From humble beginnings in Ohio to selling out arenas, comedian Matt Rife has achieved unparalleled success, leaving him pinching himself in disbelief. In an exclusive interview, Rife reflected on his journey, revealing that his initial goal was modest – selling out 300-seat comedy clubs.
“I never thought I’d be on the same level as comedy giants like Dave Chappelle, Kevin Hart, and Kat Williams,” Rife admits. “Coming from Ohio, it didn’t seem fitting.”
However, Rife’s big break on MTV’s Wild ‘n Out, The Challenge: Champs vs. Stars, and hosting the Total Request Live reboot in 2017, propelled him to stardom. He then began self-producing viral comedy specials on social media, earning him a massive following across TikTok and Instagram. Now, he shares the record for breaking Ticketmaster due to high demand – alongside the likes of Taylor Swift.
But with success comes its own set of challenges. Rife confesses, “For 11 straight years, I had nothing to do unless I created something to do. Now, I wake up and wonder if I’ll ever have a free day for the rest of my life, which is both a blessing and a curse.”
Rife continues, “I don’t ever want to be bored again – that used to drive me insane – but sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever get a chance to enjoy the house I just bought.”
The comedian, who has been open about his struggles with anxiety and depression, admits that success has not eliminated his mental health issues. In fact, “it’s gotten so much worse.” He explains, “There’s no crash course on how to be famous.”
“Nobody tells you that you have to take on new battles and get used to people telling you things about yourself that only you thought about yourself,” Rife continues. “You have to learn to deflect so much negativity that’s thrown at you when so many people don’t understand the negativity you live with in your own head.”
However, Rife acknowledges that success has also lifted certain anxieties and depressions. “There’s a little less worry about ‘What if?'” he says.
As Rife navigates notoriety, he’s taking away a valuable lesson from his time on the road for the ProbleMATTic World Tour (“I’ve learned that I’m built for this,” he tells) and proactively trying to embrace the moment. Not only is he releasing his memoir, Your Mom’s Gonna Love Me, in December, he was also tapped to host Netflix’s first-ever crowd work special, Lucid.
“I’m super happy to get to work with [Netflix] in any capacity really, but to work with them on something that has been so natural and niche to me, and to what I do, is really cool,” he shares. “I think we’re bringing something to Netflix that people haven’t really seen before.”
Though having the audience participate in the special – filmed at The Comedy Zone in Charlotte, NC – could have been risky, he tells filming went off without a hitch. “I was like, what if we get dud after dud after dud of an interaction?” he adds. “Luckily, we got fire after fire.”
Matt Rife: Lucid – A Crowd Work Special is streaming now on Netflix