Matt Rife

In 2022, The New York Times called him "just another struggling road comedian." That was accurate. He'd spent years on Wild 'N Out, hosted a TRL reboot nobody watched, and opened for bigger acts while traveling by Greyhound.

A friend talked him into posting a crowd work clip he didn't think was funny. That single video broke the algorithm. Within a year, his TikTok following hit 18 million, his tour crashed Ticketmaster (something only Taylor Swift had done before), and Netflix gave him a special. He went from Greyhound buses to selling out the Hollywood Bowl at 28. The slow road was just preparation for a very fast one.

Vox called Natural Selection "painfully mediocre." His response to the backlash over its opening domestic violence joke was a mock apology linking to special needs helmets. E.l.f. Cosmetics cast him in a campaign, then pulled it the same day when the internet reminded them about the joke. None of it slowed him down.

His ProbleMATTic tour grossed $60 million across 256 shows. He sold out Madison Square Garden twice, the youngest comedian to do it. The math doesn't care what the critics think. Forbes estimated his earnings at $50 million. The comedy establishment treats him like a punchline. The box office treats him like a headliner.

The Ed and Lorraine Warren home in Connecticut is his now, Annabelle doll included, with legal guardianship locked in. He plans to open it for overnight stays, which is either a brilliant business move or a horror movie waiting to happen.

He's told the LA Times that "the comedy community does not like me at all." Maron, for his part, was happy to confirm it, calling him "the new It Boy of shitty comedy." His response was that Maron is "just being a crotchety old man" who's never watched one of his shows. He collects enemies the way other people collect credentials.