Club Shay Shay - Matt Rife Part 2

Summary

Podcast Summary: Club Shay Shay – Matt Rife Part 2

Host: Shannon Sharpe
Guest: Matt Rife
Date: March 5, 2026
Length: ~1 hour, 10 minutes
Theme: Navigating Comedy Fame, Fan Base Dynamics, The Comedy Industry, Social Media, and Personal Growth

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Episode Overview

In Part 2 of his Club Shay Shay appearance, stand-up comedian Matt Rife joins Shannon Sharpe for an open and humorous discussion about the highs and lows of skyrocketing fame, his unique relationship with fans, the impact of social media algorithms, the changing landscape of comedy, and the importance of staying true to one’s art. The conversation offers insights into Rife’s personal journey, his reverence for mentors like Dave Chappelle, adapting to controversy and criticism, and looking ahead to acting and life goals outside stand-up.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Evolution of Matt’s Fan Base

Timestamp: 01:47 – 04:35

• Shannon jokes about Matt’s transformation into a "ladies’ guy" and how his appearance boosted his appeal.
• Matt opens up about misconceptions regarding his predominantly female fan base:

  “It’s an amazing fan base to have. Women and Black people are the best fan bases you could possibly have.” (02:20)

• Early in his fame, an out-of-context podcast quote gave the impression Matt resented his female fans. He clarifies this, expressing gratitude and describing the passion and support these fans bring to his shows.

2. Comedic Influences & The Art of Storytelling

Timestamp: 04:35 – 07:42

• Discussion about comedy greats (Ali Sadiq, Bill Burr, Louis C.K., Richard Pryor).
• Both cite Dave Chappelle as the pinnacle of comedy storytelling:

  “He’s prophetic… There’s nobody’s opinion I respect more.” (05:12 – 06:23)

• Matt recalls Chappelle’s mentorship, practical advice, and personal attention to his sets.

3. Working on Network TV vs. Edgier Outlets

Timestamp: 07:42 – 10:11

• Matt describes contrasts between MTV’s Wild 'N Out and NBC’s Bring the Funny—noting stricter content limitations and network approval processes:

  “Network, it’s a lot of…has to be under PG-13…you get away with a lot on MTV.” (08:19)

• A last-minute rejection of an approved joke led Matt to write a new bit the night before a crucial performance, which he reflects on as a creative challenge.

4. Social Media Stardom and Its Pitfalls

Timestamp: 10:17 – 15:53

• Rife talks about TikTok virality, his rise to millions of followers, and the platform’s sudden de-prioritization of stand-up content:

  “They told me to my face…‘We just don’t push stand up anymore.’” (11:24 – 14:45)

• He critiques the unreliability and toxicity of social media, necessity for comedic self-promotion, and the difficulty of algorithmic shifts:

  “Comedians don’t just have to write jokes… You gotta be a whole social media manager.” (15:27 – 15:53)

5. Career Milestones and Financial Freedom

Timestamp: 16:05 – 17:54

• Matt recounts the shock of his first substantial comedy check:

  “I took the check back to the manager and I was like, are you sure?” (16:32)

• Emphasizes the rewards of being able to support friends and family.

6. The Difference Between Social Media Skits and Stand-Up

Timestamp: 18:04 – 19:46

• Matt and Shannon discuss how social media fame doesn’t always translate to live performance:

  “A skit funny is one thing. Stand up funny is something entirely different.” (18:26)

• Importance of consistency and preparation due to larger venues and returning audiences.

7. Ownership and Control in Comedy

Timestamp: 20:39 – 22:02

• Brief discussion on TikTok’s international ownership, algorithm manipulation, and societal concerns over youth exposure to social media content.

8. Self-Censorship, Dark Humor, and Brand Pressure

Timestamp: 29:20 – 32:51

• Matt pushes back on “punching up/punching down” logic; his comedy philosophy is one of equality and inclusion:

  “Jokes are for everybody, man. I don’t believe the idea of punching up and punching down is so stupid. What are you punching? It’s jokes.” (27:12)

• He acknowledges pressure from sponsors/networks over controversial material but feels strongly about authenticity:

  “All that comes at the price of being yourself…So if I were to sacrifice that for a brand deal…then I’m betraying my fans. Then I’m also betraying myself.” (30:25)

9. Handling Controversy and Personal Boundaries

Timestamp: 31:34 – 33:39

• Matt reflects on the backlash to his material, societal disappointment, and keeping perspective:

  “When I first started to become controversial…To me, it was more like, oh, wow. I didn’t know this is how a part of the world is, really.” (31:54)

• Navigating future career moves carefully due to newfound scrutiny.

10. New Horizons: Acting, Life Goals, and Mental Health

Timestamp: 24:11 – 25:36, 63:15 – 64:16

• Rife expresses excitement over acting roles (Netflix’s The Altruist, upcoming film with Owen Wilson), noting the thrill of being a beginner again.
• He credits Julia Garner and Anthony Boyle as inspirations and expresses eagerness to explore this new artistic territory.
• Long-term, contemplating reducing stand-up touring to focus on balance, art, and possibly future family life.

11. Wild Fan Stories and Women in the Audience

Timestamp: 44:42 – 45:30

• Matt shares wild encounters from shows, including being bitten and being given a jar of hair by an enthusiastic fan.
• Shannon jokes about Matt being the “Drake of the comedic world,” with Rife quipping, “All my fans are overage.” (45:35)

12. Security, Stage Incidents, and Chappelle’s Support

Timestamp: 49:55 – 51:54

• Recounting a fan running onstage in Chicago and increased precautions since.
• On Chappelle's mentorship:

  “He’s been so kind to my family and my friends…He always says hello, asks how their families are doing…The first arena I ever did was opening for him at Madison Square Garden for his 50th birthday.” (52:25 – 53:21)

• Chappelle’s advice saved Rife significant legal fees by connecting him with a better lawyer (53:28).

