Matt Rife Talks New Special ‘Natural Selection,’ TikTok Fame, and Not Stressing About Offending Anyone
variety.comSharareh Drury After self-releasing three specials and amassing more than 17 million TikTok fans, Matt Rife is beyond gratified to have scored a Netflix special. “You work your entire career to feel accepted by a network standard,” Rife tells Variety, noting it was both arduous and creatively fulfilling to produce his YouTube specials — “Only Fans,” “Matthew Steven Rife” and “Walking Red Flag.” Rife made his television debut on MTV’s “Wild ’n Out” and has had guest appearances on “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and “Fresh off the Boat.” He’s currently in the middle of his sold-out ProbleMATTic World Tour. “Natural Selection,” shot at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., hits Netflix on Nov.
15. In typical Rife fashion, the comic does not hold back while discussing social media trolls, his fear of the dark and discovering his dad’s porn. Congrats on getting a Netflix special.
That’s a huge accomplishment after putting together all of your previous specials. MATT RIFE: It’s incredible. My first two specials I had to do because I’d been doing comedy for 10 and 11 years when I did them, and I was sitting on material.
I was very proud of it. But I was like, I don’t know what to do with it. Nobody wants to give me a special. What do I do? So I had to put them out on my own, which was very validating in and of itself.
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