The Internet does its thing

A decade into the business and on the verge of quitting, comedian Matt Rife recalls on Jimmy Fallon’s show how one viral video changed his life

It may have been one TikTok video that made him an overnight sensation, but comedian Matt Rife had been part of the industry for over a decade when his video went viral. In an interview with Jimmy Fallon, he recalled being on the verge of quitting when one “reluctantly” posted video changed his life forever—now, he has a Netflix special to his name, and is among the most admired comedians of this day.

He recalled being encouraged to take the stage by his father, but after working in the comedy business for 11 years, he continued to face rejection. “All of these things just weren’t adding up, and at a certain point you go, am I delusional? Maybe I’m not funny. Maybe I’m not supposed to do this,” Rife said. “And then just one random video kind of changed everything.”

He had to change his perception towards social media—a medium he had, until then, disliked—and “reluctantly” began posting videos on TikTok at the beginning of 2022. A video called The Lazy Hero unexpectedly went what Rife called “insanely viral” over the next couple of days, which brought attention to him. “The irony of something you dreaded doing changing your entire life. So take more chances,” Rife said. “It’s been unreal, my entire life has changed in a matter of 14 months, I’m so grateful.”

Rife’s Netflix special will premiere on November 15, and is called Natural Selection. Along with the special, Rife has announced his ProbleMATTic World Tour, which recently sold over 600,000 tickets in its first hour of being on sale.

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