The American comedian and actor Matt Rife has inked two more standup specials with Netflix after his first collaboration with the streaming platform turned out to be a huge success. the comedian’s stand-up special “Natural Selection” brought in over 10 million views in the first two weeks ensuring a spot in the Global Top 10 in 42 countries. Following the unparalleled success, Netflix is teaming up with the 28-year-old for two more stand-up specials as well as a gym/ workplace comedy series.
Matt Rife Signs A Set Of New Deals With Netflix
Rife’s next stand-up special, which is directed by his long-time friend Erik Griffin and co-produced by Irony Point and Christina Shams, is set to premiere later this year. It is thought to be Netflix’s first-ever full-length real-time crowd-work special. Reportedly, the show will be shot at The Comedy Zone in Charlotte, NC.
Being the most viewed stand-up comic on social media, Rife has over 33 million followers and 2 billion views across all social media platforms. Last year, he was caught up with his ‘ProbleMATTic World Tour,” a theater world tour with Live Nation. The tour included six shows at Radio City Music Hall, four sold-out shows at Dolby Theater, five sold-out shows at Mohegan Sun Arena, Connecticut, and several other stops across the US, as well as the Middle East, Canada, US, Australia, and Europe.
Immediately after his world tour was announced, he sold over 600,000 tickets within 48 hours. Before his success via Natural Selection, Rife had been running a self-produced and distributed YouTube special titled “Three-Three” which has accumulated a whopping 43 million views to date.
Rife’s Netflix special initially garnered major backlash after he opened its first episode by cracking a joke about domestic violence. However, the show managed to gain more than sufficient views slowly after each episode was dropped. Given the success of Natural Selection, his upcoming stand-up special is expected to run for a long time.
Besides a comedy show featuring only the interactions of the audience, Rife will also be launching a gym-based workplace comedy series written by himself. He is also expected to star in the show. Though only a little has been revealed about the show, it is reported that the show will highlight workplace dynamics.
“I love acting as I love the comedy if not more than that,’ Rife said in a recent statement, adding that he couldn’t look for acting opportunities, nor did he dare to take auditions. “Now that I have freedom in success, several opportunities are open before me, especially that I am passionate about, like television and film,” he explained.
Natural Selection was the TikTok star’s first show on Netflix. Initially, the special had a mixed reception while a major class of the viewers enjoyed every bit of his jokes, others disliked them to the core, particularly the format that he followed.
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Being in the comedy industry for 12 years, Rife is a familiar face to most of the comedy fans. Though he has been consistent with his work, he has had a slow rise in popularity. He came to the limelight after some of his crowd work clips went viral on social media.
Up next, the TikTok icon will be seen at a comedy festival titled, ‘The Netflix is a Joke” in LA.