User Reviews

Oh Matt..

All that momentum and hype and you crash and burn. This special proved why Netflix probably does not give opportunities to comedians who are huge on YouTube.

My expectations were much higher for Matt Rife, this guy was relatable, had jokes you could understand but still keep things modern enough that they don't feel like the same old thing every other comedian tries.

Unfortunately the jokes were dry, punchlines did not really land and the opening was incredibly weak. No one really enjoys listening to bland jokes about women being in the kitchen, their biological clock and old men telling stories.

Matt can do better, I have no doubt, but he needs to go back to the drawing board and understand shorts and special are different.

This special was poorly paced, poorly structured and filled with bland jokes that did not land.

I love Matt Fife on instagram and social, he is so funny and charming!.....but this wasn't funny. His opening 5 minutes was tearing down women and it wasn't funny it was just words. As was most of his act, rehearsing jokes that were funny in other settings but not stand alone. He definitely needs to feed off his crowd, he is so funny but this scripted stand up, lame. People know him from social and know he's funny so that will carry him a while, and his looks... but the kid should stick with small crowds he can engage. That is his thing, he's funny and on it. This stuff... um not so much. I will pass on anything else from him like this.

This unfortunately fell short with me. I have been a fan on Matt Rife's for a while now but unfortunately seeing this special turned out to be not special at all.

Matt Rife has made a real name for himself via social media and his crowd work which is phenomenal and some of the best I have seen as of late.

In this special it's focussed on his actual set and not his crowd work as obviously crowd work completely differs from show to show but your general set does not.

At the end of this special you see quick clips of Matt Rife doing his crowd work after his set has finished and in those short clips is where you can see the audience laughing the loudest.

We want to see you engaging with your audience.

All in all looking forward to seeing how Matt does progress as a comedian.

Having watched him on social media and seen his funny clips, I was surprised that there was a lot of backlash against this show, much of it about certain jokes that some said were misogynist. So, I decided to look and see.

The jokes many claim were misogyny were rather tame compared to much of the harder hitting comedians out there, and I'd use Dave Chapelle as a comparison as he's said way worse about practically everybody in my view, as have many British comedians.

The problem with Matt Rife's Netlfix special is it starts with a standing ovation, which is really odd and scripted it seems. Then he speaks and I didn't recognise him as the same person because he seemed to be doing an impersonation of the dudes in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, where every second word is dude and everything is rad. It's simply embarrassing to watch as he's trying to be something he's not: ghetto and hood.

The nerves were evident and he wasn't natural or relaxed and probably had too much expectation placed on him by the audience, producers and most likely himself. If he's going to recover from this, he should do what he does well and rip the hell out of himself for this dud of a performance. And drop being a dude, dude?

Okay, I have laughed too hard with this guy on TikTok too many times but this is really bad, the first 20 minutes can easily make you turn it off, and beyond that it gets better but it's still bad.

I can accept that some comedians can only shine in a smaller an warmer crowd, but I can't imagine someone writing this script and thinking "this will do well". The stories are so long, uninteresting, and barely believable, and by the time the joke hits you're just sitting there with a straight face. By the 40 minute mark you'll just be waiting for it to end.

It's better that they stop promoting this and then try a second time next year, because I don't think many people will be watching a second special if they watch this.

I read about the hype on social medianso I rhought I'd give it a try, but I didn't past long watching it. Criminally unfunny topped with a very cocky attitude of a dude who clearly thinks a lotnof himself. He tries to sell jokes and thoughts that literally every second person on the planet has already thought about, and he does that with an attitude that makes you cringe very hard. Others are questioning if they just had too high expectatuons for this show. No, you didn't. This performance simply isn't it and I wish I could have that half an hour of my life back wasted on it. A pretty face with no original content or depth...or humour for that matter.

I can't tell you how disappointing this is my girlfriend and I really enjoy the clips of him we see on Instagram and I actually waited a full week so we can watch this together. I can't tell you how cringey and bad the special is. Granted I only made it about 20 minutes in so it could have improved markedly at some point but I highly doubt it. I swear to God I think we giggled at one thing in that period and it was only because it related to something we had just had a conversation about. I can't tell if the clips I see on Instagram are more about his ability to interact with the crowd which I think he's really good at but his jokes are just Bland and flat and appear to be just rehashed from other comedians. Beautiful is chiseled Jaw can only take him so far and I feel like this special was bad enough where he won't even get to implode like a Dane Cook at a later date. Truly absolute garbage from the start to well I guess not finish, but you know what I mean. I wasn't looking to hate here at all trust me I really thought this was going to be awesome I was pretty excited and what a let down.

