Matt Rife, a Midwest comedian, first rose to prominence after a clip of his crowd work went viral on TikTok. Since then, his November’s Natural Selection special has generated even greater awareness for him.
However, the comedy special was widely considered controversial from its first joke. Rife featured an opening gag wherein he mocked a waitress with a black eye and laughed as Rife mocked her by making racist jokes in an Italian restaurant scene.
Laugh Factory
Matt Rife’s debut special for a major mainstream platform features his signature dick jokes and defensiveness toward an audience he built largely online. At one point, Rife recounts an airplane story wherein he blames an attendant for giving him a black eye due to storing his backpack improperly; such instances illustrate Rife’s defensiveness towards his fans as the clear undercurrent in Natural Selection; it often seems like half an hour of uninspiring jokes combined with one full hour-long tirades against any critics or detractors.
Rife first started performing comedy at Los Angeles’ legendary comedy club Laugh Factory at just 17 and shortly after graduating high school. His intent was to follow in the footsteps of childhood hero Dane Cook; unfortunately his debut performance at that legendary club proved disastrous despite all efforts. At its core lies an iconic comedy club like this which has catapulted such great comedians as Aziz Ansari and Dave Chappelle as career starters.
TikTok
TikTok is a social media app that enables users to create and share short (15 second to one minute) videos, complete with music, sound effects, stickers, filters and other forms of content enhancement.
The popular platform boasts a “For You Page,” or FYP, that curates content based on user engagement and interest data. Furthermore, this tool features additional features, including duetting or stitching together video segments from other users as well as following hashtags to discover new content or trends.
TikTok is an immensely popular app among both teens and adults, with celebrities and brands using it to drive engagement. A version with additional safety and privacy features for kids under 13 allows parents to monitor and control their usage. In 2023, a new feature enabled users to upload videos up to 10 minutes in length for creators more opportunities for content monetization – but came amid a standoff between Universal Music Group (UMG) members who wrote or co-wrote songs within TikTok library written or co-written by UMG members which resulted in TikTok being required to remove songs written or co-written by UMG members from its library.
Netflix
Netflix is a subscription streaming service offering an expansive library of TV series and films via distribution deals and Netflix Original productions, known as Netflix Originals. While this library may seem daunting at first, Netflix regularly refreshes it as movies are removed or added such as 2023 Best Picture Winner Birds of Prey with notable performances by Jennifer Lawrence as an offbeat detective and powerful political thriller which defies categorization – and recently unpacked themes of toxic masculinity and power imbalance with grace by Jane Campion in The Harder They Fall with superb direction from Jane Campion herself helmed drama The Harder They Fall by Jane Campion herself who tackles themes of toxic masculinity and power imbalance head on.
Bring the Funny
NBC, known for airing stand-up competition Last Comic Standing for nine seasons, is back with another talent show with Bring the Funny. Produced in partnership with comedy showcase Just for Laughs and featuring stand-ups, sketch comedy groups, comedy magicians and variety acts, this 10-episode series showcases stand-ups, sketch comedy groups, comedy magicians and variety acts with Kenan Thompson (Saturday Night Live cast member), Chrissy Teigen from Insecure (Insecure actress) and Jeff Foxworthy serving as judges.
Setting is similar to that of a comedy club and acts have the opportunity to test out new material before an audience – offering something completely different than traditional talent competitions that focus on singers or dancers.
Make people laugh hard! And win a $250,000 prize package and the opportunity to perform at Just for Laughs Montreal. Hosted by comedian Amanda Seales and executive produced by David Friedman and Matilda Zoltowski; Just for Laughs president Bruce Hills also acts as consulting producer.