13. Comedy Industry: Adapting, Jealousy, and Beef

Timestamp: 59:22 – 62:20

• Matt discusses generational gaps, the necessity of adapting to social media, and why “comedy beef” is a waste:

  “If you say you’ve never been jealous of somebody, you’re a liar…and that makes you very insecure for not admitting it.” (60:46)
  “Ego gets involved, insecurity gets involved. It’s very unfortunate. I haven’t really had any [beefs], thank God.” (62:08)

14. Future Plans and Final Words

Timestamp: 63:15 – 65:36

• Matt is focused on balance, longevity and continued growth: “I just want somebody I can go on live with. You know what I mean?...Right now. I live a very selfish lifestyle. It’s like, I’m on tour. My work is my life.” (64:18, 65:16)
• Chappelle’s advice on living life outside the tour sets a tone for Matt’s future:

  “Material comes from living your life. You got to go experience things. You can’t just live on the road.” (63:56)

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Notable Quotes

• “Women and black people are the best fan bases you could possibly have. There’s so much passion, man.”
  — Matt Rife (02:20)

• “Dave Chappelle loves to watch my set. I’ll go do a set with him and he’ll come back with notes... you actually cared enough to watch.”
  — Matt Rife (06:23)

• “There's no shortcuts to this. Had I not been doing comedy for 12 years before all this happened, there’s no way I could have handled it.”
  — Matt Rife (19:05)

• “I’m not gonna do that, man. Like, my standup is what got me this far… it’s such a shame that I can’t advise other comedians to, like, build an audience on social media, because eventually they’re just gonna shift the algorithm and you can’t reach them anyways.”
  — Matt Rife (14:48–15:20)

• “All that comes at the price of being yourself, right? I don’t know if I can sacrifice that, man. I battle with it all the time.”
  — Matt Rife (30:25–31:09)

• “Jokes are for everybody…I don’t believe the idea of punching up and punching down is so stupid. What are you punching? It’s jokes.”
  — Matt Rife (27:12)

• “If you can’t laugh at the dark shit in this life, how you gonna make it?”
  — Matt Rife (29:55)

• “Comedy gets harder every year that goes by. I think social media doesn’t make that easier.”
  — Matt Rife (65:41)

• “If I have a few million fans, and for some reason that pisses you off that I get to be successful and find my fan base—there’s seven and a half billion other people you’re about to make fan of for yourself. I wish the best for everybody.”
  — Matt Rife (58:54)

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Important Timestamps

• 01:47 – Breaking into a new level of fame and fan base changes
• 04:47 – Reflections on comedy heroes and Chappelle as a mentor
• 07:42 – Differences between MTV’s Wild 'N Out and NBC’s Bring the Funny
• 10:17 – Rise and challenges on TikTok
• 15:27 – The burdens of self-promotion as a modern comedian
• 16:32 – Major milestone with first big comedy club check
• 27:12 – Matt’s philosophy on “punching up vs punching down” in comedy
• 30:25 – Sacrificing authenticity for sponsorships
• 44:42 – Wild fan encounters and being the “Drake of comedy”
• 49:55 – On-stage incident with an overzealous fan
• 52:25 – Chappelle’s mentorship and impact
• 59:22 – Generational changes in comedy industry, envy, and self-awareness
• 63:15 – Looking to transition into acting and life beyond touring

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Memorable Moments

• Jar of Hair Fan Gift: “A lady brought me a jar full of her hair. I don’t know what part of her it came from.” (44:42)
• First club check shock: Matt thought his payment was a mistake when he received $12k for a weekend’s work (16:32).
• Chappelle’s million-dollar legal advice: Dave saved Matt nearly $1 million by recommending a better lawyer (53:28).
• Fan base pride: Matt takes pride in his predominantly female and Black audience, refuting claims that he disrespects them (02:20, 44:59).
• Duck-and-dodge with online trends: Matt refuses to follow TikTok dances, saying, “I’ll kill myself on TikTok live before I ever dance on TikTok. Are you crazy?” (14:48)

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Conclusion

This Club Shay Shay episode is a rich, candid, and frequently hilarious exploration of what it means to “make it” in modern comedy. Matt Rife and Shannon Sharpe delve into fame’s trade-offs, the overwhelming power of passionate fan bases, the grind behind the spotlight, and the necessity to protect one’s voice amid controversy and algorithmic unpredictability. Both pragmatic and heartfelt, Rife’s insights are invaluable for aspiring performers, comedy fans, or anyone intrigued by the journey from small clubs to sold-out arenas and beyond.

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Upcoming for Matt Rife:

• US and Europe tour dates
• Rolling Loud film with Owen Wilson (releasing September)
• Netflix limited series The Altruist with Julia Garner

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Listen for the levity, stay for the wisdom—as Matt reminds us, “If you can’t laugh at the dark shit in this life, how you gonna make it?” (29:55)

Transcript

[Shannon]

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[Matt Rogers]

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[Bowen Yang]

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[Shannon]

Thank you for coming back. Part two is underway. So how did it feel? Because you went from this, like, I'm sure you was kind of somewhat popular, but now you got teeth and people like, look like you got teeth. Yeah, that we like. Well, damn, Matt. Hey, Matt. Ain't too bad now that I look at him. I'm looking at him. The women. Cause now you're a ladies guy.

[Matt Rife]

Oh, well, that's very kind of you to say.

[Shannon]

Yeah, you know it. You know it. Cause they was like, I don't know. I don't know who roster Matt or Pete. I think Matt might have Usain bolted.

[Matt Rife]

Usain bolted It. Listen, it's an amazing fan base to have women. Women and black people are the best fan bases you could possibly have.

[Shannon]

They gonna spend and come.

[Matt Rife]

There's so much passion, man. Like, if there's support, there's support.

[Shannon]

Absolutely.

