATTic World Tour’ last month, he sold out 260 dates in North America, Europe and Australia in 48 hours. The flurry of sales — 600,000 tickets in all, each ranging between about $50 and $95..Some resale tickets cost more than $500.”
The industry was not blind to Rife’s popularity on TikTok. Fans of stand-up comedy took notice of this rising star, drawn in by his unique approach and realistic humor. He finally got the opportunity to film his own Netflix special, Matt Rife: Natural Selection, which is releasing today.
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Matt Rife on Netflix’s Comedy Special And His TikTok Fame
Stand-up comedy enthusiasts will soon have another Netflix special to pick from. With over 17 million TikTok fans and three self-released specials under his belt, Matt Rife is ecstatic to have landed a Netflix special, Matt Rife: Natural Selection, debuting today, i.e., November 15. He told Variety:
“You work your entire career to feel accepted by a network standard.”
He also took immense pride in making his comedies accessible to everyone, rather than just a select few. He expressed his ideas to Variety as follows:
“I wanted to make this special for everybody. I pride myself on making my comedy for everybody. It’s not for a specific demographic..If you give it an opportunity, I think you’d like it.”
Additionally, Rife, 28, offered gratitude for the TikTok platform, saying that it “changed absolutely everything”. He continued, saying:
“Stand-up isn’t about being funny. Rarely do the funniest comedians get the recognition they deserve..So I mean, TikTok provided that exposure that I could not, for the life of me, for years figure out how to get.”
The most recognized works by Rife are his independently produced comedy specials Only Fans (2021), Matthew Steven Rife (2023), and Walking Red Flag (2023). All of them are available on YouTube. His latest Netflix special, Matt Rife: Natural Selection, does not spare any subject for viewers—from social media trolls to crystals.
Matt Rife: Natural Selection is available for streaming on Netflix.
