Shortly after becoming the youngest stand-up comedian in history to sell out the Hollywood Bowl during the second installment of Netflix is a Joke in May, Matt Rife’s tireless pursuit of success finally caught up to him.
His performance schedule clocking 40 to 50 shows a month led to a stretch of consecutive days without sleep as he stayed up prepping for shows, editing social videos and barreling from city to city. Though his body and mind were getting shaky on tour, he fought through it.
Finally, just before a recent pair of shows in Indiana, he said he almost collapsed while leaving his hotel room and was forced to cancel the gigs just hours before showtime. Suffering blurred vision and painful ringing in his ears, he could barely walk or talk and had to be taken to the emergency room.
“I felt like I was legitimately dying,” Rife said during an interview at the Kookaburra Lounge in Hollywood. “It’s embarrassing, man, because everybody around me saw this coming.” His piercing blue eyes cast down briefly at the floor as he thought about the moment he almost pushed himself past his limits. “Everybody’s only response was, ‘Can’t believe this didn’t happen sooner.’”
Since that episode, Rife said he’s spent considerable time finding a balance that allows him to sleep and to pursue his dreams. His latest project, “Lucid: A Crowd Work Special,” premiering Tuesday on Netflix, is a new one-hour special in which he interacts directly with his fans, talking to them about their own dreams, fears and aspirations. Though the goal, of course, is laughter, Rife said the special is also about finding ways to relate to his fans through dialogue in a real, meaningful way and to remind himself to appreciate his own success.
“The concept of dreams in general was just something that was so special to me, because I am so lucky that I get to finally live my biggest dream, being this moment that I’m having right now,” he said. “And I know so many other people strive for that, not necessarily in comedy specifically, but everybody has something that they’re chasing.”
During the special he singles out members of the audience to talk about where they were in chasing their dream gigs or analyzing their goals— and yes, crack jokes and roast them a bit for our enjoyment. Though this isn’t his first crowd-work special (see 2023’s “Walking Red Flag”), it’s a definite budget upgrade from a single camera set-up. The new Netflix production shows Rife at the peak of his powers, sparking spontaneous humor out of the fans who packed into the Comedy Zone in Charlotte, N.C.
Rife is known for crowd work, and he thinks he does it at a higher level.