[Matt Rife]

It's like in the beginning, I used to think I had to stand up for that. People would be like, oh, he's just like a girls comedian, only girls like him. And I used to not understand it. So I was coming at a place of, like, I was coming from a place of ego being like, no, I'm. I'm forever right. Like guy. Guys like me too. I used to get defensive about it and deny it. Not realizing it was like the biggest possible compliment. Yeah, like somebody took something I said out of context on a podcast one time in the very beginning of everything blowing up, when they were asking about all my female fans and everything. And the way I was saying, the way I responded was incorrect verbiage. I had said something like, I hate it. Which wasn't right. I was trying to describe the energy at these shows because I was doing smaller theaters in the midst of everything, in the midst of, like, the mania of, like, when I first. First blew up. And like the whole crowd is. Is like 80% women, right? And they're screaming like boy band shit throughout the whole show. I literally couldn't get through the shows. Like, couldn't finish a joke. People are screaming standing up, trying to get attention. And at that time, I'm like, I'm trying to build a set. I have a Netflix special. I have to go film. Like, I really have to work. I'm trying to be a performer, an artist and work on this. And I can't deal with this distraction right now. So at the time, it was just frustrating, right? It wasn't that I had a problem with the fan base. I was just like, just sit and listen and I promise you we'll have a good time. But I had. I had misspoken in a podcast. It got taken out of context and people thought I was like, complaining about having a female fan base. It's the best fan base to have. Just chill and laugh, that's all.

[Shannon]

Do you see all the shoes and the handbags they got? If they like something, they gonna spin, bro.

[Matt Rife]

They'll be sitting next to their husband being like, matt Rife is my hall pass on a shirt. I'm like, you just gonna bring your cuck hu to the show? Who, by the way, paid for your ticket, probably. He's furious now. He's sitting There he got.

[Shannon]

He'll swallow you. He ain't funny.

[Matt Rife]

Furious about it, man. But it's the most fun fan base, man. They're not uptight. They're so supportive. They give the best energy. I hate that. They got twisted at a misconception.

[Shannon]

He was also on NBC. Bring the Funny with Ali Sadiq.

[Matt Rife]

Oh, Ali.

[Shannon]

Yeah, he great. I had Ali, dude.

[Matt Rife]

He's so smooth, man. He's another one of those people, like a D.C. curry, where, like, he can sit in some silence and tell him a story.

[Shannon]

Yes.

[Matt Rife]

He can sit there, take two, three minutes and then just. He's an amazing writer, man. I met him through Bill Bellamy back when I was probably. Probably around the same time, 20, something like that.

[Shannon]

Storytelling. You get guys like Bill Burr, Louis C.K. karlin. I think right now, the greatest storyteller, maybe the greatest storyteller ever is Chappelle.

[Matt Rife]

He's prophetic.

[Shannon]

The way he can jump over and jump back and weave in and out and dodge.

[Matt Rife]

He's the greatest of all time.

[Shannon]

He's gotta be. And I'm old enough to remember Pryor. Yes, I remember Murphy. It's hard for me to say there's a comedian better than Chappelle right now, ever.

[Matt Rife]

I can't see it, man. He's from about 45 minutes south of me in Ohio, where I grew up. And my friends and I used to joke around, like, what if we just drove down there and just happened to run into him? Oh, that never happened. Then you go to Yellow Springs. He is just around town. He's just walking down the sidewalk. It's so. It's so crazy that somebody who went from being my favorite comedian of all time has become like, an actual, like, friend and mentor. Like, he. He has given me. He's given me so much good advice. Not just stand up wise, like, business wise, everything. He's trying to point me in the right direction. He's somebody I'll call if I have any questions or want any advice on, like, how to navigate a certain subject or how to navigate something in the public eye. Like, you know, what should I. I mean, it's ultimately up to you, but, like, you know, when you're coming to. When you want somebody's advice on, like, should I stand on something? Do I give in? How long do you play the game? How much do you. Because he's somebody who sacrificed everything for what was important to him, came back and then still beat the game.

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Matt Rife]

So there's nobody's opinion I respect more. And that's what, man, there's nothing. I love when, like, another comedian will give me shit, like certain comedians won't like me or whatever. It's like Dave Chappelle loves to watch my set. Like, I'll, I'll go do a set with him and he'll come back with notes after being like, I love this, I love this. I think maybe you should move this to the end. Move this up here. And I'm like, man, you actually cared enough to watch.

[Shannon]

Wow.

[Matt Rife]

He's the nicest person I've ever met, man. And to get the approval of somebody you respect so much, like, that's what matters, man.

[Shannon]

I think the thing that makes Chappelle so great is that what they tried to take away from him, he didn't value. See, they can only counsel you if you value something that they think you value it.

[Matt Rife]

Absolutely.

[Shannon]

They tried to take Hollywood, he didn't ever value that. And so he's like, okay, I'll go away, I'll do my own thing. He'll list something, you know, I'm going to be here and it's sold out in a minute.

[Matt Rife]

Absolutely. He doesn't care, man. He took all the power. He realized the power is in what you stand for and the power is in the love of your fans, man. And no, nobody can take that from it. He can talk about anything, right? The way, the way he can spin any topic into a 20 minute rant that's just hilarious. Can be off the cuff. He makes you well informed.

[Shannon]

Oh, my goodness.

[Matt Rife]

Prophetic, man. I could listen. I don't, I don't listen to a lot of podcasts, but I could just put his voice on for hours and just feel like I genuinely learned a new perspective.

[Shannon]

His specials on Netflix, if you just like, oh, my goodness.

[Matt Rife]

I watched Sticks and Stones three times in a row when it came out. And I was on the east coast in North Carolina at the Charlotte Comedy Zone when it came out. So it came out at 3am East coast time. I stayed up. I watched it three times in a row. I felt it's my favorite special of all time. I wrote like 20 new minutes after that special. I was so inspired.

[Shannon]

Wow.

[Matt Rife]

It's incredible, man. He's. He's the greatest of all time.

[Shannon]

What do you think the biggest difference is in production? Let's say from black production, when you're dealing with wilding. Wilding out versus the NBC production. Bring the funny. Do you notice the difference in how writers write?

[Matt Rife]

I would say it's just the limitations, really, because you're on network tv. Yeah. Okay, right. I, I mtv, you can get a lot. You get away with a lot of saying. You can get away with saying a lot because they bleep things. They. They do a lot of edits, but network, it's a lot of. It has to be under PG 13. And that was a weird competition too, because it was like, comedians versus, like, magicians versus sketch comedy groups versus, like, musical acts. It was kind of an incomparable competition, but it was, again, great exposure. When that show had finished, I made it to the semifinals for that one. And when that had finished in end of 2019, I was like, selling some really great tickets in comedy clubs. I had some really exciting momentum in my career. And then Covid happened and shut all that shit down. But I had a really fun experience on, on Bring the Funny because the night before the semifinals, they make you submit your set, like, word for word. How are you going to say it to make sure network approves of it?

