Stand-up comedians have a special spot when it comes to Netflix and many of them have specials on the streaming platform. Trevor Noah, Shane Gillis, Joe Rogan, Kevin Hart, Taylor Tomlinson, Hannah Berner, Ricky Gervais, and Jimmy Carr are some of the many comedians who have secured a spot for themselves on Netflix, and next in line is Matt Rife!
At the age of 28, Rife gained a lot of popularity online through social media platforms like Instagram and TikTik as he quickly went viral for some of his most controversial and brutal takes, which also included some crowd work.
Now, Rife has made Netflix history after he recorded the platform’s first-ever stand-up special that revolves around crowd work, who would have thought?
In this article, we will walk you through our review of Matt Rife: Lucid – A Crowd Work Special, so you can decide whether you want to stream it or skip it!
Matt Rife Takes the Grand Stage
Matt Rife: Lucid – A Crowd Work Special is less than an hour long, 54 minutes to be precise, and unlike most specials which begin with the comedian walking to the stage and being cheered by their fans, Matt Rife chooses a different route.
The special begins with the song “Dream a Little Dream of Me,” playing in the background with black and white pictures of him performing and the audience laughing.
After that unique introduction, Matt Rife: Lucid dives straight into him sitting on a stool as the audience cheers him on and he opens by asking a member of the audience, “What the f**k are you wearing dawg?”
If you are a fan of Rife, this brutality should come as no surprise and make you laugh from the very beginning of the special, because it truly sums up the essence of his style of comedy.
“Crowd work” is right there in the title of Rife’s latest special, so you best believe he will lean right into that sub-genre of comedy, and that means borrowing someone’s shoe to show it off to the audience.
The comedian also clarifies that this show is going to be “completely different,” from the rest, with plenty of focus on the crowd, and Rife lived up to that statement.
This special showcases Rife’s specialty as he opens up about his own life but also makes it a point to get to know his audience, whilst humorously roasting them. However, every single person who was a part of that crowd knew what they were signing up for, and they enjoyed every single second of it.
Rife might not be everyone’s cup of tea, and he might often come off as a little offensive, but overall, he continues to remain funny and especially makes his fans laugh until their stomach hurts.
At the end of the day, that’s what a comedian sets out to do, and Rife always gets the job done. Admittedly, this work of his was more interactive than anything else, but one should expect that considering the title!
Conclusion
Matt Rife: Lucid – A Crowd Work Special appeared to be an ode to Rife’s fans who especially love his crowd work segments, and if you belong to that category, we highly recommend tuning into Netflix right away!