Ok so...

Rated: 6 stars Expected: 10 stars

I've been a Matt Rife fan since he first busted on the scene. As a comic, he felt fresh, current, and connected to current trends and influences. I'm sure it's because of his connection with TikTok, but he has tipped me off my rocker for a long time. Unfortunately, his newest Netflix special, Natural Selection, just didn't do it for me. There were certainly some zingers and few really good bits, but as a full product, it missed the mark.

As his show opens and he steps on stage, there is certainly an excitement for what the next 65 minutes or so could hold. Matt does his intros, and voila...he's off and running. He even managed to work a quick bit on domestic violence into the first 2 minutes, which seems to have set a firestorm off in the media. This off-color bit is part of the reason I like Rife- he is not afraid to walk the fine line, or even cross it. Personally, I don't think anything is off limits in comedy: body shaming, abortion, holocaust, disabled, culture & ethnicities...you name it, and I'm ok with it. But for whatever reason, his rather tame insinuation has gotten the panties bunched for a chunk of the interweb media and social scenes. Not bad for the introductory two minutes of an act. Sadly, this was about the last of the fun for the duration of the show, but for a few bits.

So what made this act different than other Matt Rife appearances? In my opinion, it felt much more forced. I can't put my finger on it, but it wasn't as loose as usual. His bits took longer to reach their pinnacle, and the payoff seemed "less funny." In other words, the bits were longer and not as funny. What makes Matt Rife funny is his ability to quickly connect us to what he's talking about- which is usually something current- and get out. No looooong buildup and no holds barred.

I dunno...maybe it's just me, but he just wasn't as funny as he normally is.

Have absolutely laughed my ass off on so many of his videos. But this fell flat. Either my expectations were through the roof or it was actually bad. Had to get myself to watch the whole thing like 3-4 times. Wasnt hitting hard, for a guy saying how much he loves old people he surely was cracking jokes like a teenager. His crowd work is phenomenal, rest hes only working it out through his looks and expressions. Looks like Netflix had some restrictions on him to not do any cancellable content. 😂

Could have been much better, I have bought tickets when he will be coming to Australia, hopefully he will be killing it like he does!

Jaime and I decided to watch this stand up when we had time to kill. It is funny, we were debating back and forth as to what we should watch. This usually ends up in watching a mindless gameshow or one of our shows that we are working through. She remembered that this was on Netflix and she knows that I watch Matt Rife's videos regularly on Facebook.

Now I should say that what I know about Rife's comedy is mostly crowd work. He does this at comedy clubs and what not. This is different. He is doing a legit special like other comedies. What I like about his humor is that he's not afraid to push buttons, even in this day and age where so many comedians are worried about being canceled. There were jokes that Jaime and I would look at each other and cringe. That's not to say they weren't funny though. We just didn't expect him to necessarily go there.

I didn't find this as funny as things I've seen in the past. That doesn't mean that I wasn't laughing here. That still happened. I wouldn't say this is the best stand up comedy special I've seen either. I'd still recommend if you like Rife and want to see something a bit different from him. It is worth the hour and half runtime that this has for sure.

My Rating: 7 out of 10.

Love that guy on insta, his crowdwork is hilarious. I had high expectations from this and it was just meh. Very flat jokes, nothing really clever or funny on more levels. At some point i was questioning if this guy is really smart or just pretty face, because some of those jokes like from teen person. It was all very surprising to me. Not in a good way. I love dark, incorrect humor. I mean I am fan of Jimmy Car or Ricky Gervais and both are ahole, but this just didnt work at all. He sounded cocky and know it all, no respect, not humble, not relateable. And i dont care he mentioned he doesnt like when someone comment negatively on internet on something he is proud off. You can do better and you should know.

First off, I rarely review comedy sets. They have to be saying something important, relative to current events or someone new, amazing, etc.

This was one of those. Well done / gold clap

I've been so tired of social media, news, our government being controlled by idiots and consequently we are being misdirected..we all know this...and your posting here..even now..is basically worthless and so many people just love to pass along hate.

It's taken me decades watching the way things have changed, not being able to fix them...questioning; people just not wanting to ask the hard questions.. or any!! I've coming to the conclusion that only idiots are breeding in hoards now..Do the math.