[Shannon]

Wow.

[Matt Rife]

And I had this set that I had submitted to them twice before because they make you submit some in advance as well. And I had this bit that they. I don't even remember what it was, but they had approved it twice. And then the night before, I'm laying in bed in my hotel at Universal Studios and they go, yeah, you can't do that joke. And I was like, I've already done all my material I can kind of do for this show. And they were like, I don't know what to tell you. So I wrote a brand new bit, like the night before having to do it on, like, network tv. Yeah. Ended up being a really fun bit. I really enjoyed it. It didn't get me through the rounds, but I was, like, very proud of myself that I could take that kind of pressure and inconvenience and like, turn nothing into something.

[Shannon]

Had that joke. Be allowed that joke. You think you advance.

[Matt Rife]

It's hard to remember what the joke was at that point. I know I was confident in it for sure because I was saving it for the finals of the semifinals. So, I mean, possibly, but I believe Ali won the show. Didn't. Good for him, man.

[Shannon]

Good for him.

[Matt Rife]

But that was interesting. It was a Jeff Foxworthy, Chrissy Teigen and Kenan Thompson.

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Matt Rife]

Yeah. That's an interesting panel of judges.

[Shannon]

You ended up on TikTok. Were you surprised that what happened with TikTok, those million of views actually turned into like, damn, bro.

[Matt Rife]

Yeah. Because I never wanted to do it. I hate TikTok. It's the most poisonous thing on earth right now. When it was about to get banned in America, I was stoked. I was so excited, man, because it's also, it's unreliable, right? Like I built an audience. I think I'm at like 20 million followers or like 19.7 or some shit. So I, I mean I was getting to a point where I was getting a million views an hour on there. As soon as I posted a video, it was an explosion of, of exposure on there. And then little by little, it started to go away a little bit. A little bit, Little bit, A little bit. Which I'm like, that's fine. You're only something new and fancy for a little while. And then after about a year and a half went by, they just completely dropped off. I couldn't reach any of my followers for some reason. So I started hitting up tick tock, like, you know they can find you a representative that works over there and everything. And they told me to my face on Zoom. They were like, yeah, we just don't push stand up anymore. I was like, okay, So I have 20 million followers who want to see what I'm posting and you won't let them see it.

[Shannon]

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[Matt Rogers]

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[Bowen Yang]

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[Shannon]

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[Matt Rife]

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[Matt Rife]

Yeah, we just. We only pushed the trends that are current right now. And they said stand up comedy was a trend on our platform that you kind of helped spearhead quite a bit. But they were like, it went on for much longer than it should have. Most trends only last like a month or two. And yeah, now we just don't push stand up as a platform. And they were like, you know, good luck. I was like, well, how am I supposed to.

[Shannon]

Like, so what am I doing? What am I doing with the 20 million followers that I got I said,

[Matt Rife]

how am I supposed to reach it? What do you suggest? They said, maybe just do the trends. Like, you know, if there's a new dance people are doing or whatever on Zoom. I said, I'll kill myself on TikTok live before I ever dance on TikTok. Are you crazy? They didn't find it funny at all. But I was also dead serious, right? I'm not gonna do that, man. Like, my standup is what got me this far, right? Whether it be the crowd work clips or material from the special, whatever it may be. It's such a shame that I can't advise other comedians to, like, build an audience on social media, because eventually they're just gonna shift the algorithm and you can't reach them anyways.

[Shannon]

Exactly.

[Matt Rife]

It's so unfortunate.

[Shannon]

They want to keep you in place. They're not gonna let you get too big now. No, no, they're not gonna let you get too big.

[Matt Rife]

As it sounds like a conspiracy. They have. They have a knob. They have a knob. They can just turn somebody back on or a topic or a hashtag, whatever it may be, and then that no longer gets exposure anymore. But I never. I never wanted to do it. I'm not. I don't love social media. I think it's incredibly toxic. It's not good for you as a person for sure. But it's such a tool that we have to use now. Comedians don't just have to write jokes, right? Used to just be like, man, write your five, get on Carson, get you a sitcom.

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Matt Rife]

Now you're good. You got to be a whole social media manager. You gotta be a production team. You gotta learn how to work a camera, you gotta learn how to edit, you gotta learn how to do sound. And it's not even for something that can last. It's incredibly unfortunate.

[Shannon]

Matt, when you look at. You went from making 10, 15, 25 to 30, and now you making millions. Did it like, is this real? I'm sure when you got that first big. I'm talking about big, big, big check. You like, is this ish real? Did they. Somebody really just send me a check for this, man? This ain't. Man, I ain't nowhere near.

[Matt Rife]

I tell you, it wasn't even the larger ones that caught me off guard. I was doing all off the hook. Comedy club in Naples, Florida.

[Shannon]

Okay.

[Matt Rife]

That was my first, like, real club headlining weekend. And usually for a weekend, if you're doing not that many tickets, your guarantee is like fifteen hundred dollars. Yeah, right. Which is fine. But that's also Your hotel, your flight, everything's included in that. And I think the check was for like $12,000. And I generally went. I took the check back to the manager and I was like, are you sure? And he was like, yeah, man. You sold tickets. Like, this is. This is what a headliner would get for this weekend. It blew my mind. I never made that money doing any like one thing in my entire life. It's been unbelievable. The money. The money gives you a new freedom, you know, I mean, you're not. So much of the world is consumed by check to check payments. Right. I got having to pay your bills out of that check immediately. You don't have any. Any room to just enjoy your life with the money.

[Shannon]

Discretionary fund.

[Matt Rife]

Exactly. You don't get to enjoy what you really earn. So now that creatively I can kind of afford to do the things I want. It's. It's. I mean, a relief is such an obvious word to say, but like, it allows me to focus on the other things that I want to do. And I'm so grateful for that. To be able to take care of your family, to be able to take care of your friends, like getting to hire your friends is. I don't know if you know any of these guys. No, no, no, no.

