From TikTok To YouTube Specials, Matt Rife Is Taking Over The Comedy Scene! | Young Hollywood (2024)

While you maynot know the name Matt Rife, you’d certainlyrecognize him from one of his many viral stand-up comedy clips on TikTok. After starting stand-up comedy at age 15, Rifeis now one of the most-followed standup comedians on TikTok withover 14 million followers and videos that receive over 10 millionviews. But he has recently expanded beyond the platform. After overa year of performing with the same hour-and-a-half of material,Rife felt like he was ready for a full-length special, but becausehe couldn’t garner any studio backing, he decided to turn to hisfans to crowdfund a special. This ended up working out, and onDecember 17, 2021, Rife released his first special “OnlyFans” onYoutube, which to date has just under 10 million views onYoutube.

Inaninterviewwith Cinema Blend, hedescribed how, before “OnlyFans”, his audience was “mainly youngerwomen and 'Wild N’ Out' fans” (which Rife had an electric 2-yearrun on as a recurring cast member from 2015-2017). Rife describedhow he was grateful for the success of “OnlyFans” because it madehim popular to more fans of standup rather than just TikTokusers.So, between the standup fans, younger women, and fansof "Wild N’ Out", there was a lot of excitement for Rife’s newestspecial, “Matthew Steven Rife”.

“MatthewSteven Rife” is a surprisingly raw look into the comedian’s life,his opinions, and his family, specifically his relationship withhis grandfather, Steven. Rife covers several controversial topicsin his special, including jokes about gay, transgender, anddisabled people. This can be a scary line to cross for anycomedian, but with Rife’s confidence, quick wit, and “I don’treally care” attitude, you can’t help but enjoy yourself. Rife alsohas a large part of the special dedicated to stories about hisgrandfather, but worry not. It is most certainly not a wholesomestory of their first time fishing together. The story Rife tells ofhis grandfather is shocking, and by all accounts should behorrifically uncomfortable, but Rife’s charming delivery,punchlines, and tendency to laugh at the ridiculousness of it allmakes it work fantastically. I really could do it no justice, youjust have to see it for yourself.

Another largepart of Rife’s fame and his act is his incredibly quick crowd workskills. The majority of Rife’s initial clips that blew up were ofhim interacting with the crowd and improvising comedy based onthese conversations. His ability to make callbacks to previouscontent from the show and make up perfect punchlines on the spotmakes his comedy all together more impressive, and way more fun.Feeling like you’re part of the show always makes a performancemore entertaining, and Rife makes sure to do this. In fact, 11minutes of the hour-long “Matthew Steven Rife” is devoted purely tocrowd work. In this segment, Rife asks the audience what they thinksome "red flags", or behaviors that tend to signal that someonewould make a bad romantic partner, are and riffs off of each ofthem. Attempting crowd work can be a huge risk to a comedian, as itrelies on the audience cooperating and the comedian’s ability toimprovise, but in this case, it pays off splendidly and trulycreates some of the most memorable moments of the special. So ifyou’re ever lucky enough to find yourself front row at a Matt Rifeshow, chances are you’ll become part of the magic.

Along withthe topics listed above, “Matthew Steven Rife” also has jokes aboutmore relatable topics such as family and dating. This is highlyrelatable content, especially for a younger Gen-Z audience, andthis is what truly makes Matt Rife shine. The topics he discussesappeal to a younger crowd. While not always the case, classiccomedy tropes for older comics usually have to do with things likemarriage, getting older, and having kids. These are not relatableto younger people, but Rife takes things such as online dating andfashion and makes it into a standup performance designed for theyounger generation. This is why he gained such popularity onTikTok, a platform made for this type of audience. But now he isbigger than TikTok. His two Youtube specials, “OnlyFans” and“Matthew Steven Rife”, have a combined total of 27 million views atthe time of this writing (the original “OnlyFans” special has 7million and then it was re-posted by 800 Pound Gorilla Media; therepost has just below 10 million views), and Rife just announced amassive world tour with over a hundred shows across the U.S.,Europe, and Australia.

With twospecials under his belt and an upcoming sold out worldtour, the sky truly is the limit for this young comedian. Rifewent from TikTok clicks to touring at Radio City Music Hall, and wecan’t wait to see where he goes next!