Anyways..he nailed it. If you can't handle the truth...heh we are over worked, underpaid. The world is burning up and we all have a seat in front of the tv...

Consumerism is out of control. I hate how we have has serious issues come up in the past decade and this overwhelming amount of people trolling for whatever reason is crazy and out of control.

I've seen women on the internet harass people then scream foul play when they get called out.

I assumed that USA reviews would be overwhelmingly positive for all the truths he spoke. Heh, didn't find it so here I am posting.

It's a great set, relevant, and i truly hope these bad reviews are taken for what they are. People unable to look at themselves and laugh. If you can't laugh at yourself, how the heck can you enjoy any comedy sets.

Peace out.

It's not horrible but it's not hilarious. It felt like an hour long podcast/Ted talk mixed in with some humor. Yes, he's become known for his crowd work tiktok clips and unfortunately there is 0 crowd work in this special. I definitely chuckled a few times but more often than not it just felt like you were listening to someone tell you stories that were sometimes humorous. I know he's been catapulted into fame so of course I don't blame him for trying to capitalize on it and get out as much material as possible but this one just didn't hit the mark. I like raunchy comedy and I like offensive comedy but a lot of these "jokes" just sounded like my 13 yo son complaining about girls at school.

As we all know, Matt Rife is a viral sensation, whose entire fame exists on social media. He's established himself as the king of crowd work. And he really is masterful at it. Add to that, his good looks made him immensely popular with the female demographic.

And that's where the problem lies. He went into this comedy special knowing full well that his base of fans is primarily female. Rather than construct this special with funny material, he decided instead it to pack it with material that he (mistakenly) thought would woo male fans. So, from the very beginning, he hits us with a barrage of jokes about domestic violence, feminine hygiene and mocking special needs children. I guess he thinks guys love that. Well, this guy doesn't. And I'm confident that most won't. Not because the subject matter is controversial. But because it's not funny. The jokes aren't delivered with irony or from a funny perspective, but instead from hate.

The result? A comedian who presents as nothing more than a younger, prettier Andrew Dice Clay who giggles a lot at his own jokes. Controversy isn't the worst crime a comedian can commit. Being unfunny is.

As has been said with other reviews: you throw this guy into a room with 50 people with a natural back and forth and he will crowd work like few others can. He has an effortlessly quick wit and charm that seems natural for the stage. However, choreographing a long form special without the ability to crowd work ruins the formula he's famous for. That is not a knock on the guy, crowd work is as technical a skill as crafting a routine but Netflix, and its restrictions, is not where he shines. At least, not right now. I look forward to seeing how he develops as a comic over time and how his work matures but presently he seems to trying to hard to break the fake binds that a lot of present comics complain about. This odd lie that you can't have an edge to your jokes without being cancelled. You certainly can..... They just need to actually land as jokes.

Male version of Iliza Shlesinger. Exceptionally good looking but with no real personality. Endless anecdotes about how hard it is to find a worth-while significant other while also making it clear he puts looks above all else. Not gonna hate on the man for having it easy in the looks department, but it's not a good formula for jokes to hear him complain about all the crazy women he just can't seem to avoid.

The only way he could be more basic would be if he had a man-bun. This dude has a John Lennon tattoo despite only being 28 years old, and expects to be taken seriously. He's the male version of a white girl in Ugg boots with bleach blonde hair and a pumkin spice starbucks. Basic people can be funny, but not when they present themselves as if they have some kind of deep wisdom to share when they clearly don't.

It's honestly cringe to hear this guy come out on stage, show off his poser tattoo, and then complain about young people as if he's not one of them. Sit down kiddo, or go back to doing crowd work on youtube for rooms full of thirsty chicks.

Was really rough. Turned it off at about the 80% mark. I think I laughed one time. This reminded me of the Amy Schumer leather special on a funny level except that one I at least could finish. I'm not really sure what this special was going for or who it was targeting. I love his shorter clips where he is interacting with small crowds but his planned material just doesn't hit. If crowd work is his best comedy then he should have incorporated it with his special like Schultz did on his. At the end of the day he is young and can try again but I really would not recommend anyone bother watching this one.

I think Matt Rife can be pretty engaging in his audience work that I see online. His timing is always on target and I generally laugh with enthusiasm.

But this Netflix special is just not funny. His jokes are tired and pretty cliche. He tries so hard to be comedic but the whole mess just seems forced and boring. I really like observational comics. I thought that Matt would have that style but this feels like a bunch of jokes meshed together with lots of cursing and sex themes and horrendous timing that just are not funny if you are over 18 and have half a brain. Maybe this guy is just not really a standup comic at all.