[Shannon]

I just. I mean, I met him five minutes before you did.

[Matt Rife]

Not even to do with the ponytail.

[Shannon]

No. What five minutes before you did.

[Matt Rife]

They seem like lovely people. The about it is getting to take care of your people, man. The fact that they get to reap the rewards of your hard work is so rewarding. I'm so grateful for that.

[Shannon]

But if you think about it, Matt, being a comedian today, because the social media aspect of it, and you see a lot of these guys, they start with skits and you see these guys blowing up. Whereas before you had to grind, you had to get into the clubs, you had to be good. And if you weren't good, you gonna fall by the wayside. Now a guy can get. He can blow up on social media now, once you go into them clubs now, you better be funny.

[Matt Rife]

Yeah.

[Shannon]

Cause doing the skit and fun. A skit. Funny is one thing. Stand up. Funny is something entirely different.

[Matt Rife]

Oh, 100%. I'll see people take the viral fame and they're going on tour or whatever. And my first instinct is it's good for you.

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Matt Rife]

Get your money.

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Matt Rife]

I mean, do what you got. People want to come see you live, by all means, but you got to do it right the first time. If you don't do it right the first time, you're not going to want to come back and see you twice. And that, that's where. That's where the power really lies, is consistency. Right. Like, especially when you're upgrading your venues, going from comedy clubs. I gotta get the same people who saw me at a comedy club to come see me at a theater. Gotta get the same theater audience to kind of want to come see me at an arena. The consistency is key, man.

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Matt Rife]

You gotta be. That comes back to being ready for it.

[Shannon]

Right.

[Matt Rife]

There's no shortcuts to this. Had I not been doing comedy for 12 years before all this happened, there's no way I could have handled it. Wow. But the work is where. The work is where the fun is, man. They say how often you hear, like, enjoy the journey.

[Shannon]

Yes.

[Matt Rife]

And when you're in the journey, you're like, this shit sucks, man. This is the worst road that you

[Shannon]

don't get an opportunity to appreciate it. You really don't.

[Matt Rife]

You really don't, man. I do kind of miss the days of, like, just showing up at. Laugh at you or whatever and be like, oh, man, I hope I get a chance to go up now versus now. I can walk in those. Like, do you want to?

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Matt Rife]

But there's. There's. There's something to that. I don't know if it's the. I don't know if it's just the humbling to it. I don't know. I don't know exactly what it is, but there's just something to the unknown, you know, It's. It's. It's not something to be overlooked.

[Shannon]

Well, we. You mentioned TikTok earlier. America. We purchased TikTok. Do you believe TikTok would have been what it was had it had been American owned from the jump?

[Matt Rogers]

Ooh.

[Matt Rife]

I mean, I don't see a lot of Asians on there. So it's always. It's always kind of felt American to me. I don't know. It caters to your.

[Shannon]

But Asian don't let Asians. They created it, but they don't let their people get on TikTok for us.

[Matt Rife]

Is that really a thing?

[Shannon]

I think so.

[Matt Rife]

Really?

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Matt Rife]

That's a damn shame. But you know what? Good for them. They created poison and they were like, give it to the Americans.

[Shannon]

Don't you drink it. Don't drink it.

[Matt Rife]

Oh, that's actually brutal. Okay, China. I see you all right? Yeah. I didn't even think about that. But I know certain countries or certain countries, certain states are kind of cracking down on that. I heard that Florida's cracking down. Like, you can't be on social media before you're 16. I think that's imperative, man. I think it's not good for kids, man. It's not good for adults.

[Shannon]

Well. Cause I think. I think somebody. Whether it was social media, but the parents have to sign up for it. That you will get alert. If your kids look for something suicidal, say something about if more than once they'll get an alert if you're signed up for it.

[Matt Rife]

Well, it's just the kind of content that they're consuming. It opens them up to cyberbullying and all that. I mean, haters live on the Internet.

[Shannon]

They do Misery Loves Company. That is so true.

[Matt Rife]

And they don't exist in the real world.

[Shannon]

No.

[Matt Rife]

That's what these kids gotta realize. Close your laptop, Turn your phone off. You'll be just fine.

[Shannon]

YouTube. You released a special on YouTube. You like YouTube?

[Matt Rife]

They've been good to me. Yeah, Absolutely.

[Shannon]

They've been good to us.

[Matt Rife]

Yeah.

[Shannon]

Because, like, YouTube and everybody's like. And you see a lot of companies are trying to come out and be competitive with YouTube. They're trying to get podcasts and they're

[Matt Rife]

trying to get Netflix's biggest competitor.

[Shannon]

Yes, yes. And you see YouTube, they have NFL football. Netflix has NFL football. Because you need live content.

[Matt Rife]

You need it.

[Shannon]

If you're trying to be a network, you're trying to be a television station, you need live content.

[Matt Rife]

Can I ask you, how do you feel about, like, the live comedy specials on Netflix? How do you feel? Do you feel like specials are supposed to be something that kind of takes its production edit and takes its moment? Or do you kind of enjoy the live aspect of, like, we'll see how it happens. We'll see how that show plays out in real time.

[Shannon]

I mean, I love specials. I mean, delirious and raw and seeing all those things coming up. When I was a kid, I love it, but. I know, but it's like, I like to go to. I go to a comedy I like, like. Okay, this is unscripted. You can't say this. You can't say that. That's what I love about the comedy show. When you go to a real comedy,

[Matt Rife]

there's nothing like it live, man. There's nothing like it live.

[Shannon]

This is one. I mean, I would love to see Chappelle 1000%. Okay? Anything goes.

[Matt Rife]

Have you seen him live before?

[Shannon]

I have never seen him live before.

[Matt Rife]

What? I haven't. Let me know a day. I'll make that happen. I got you. There's nothing like it, man. He'll go for two and a half hours on the most important subjects going on in the world. That's what makes it may have happened that morning. And somebody's got to make an unique. Matt, is that everybody.

[Shannon]

Everybody's afraid to touch a lot of the things that he's touching on. They wouldn't touch that with a thousand foot pole.

