Matt Rife

As long as we recognize Lucas is washed up and most TV sucks, we'll all get along fine.
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Leisher
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Matt Rife

Post by Leisher »

I've been exposed to him thanks to Facebook's shorts and then watched his "Matthew Steven Rife" and "Only Fans" specials. Both are available via YouTube for free.

First, HUGE kudos to the kid for doing stand up since he was 15 and doing these specials without sponsorships. No, he couldn't get sponsorships, not even Netflix(!), but still went forward without them.

Anyway, his material overall is not cutting edge and certainly won't be setting any laughs per second records. He tends to get a bit long winded in settings up jokes, more specifically why he's telling the joke and why it's not meant to be offensive. It really says something about the state of our culture, but maybe he's the comedian we need right now? He's very popular with the younger crowd, so these explanations might help our culture get its sense of humor back. He is really good at exposing his feelings on stage and that should be commended. The only part of his explanations that made me feel uncomfortable for him was when he was explaining all the black folks in his life. Not because he then did jokes about black people, but because he shouldn't need to do it. I chalk it up to both inexperience and a touch too much fear of woke society. And yes, he's inexperienced. My dude actually took the time to explain a Ouija board to a single audience member who didn't know what one was...

My biggest criticism though is that he laughs at his own stuff way too hard.

Personally, I think his strongest ability is crowd work, which he doesn't do in Only Fans. I actually think most of his best stuff aren't in the specials, but just clips of him doing shows around the country. He's not Andrew Schultz level awesome, but he's fine. He develops a good tone with an audience and has a way of mocking folks without coming off as mean.

He's not bad, but he's clearly still an amateur. It'll be interesting to see where his comedy goes over the years.
“Every record been destroyed or falsified, books rewritten, pictures repainted, statues, street building renamed, every date altered. The process is continuing day by day. History stops. Nothing exists except endless present in which the Party is right.”
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