Matt Rife is a comedian who has shared the stage with such acts as DL Hughley, Ralphie May and Dane Cook on tour. Additionally, Matt was cast member on MTV improv comedy series Wild ‘N Out for seasons 7-9, featuring in those seasons’ episodes as well.
Rife first gained fame on TikTok for his crowd work. Following this success, he released his Netflix special Natural Selection that caused considerable uproar when he made jokes about domestic violence and provoked widespread condemnation.
He is a comedian
He has become well-known on social media due to his crowd work. The comedian often interacts with audiences and makes jokes that relate to them directly, becoming one of the more sought-after forms of comedy today – known as improvised comedy.
Matt Rife began performing standup comedy at 15 and quickly established himself as one of the youngest regular performers at Los Angeles’s Laugh Factory. While originally focused on stand-up, later exploring acting and production – eventually becoming Netflix’s most-watched comedian.
Matt’s humor consists of both observational and pop culture-related jokes, and he has no problem offending people with them. Matt has faced several controversies including an episode of Wild N Out wherein he made fun of actress Zendaya; furthermore he caused backlash over making a comment on Stiff Socks about women’s bodies which came as quite an offensive blow as his popularity rests upon women liking him so well.
He is a TikTok star
TikTok users have likely witnessed the outrage against Matt Rife that has been flooding your feed since his debut Netflix special Natural Selection made headlines for its first domestic violence joke – only the beginning of an entire series of controversial jokes which not only offended but were deeply offensive and cringe-inducing.
Before Natural Selection, this comedian was a regular on MTV variety shows and self-produced standup specials, where his crowd work and extended improv exchanges became increasingly popular on TikTok. By 2022 he even started uploading clips of his aesthetic glowup (he explains why in his podcast) onto this app and they quickly went viral, cementing him as an iconic comedian with sold-out Hollywood Bowl shows and Netflix specials to his credit.
He is unafraid of offending people
Matt Rife, the TikTok star who recently embarked on the hate train, isn’t shy about offending people. His debut Netflix special features plenty of offensive jokes that may rile some viewers up; Rife relies on his ego and obsession for male attention as an excuse for such behavior.
Rife’s opening joke of this special was about a female hostess with a black eye whom he claimed she acquired because of not knowing how to cook – an insulting statement which implied that women experiencing domestic abuse don’t understand cooking skills.
The remainder of the special is comprised of both safe material and offensive jokes, including stereotyping of fat people and those with Down syndrome. While some jokes can be funny, many are quite offensive or completely nonsensical – while no audience interaction was offered throughout this show, taking away much-needed energy and authenticity from its performance.
He is attractive
Rife has made his mark as the master of crowd work. His skill at engaging a room full of women has gained him millions of followers on TikTok, not to mention several stand-up specials and TV sitcom appearances. Now with Natural Selection – an hour-long special featuring Rife himself performing live for one hour– he plans on showing that his popularity on social media does not equate with real world comedy!
But the audience in a 3,000-seat theater proved too challenging for him. His first joke about a waitress with a black eye proved too much for them to bear; then he attempted to mock the spotlight operator by running around stage, only to become trapped by darkness and eventually fail his stunt altogether.
The remainder of his show consisted of engaging his audience through banter. Unfortunately, some of these comments were offensive, such as his disparaging comments regarding women who like crystals. While it remains unknown if any of his jokes stem from personal experience, they did contain misogynist undertones that seemed misguided at best.