[Matt Rife]

Yep.

[Shannon]

Let alone it went arm's length.

[Matt Rife]

No, he's. He's. He's invincible right now. And he's also. It helps that he's a genius. Right. You can respect what he's saying. You can disagree with as much as you can, and you're welcome to do that, but he's going to, well, articulate whatever his perspective is on that. And there's just nothing like a live show. You can't capture the energy on camera. You can't think about how amazing raw and delirious are.

[Shannon]

Yes.

[Matt Rife]

Now think about how am would have been to see live.

[Shannon]

Oh, my God.

[Matt Rife]

You can't touch it. No special. No matter how great your favorite special is, it's nothing like what it was in the room. No, it's. It's so unfortunate, man. Go see a live show. If you have a favorite comedian, no matter who they are, go see them in person.

[Shannon]

Just additions. Is that like you said, you're thinking about trends, maybe doing a little bit more in the television movie space as opposed to stand up now. So how do you transition? Because now you're starting to blow up and you're like. You're really thinking about, like, you know what? I kind of want to do a movie. I kind of want to do sitcoms. I kind of want to do other things and kind of transition away because Eddie was at that peak, of course, and he said, you know what I really want to do movies. And you hear 48 hours and you hear Coming to America and you see all these things that happen. You really, really like, you know what? I know I'm at the apex, but you know what? I kind of want to transition.

[Matt Rife]

I think it's just wherever your passion lies. Right. Like, I've always loved acting as much as I've liked stand up. I just haven't been doing it for as long. And I haven't been able to, I guess, get my foot in the door the same way as I have in stand up. Granted, we talked about earlier, it's a different game.

[Shannon]

Right.

[Matt Rife]

It takes a bunch of different people's approval rather than just winning over Your fans, right? Your fans can't vote you into being into a movie, unfortunately. So it's something I'm really, really excited about for sure. But it's. It's a different craft, man. Like, I spent six months living in Vancouver at the end of last year filming the Altruist for Netflix, the Julia Gar Garner show. And I. That was my first real experience being a part of this gigantic month to month long production and just getting to really like study these other performers. I've been around comedians my entire life. Since 15 years old, I've been around 40, 50, 60 year old comedians and watch the way they craft their art. Acting is a different beast, man. And I have such a respect for it. And it's something. It's new and exciting for me. I've been doing stand up for so long. Acting is something that it tests a new muscle in me. It's learning a whole new crap. There's something exciting about being brand new at something again.

[Shannon]

Yeah. So you like that?

[Matt Rife]

Yeah, absolutely, man. I would try most things for the first time. I think it's. I think it's really exciting. It's so rewarding as well, man. When you, you know, you get the respect of somebody you've really, really looked up to, like a Julia Garner, Anthony Boyle, who are leading this show, getting to learn the study from two of the best in the business right now. It's an amazing opportunity, man.

[Shannon]

How you get that brother caught up at your show, man?

[Matt Rife]

Which one?

[Shannon]

You know the black guy that got caught with the side chick?

[Matt Rife]

Oh, man. In Pittsburgh. Yeah, Terry. Oh, Terry.

[Shannon]

Oh, you even know his name?

[Matt Rife]

Of course, man. Terry, I hope you're all right, man.

[Shannon]

He ain't all right.

[Matt Rife]

What you mean? I hope you chose Terry. He, bro, that shit was wild.

[Shannon]

How do you hope he all right? You know he not all right.

[Bowen Yang]

Woman.

[Matt Rife]

Don't bring your side chick to the show.

[Shannon]

You are okay. You can't put the light on it. Don't laugh.

[Matt Rife]

So black. I don't know what to tell you. He was bringing so much attention to himself. I didn't want it to be about him. He drove all the attention to himself. All I wanted to know is, are you with your lady? And he snitched on himself so fast. And then at another show, the lady came back and was like, no, I know his real girl. It was crazy, man. He did that to himself. People get themselves caught up, man. People. I was Coldplaying people long before.

[Shannon]

Yeah, I was gonna say like the Coldplay situation, that she was up there. Hugging. I'm like, bro, now, you know you can'. Be doing that. You out there. Out there.

[Matt Rife]

Wrong in the wild.

[Shannon]

Yes.

[Matt Rife]

Yeah. It happens, man. People. But I hate to say those are. Those are the people that make the best content, Right? Like, you come to a show and you the one screaming out, want to be the person that gets talked to for a. That's usually not the person you want to talk to. It's the least assuming person who's.

[Shannon]

They just try. Oh, I sure hope you don't talk to me.

[Matt Rife]

Don't talk to me. Oh, 100%. Are you in a wheelchair? You going to get it? 100%. I got. I got to know what's going on, man. You looking suspicious. I got to find out.

[Shannon]

In your crowd work you do, you go after a. You don't have a problem, because is there anything that you won't do in a set? Is there anybody that you won't go after?

[Matt Rife]

No. That's so insane. What are we talking about? Talking about comedy, right? We're talking about the context of a comedy show. Jokes are for everybody, man. I don't believe the idea of punching up and punching down is so stupid. What are you punching. It's jokes.

[Shannon]

Yes.

[Matt Rife]

We're all equal. We are in this room together right now. I don't think of anybody below me, so I can't do jokes about you because I feel sorry for you. I pity you. I feel like you're less of a person than I am. Hell, no. I want to treat you like. I want to treat you like you're an equal. Right. You see somebody who's. We use a handicap as an example. Whatever. How often do you think they get treated different?

[Shannon]

Well, you can't say. Well, you. Theoretically, you're not supposed to say disabled or handicapped. You're supposed to say limited mobility. I'm just saying. I'm just saying. I don't want to get my show. I don't want Netflix. I want YouTube to get me. So mobility restricted. I'm just saying, man. I'm saying.

[Matt Rife]

Hey, I'm not giving it up.

[Shannon]

Mobility. Mobility restricted.

