Matt Rife's Explosive Rise: From TikTok Stages to Rom-Coms and Ghost Hunting Adventures

It seems like lately you cannot go anywhere online or hear about new projects without seeing Matt Rife. The Comedian has truly burst onto the scene, making a big name for himself with his stand-up. It is hard to ignore his sudden rise. He has gone from posting short crowd work videos to selling out huge venues in an unbelievable amount of time. Now he is even getting into movies and television in new and surprising ways. It is a big shift for the comedy world to see someone come up this fast.

Rife has been in comedy for almost half his life. He moved to Hollywood at 17. He started as the youngest person on MTV's improv comedy show Wild 'n Out. But he really started to get a following through the social media app TikTok. There he became known for posting videos of himself interacting with the crowds each night. He had not even put on his first special yet. He was still working on his first hour of jokes. But he filmed his show every night and knew he could post the crowd work without giving away the rest of his material. This simple idea made him a huge star.

His past two Netflix specials landed in the Top 10 on the streaming service. His last tour sold over 600,000 tickets in less than two days. That is a truly amazing feat. It even broke Ticketmaster's website. This put him in a group with only Taylor Swift when it comes to ticket sales. That kind of success is simply unheard of for most comedians. His current tour is called "Matt Rife: Stay Golden." It is his biggest tour yet, and he is selling out major venues like Madison Square Garden in New York City. This shows just how much his audience has grown.

Matt Rife's Unique Approach to Comedy and His Unexpected Collaborations

How Crowd Work and Social Media Paved the Way for a New Kind of Comedy Star

Matt Rife thinks of his comedy as interactive storytelling. He takes inspiration from comics he admires, like Dave Chappelle and Ricky Gervais. Rife has his entire hour of material written out with the stories he wants to tell. Within those stories he builds moments where he can talk with the crowd. The trick, he says, is being able to switch between the two. He needs to pull the audience back into the jokes he has written. This blend of planned material and spontaneous crowd reactions is what makes his shows so exciting. It is not just a show, it is an experience where the audience feels like a part of it.

His success, good looks, and embrace of social media have drawn comparisons to other comedians. Some have likened him to Dane Cook. Cook became very popular in the early 2000s by fully embracing Internet culture at a time when few comedians were doing it. Cook famously spent a lot of his savings to build his own website. He was big on MySpace with over a million friends. Rife says he is happy to be known for something. He considers Cook one of the best comedians. He thinks anyone who does not like him is just being negative.

Rife knows that for many people he is their first introduction to stand-up comedy. But he feels his popularity and the popularity of others on social media means more people are seeing comedy on a grand scale. He hopes his shows encourage casual comedy fans to see more stand-up. He believes every comedian is different and people might have a wider taste in comedy than they think. He still performs at comedy clubs and small shows in his hometown of Rhode Island. These smaller shows are not advertised. He uses them to test new jokes in front of people who might not already be his fans. He says, "You don’t always want to perform to people who already like you."

From Stand-Up Stages To Silver Screens: Matt Rife's Acting Ventures Are Heating Up

Upcoming Romantic Comedies and Other Surprising Projects for the Rising Comedian

Matt Rife is not just sticking to stand-up. He is now getting into movies. He is set to star in a romantic comedy called Marriage Material with Emma Roberts. The movie comes from BuzzFeed Studios. Capstone Global is handling sales around the world. Trish Sie, who directed Pitch Perfect 3, is directing this film. The story follows the founder of a dating app. Her husband's alimony payments are draining her money. She has to use her app to find him a new wife before her company goes public. It sounds like a funny, modern take on love and relationships. Richard Alan Reid, president of BuzzFeed Studios, believes Rife and Roberts will be a great comedy duo that audiences around the world will enjoy.

Rife will also appear with Owen Wilson in an R-rated comedy called Rolling Loud. This movie will be filmed at the hip-hop festival of the same name. It shows Rife is not afraid to take on different types of projects. He is also starring in another comedy movie called The Escort. This film is directed by David Dobkin, known for Wedding Crashers. The script was on the Black List. It is a story about a wild flight attendant who is about to lose everything. He is unexpectedly tasked with watching a nervous 14-year-old on a solo flight to boarding school. When a hurricane changes their flight and leaves them stranded in the wrong city the two opposites go on a disastrous road trip. This forces them to face their fears, their flaws, and what it really means to grow up. Dobkin said he knew he wanted to work with Rife after seeing him online. He thinks Rife can help bring back on-screen comedies. This is a big step for Rife, taking on lead roles in major films.

Matt Rife's Surprising Dive Into The Paranormal World And What It Means For His Image

Exploring The Comedian's Unexpected Role As a Guest Investigator on Ghost Adventures

In a truly unexpected turn, Matt Rife also made a special appearance on Discovery Channel's Ghost Adventures. The teaser for the episode showed that Rife might not be ready for investigating ghosts. It also hinted that the censors would be very busy bleeping out Rife's colorful comments. The Ghost Adventures team, including Zak Bagans, went to Primm Nevada to investigate the recently closed Whiskey Pete’s Hotel and Casino. This place is old and has a history of murder, mystery, and strange activity. Many people believe it is haunted by a famous bootlegger. Rife joined them as a special guest investigator. The team was quickly affected by the dark energy and strange activity in the building. It seems like Rife was definitely out of his usual element.

The show's goal is to document the afterlife. They visit famous haunted places with guest investigators. They conduct intense investigations using new scientific tools. They try to capture proof of ghosts and understand these supernatural events better. For Rife, this was a very different kind of stage than a comedy club. It shows he is willing to try new things and step outside his comfort zone. While he is known for making people laugh, this appearance probably showed a more genuine, perhaps even scared, side of him. It adds another interesting layer to his growing public persona. This kind of wide appeal across different entertainment types is what makes him such a noticeable figure right now. He is not just a comedian. He is becoming a full-blown entertainer.