Like many, I assume, I was excited that Matt has a Netflix show and so I set in to share this joy with a friend. Matt seemed out of his element and made a decent attempt to merge what he does with a stand up special. I personally didn't realize how dark he could go, but it makes sense. I also think this is a stage in his comedic development. He has some good material here and seems to be finding his voice for a larger audience. His more intimate work and spontaneity doesn't really vibe with a stand up special. Its intriguing to see his development and I am curious as to how he will move to make his work more accessible to the masses . He has the talent and the chops. It's just a bit of a rocky start here.

I imagine him to be discouraged by the reception or disappointed for sure.

Hopefully this generates a buzz that gets people check out his work online and that Netflix sees past this hiccup to whats possible.

I doubt this is the end for Matt , but a stepping or milestone in his career. He is a young talented guy yet !

If you're like me you may have considered paying to see him live based on what was seen on YouTube. But after watching this, there is no way that I would spend time and money to see him. As many others have stated, the delivery was rushed, the jokes were not funny. He is highly unlikely to pock up any new fans that were unfamiliar with his work and just caught this on Netflix and likely lost many of his existing fans, It almost makes one wonder if the crowd work interactions were staged. How can a guy be so funny and charismatic with an audience and so very unfunny when he is doing a stand up set?

At one point he refers to himself as: "The Trim Reaper". We both nearly blew wine bubbles out of our noses. It's funny once you hear it in context.

One of the main reasons that both my wife and myself still maintain Netflix as our sole streaming-content provider is because of the many comedic specials they provide.

Now, granted, we were exposed to the fresh material from some of the greatest comedians to have ever lived (while we were still in our childhood): Bruce, Diller, Dangerfield, Carlin, Pryor. Which means that, for the most part, there is nothing original in the universe. We have seen nearly everything that comedy has to offer.

Matt Rife is a funny person. He is always working at "crossing the line"; which is what makes for good comedy.

Resubmitted: Nov.26.2023 10:58.

Matt Rife's comedy special, "Natural Selection," was a disappointing experience from start to finish. It's hard to believe that this was the same comedian known for his lively audience interactions and quick wit because, in this special, he fell flat.

First and foremost, it's evident that "Natural Selection" was rushed to production. The jokes felt forced and lacked the natural flow that is crucial for any successful comedy performance. It's almost as if Rife decided to throw together a mishmash of half-baked ideas without bothering to refine or polish them. The result? A cringe-worthy collection of jokes that left me questioning how this special even made it to the screen.

One of the most disappointing aspects was the complete absence of audience interaction, something that Rife has built a reputation for. In "Natural Selection," it felt like he was merely going through the motions, robotically delivering punchlines without feeding off the energy of a live crowd. The lack of engagement with the audience robbed the performance of the spontaneity and authenticity that could have potentially salvaged this sinking ship.

Let's talk about the humor, or rather the lack thereof. The jokes in "Natural Selection" were stale, predictable, and, frankly, not funny. Rife seemed to rely on tired clichés and recycled comedic tropes, leaving me wondering if he put any effort into crafting material that could genuinely connect with his audience. The punchlines were met with awkward silence rather than the hearty laughter one would expect from a seasoned comedian.

In the end, "Natural Selection" is a regrettable addition to Matt Rife's body of work. It lacked the charm, humor, and audience engagement that fans have come to expect from him. Skip this one - your funny bone will thank you.

I don't know what people are expecting. I laughed continually thought the show. Was it as funny as some of his other specials - probably not. But he is funnier than 80% of the comedians out there today!

There are a lot of low reviews based off what I can tell is a bunch of unhappy people complaining the jokes were not funny. Maybe they just do not have a sense of humor.

Who are you to decide what is funny and what is not - it is all very subjective and personal to each individual.

His jokes are relatable and current, and he is just an overall entertaining person to watch.

If you don't like it - just turn it off!

This stand-up special was such a disappointment. The entire set consisted of Matt punching down and making fun of people. Misogyny, homophobia, fatphobia, telling people to kill themselves.. it was just a mess that he repeatedly tried to cover with "I'm a nice guy but..." as if that absolved him from all the messed up things he was saying. I used to watch Matt on Facebook and think he was a funny guy but not after this. I almost never give out a single star rating but this stand-up special deserved it. I didn't laugh once or even smile. I continued on watching until the end just to see if it would improve but it never did.