[Matt Rife]

Until somebody with cerebral palsy corrects me to my face, I can't give it up. I'm sorry. Mobility restricted.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Matt Rife]

I've heard that before. If that is the correct term, I'm not changing it. How many times are we gonna change the restrictions on jokes, man? And the terms you're supposed to use? Didn't they change homeless recently to, like, the unhoused or something? Y. Way worse.

[Shannon]

Yes, yes.

[Matt Rife]

I don't. I don't. You can't cater to everybody's feelings, man. And also, jokes aren't for everybody. It's for the people at the comedy show. Right. If you come, I would hope you know what to expect. There's nothing that's off limits. Everybody is the same, Right. I don't do this whole victimization of you can't talk about this person or whatever they're going through because you can't because you've never experienced yourself. That's why I have a comedic perspective on it. Right. Because I don't know about it. Sometimes ignorance can be comedic as long as it's coming from a good place. Right. And how often do you think people get treated different? Especially people who are mobility. Mobility mobily limited. People walk by them, they don't say hello, they don't look them in the eyes, they don't ask. They're afraid to talk to them or anything like that. This is the one place where they get to be treated like a normal person. I take a lot of pride in that.

[Shannon]

Before you did your first Netflix special, did people really know that you had a dark sense of humor?

[Matt Rife]

Yeah, man. Watch any of the clips, bro. Watch any of it, man. I love dark humor. It's my absolute favorite. To laugh at the moment up thing is the beautiful art of irony, right? Like, you know what the correct thing is to say, so saying the complete opposite of that is what makes it funny. And if that's not for you, that's fine. You don't gotta like it. Change the channel, right? You don't gotta ruin somebody's life over it. It's so frustrating to me, man. I love it. If you can't laugh at the dark shit in this life, how you gonna make it?

[Shannon]

Because there's a fine line that you have to walk, Matt, because you want sponsorships, you want endorsements, you want brands, and those brands come to people. Like, if you have him endorsing your product, and he said this about this, this and this, we won't. And then they start an online petition and they start boycotting. They start this and that, and the networks and the advertisers and the brands become like, you know what? It's just not worth the hassle.

[Matt Rife]

And unfortunately, you're speaking 100% facts. But all that comes at the price of being yourself, right? That's what I think people mean when they say, like, oh, somebody sold out. It's like, okay, you sacrifice being truly self, which for me is what got me to where I'm at now my sense of humor and joking about the things that I like to joke about, whether it be dark or not, got me to where I'm at now. So if I were to sacrifice that for a brand deal, which, don't get me wrong, I would love. You don't think I'd like some money to work with Calvin Klein or Levi's or whatever it may be? Of course I would love that. But then I'm betraying my fans. Then I'm also betraying myself. Now I'm constantly. Now they have power over me of what I can and can't say.

[Shannon]

Right?

[Matt Rife]

And that's. I don't know. I don't know if I can sacrifice that, man. I. I battle with it all the time.

[Shannon]

Right.

[Matt Rife]

My team will call all the time. Like, so and so wants to work with you, but can you trim these jokes from your set? And I'm like, I don't think I can, man. Because that's a slippery slope. It starts here. Now I can't do the rest of it now. I can't joke about this thing. Now I can't joke about this thing.

[Shannon]

It's now you cutting all the material that I can and can't joke about.

[Matt Rife]

Yeah. And I gotta. I have a long future ahead of me, man. I don't wanna. I don't wanna start with that, and then I have to bail myself. I don't wanna have to go to Africa for five years. You know what I mean?

[Shannon]

When you started receiving all this backlash, did you become depressed? You're like, what am I doing? Can I just do this and make a lot of people. I can make a lot of money, make some people happy, but the person that's gonna be most depressed and most sad is me. Because at the end of the day, I'm the one that lives with this person. I see all these thoughts. I walk by the mirror all the time.

[Matt Rife]

No, bro. When all that stuff started to happen, when I first started to become controversial, which is crazy. You think I'm controversial? You weak as fuck. To me, it was more like, oh, wow. I didn't know. This is how a part of the world is, really. Because I know. I know who I am. I know my intentions with jokes. No matter the subject I'm joking about. My only intention is to make you laugh because it's something that makes me laugh. It means nothing more than that. I'm not trying to push an agenda. I'm not trying to hurt anybody's feelings. So when I saw that people would Try to derail somebody's entire life because of the subject matter of a joke at a comedy show. It was more eye opening that I was like, wow, people. There's really people out there who will try to take everything from you just because they don't like something that you did.

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Matt Rife]

So it didn't make me feel any type of way about myself. It more just made me put more.

[Shannon]

Open your eyes up.

[Matt Rife]

I was like, oh, wow. I gotta be. I gotta be more careful about how I navigate my next career move. Right. Because like you said, like brand deals or certain networks cannot wanna work with you because they just. They just don't want to deal with the backlash. Right. It's not that they even feel the same way about your joke. They can be like, I thought it was hilarious.

[Shannon]

Yes.

[Matt Rife]

We don't feel like dealing with the comment section. Right. But for me, I was more just. I was disappointed in society. I was like, wow, those people are really out there trying to take everything. I've worked so hard for this. I've done nothing but try to do good things. I'm nice to everybody. I try to do as many good deeds as possible. I try to. To extend the blessings I've had to the people I love and give the charities and all this. But they'll still try to take that from you for doing nothing wrong.

[Shannon]

Right.

[Matt Rife]

Yeah. So it didn't really. Didn't affect me on a personal level. I was just. It was more eye opening as well.

[Shannon]

We talking about it off camera. You brought a property in Rhode island?

[Matt Rife]

Yeah.

[Shannon]

Thinking 85 acres. Why Rhode Island? You're from Ohio. How does a kid from Ohio, they went to la, spent a year in Atlanta. Atlanta. End up in Rhode Island.

[Matt Rife]

Man, it's beautiful up there. Have you been? I have not been, but you're welcome anytime.

[Shannon]

Okay. Okay. I'm gonna come up to something and check you out and see what y' all got popping up.

[Matt Rife]

But we got a little horse farm up there. You ever ridden a horse before?

[Shannon]

I love Shetland pony.

[Matt Rife]

What?

[Shannon]

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[Shannon]

Hi.

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There.

[Matt Rogers]

There.

