Matt Rife: Only Fans

Even with a soft ending, an overall solid debut.

After enjoying clips of his crowd work on YouTube for about a year, I decided to watch a full stand-up performance by comedian Matt Rife. Matt Rife: Only Fans is his first special, coming out three years ago, and one in which he and his friends produced themselves and posted online. Although I find his background story interesting and his cultural perspective agreeable, the next paragraph is strictly reviewing his work here.

Excellent start and a solid first half, with the second half losing some momentum and the last quarter or so mainly just a conversation with a couple of laughs thrown in. So I would say it was pretty good, but aside from a collection of highlights, I wouldn't highly recommend seeing the whole thing. Rife has all the fundamentals one needs to be legendary, though: challenging material, smooth delivery, good timing, a quick wit, and the necessary stage presence (probably from years of experience).

I shall be moving on to his next offering on YouTube.