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[Matt Rife]

Nah, I'm just kidding.

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[Shannon]

Shetland pony when I was a kid.

[Matt Rife]

What?

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Matt Rife]

Why did you have a pony? Who got you the pony?

[Shannon]

My grandfather.

[Matt Rife]

What?

[Shannon]

I think he paid like 40 bucks for it. Name was Ringo.

[Matt Rife]

Yeah, that wasn't the reparations. He was Shetland pony.

[Shannon]

That wasn't a 48 Shetland Boney.

[Matt Rife]

Wow.

[Bowen Yang]

Okay.

[Matt Rife]

Little different from a horse.

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Matt Rife]

Yeah, it is beautiful up there. It's so peaceful. I had shows in Connecticut, had Mohegan sun up there. And I saw this house on Zillow that was like an hour away. And we had the. The first part of our day off before the show. I was like, you know, let me just go check out this house real quick. Fell in love with. The property's beautiful. The area is great. I'm seven minutes from Walmart, five minutes from Target. Like, it's got. It's got everything that I personally need.

[Shannon]

They're got. Do they have a Costco up there?

[Matt Rife]

No, they don't.

[Shannon]

They don't have a Costco.

[Matt Rife]

Boston's got a Costco. I do not have a Costco, but I'm all right on the Costco. As long as I got Walmart and Target, I'll be all right. So it's got all the essentials. Providence airport's great. It goes direct most places, but if not, Boston's only an hour away as well. I just wanted something peaceful, man, like this. This. These last four years have been so aggressive. I'm around people all the time, and we're in the big cities all the time. I'm in LA all the time. I'm in New York all the time. I'm in Miami, Chicago, Vegas, whatever it may be. I'm around people. If I want to see the big city, I'll see it in a couple months. I wanted somewhere that, like, when I'm not working, I can just be at peace. And this house is the first place I've ever, in 30 years, woken up happy every day, open the window, just. The fields are green, the trees are green. Everything is so peaceful and quiet. People leave me alone. The community's really, really nice. They've been so good to me. We do a lot of local shows. It's the perfect place for me right

[Shannon]

Now, I mean, ro. Us, like, every. This is everything. Could you imagine when you were a kid that, you know, what if somebody would have told you, if they'd have asked you at, say, 15, Matt, where are you gonna live? What would you have told him?

[Matt Rife]

Oh, man.

[Shannon]

La.

[Matt Rife]

No, Dayton, probably Dayton with four kids. That's about it, man. Nobody leaves this place at 15. The dream was, like, maybe I could stay in Ohio. And the ultimate dream when I was starting out stand up was just because all I ever saw was comedy clubs, right? So I was like, if I could just sell out comedy clubs every weekend for the rest of my life. That's. That's the epitome of I'm not gonna be Dave Chappelle Dane Cook. I'm not gonna. I'm not gonna do arenas. I don't have to do that if I make it cool. So to be able to do what I'm doing now is so far past what I. What I thought I would get to do. It's. It's the most amazing feeling, man.

[Shannon]

Wow.

[Matt Rife]

And I don't know. I don't know why it happened. I don't know how it happened. It. You know, the timing of it all happening around my grandpa was so interesting, and I prayed on it a lot, and it really felt like. It felt like yin and yang, right? Like the good with the bad. It almost felt like I had to lose something so important to me to gain something I could. I couldn't have it all, right? So you just kind of adapt to whatever God gives you and be grateful and, you know, see what he has in store next.

[Shannon]

If you could go back and do anything different, let's go back at, like, 2018.

[Matt Rife]

Okay.

[Shannon]

If you could do anything, you give yourself some advice. Would you do anything different? What advice would you give yourself that would be different?

[Matt Rife]

Probably would have dropped these dick pics a little bit earlier. Probably would have. Probably could have been not living paycheck to paycheck in 2018. Probably wouldn't have had the dude bringing the phone if I would have hopped on OnlyFans as an original content creator. But in comedy, there's not a lot I could have done differently. Because that was around the same time I started to think about putting stuff online. I didn't commit to it yet, but I took the necessary steps. I was touring a little bit. I was getting ready for Bring the Funny. I was really dedicated to developing my set in 2018. So there's not a lot differently I could have done. I did as much stand up as I Could. I worked on my set as much as I could. I tried to develop in audiences as much as I could. Yeah, I mean, I maybe just would have started on social media when people started to talk about TikTok.

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Matt Rife]

Before it blew up over Covid. Probably would have, but I was. It's just something that. It didn't interest me.

[Matt Rogers]

Just.

[Matt Rife]

It's just like having a podcast, right? Like, you gotta have passion for it. You got to can't half ass the work, man. This is a full time job, whether people realize it or not.

[Shannon]

It is.

[Matt Rife]

And at that time, I just didn't have. I didn't have the commitment for that. So maybe I would have changed.

[Shannon]

You still run your social media pages?

[Matt Rife]

I do, I do for a little bit longer. Not for too much longer, but I do for now. I just don't trust anybody. I still, I still edit all my own videos as well. I do all the, I do all the comedic cuts for it and everything like that. I have my. My videographer does the captioning and the angle switches.

[Shannon]

Right.

[Matt Rife]

But I mean, comedy is about timing, right? Like if you leave too much dead air in a space, the joke might land, might not land the same. So I just don't trust anybody else to do it right now.

[Shannon]

Right. Is there a joke that you won't tell? Is there anything that you won't say?

[Matt Rife]

No, man, there's nothing I wouldn't say. Are you crazy? Given the right context, given the right setup, it was, it's. Is there anything you feel like a comedian shouldn't say?

[Shannon]

I mean, I go back, Matt, to be honest, I go back and forth. For me, I look at it like this. If somebody tells me something is offensive and all I need is one person from that group to say, that bothers me. Okay, I'm cool.

[Matt Rife]

Interesting one person.

[Shannon]

I had a buddy of mine when I worked at cbs. He was on camera three. His name was Fred Shamika. I used to call him Ichiro. Ichiro in Japanese means first born.

[Matt Rife]

Okay.

[Shannon]

But he wasn't the first born. His sister was, because. Ichiro Suzuki, the baseball player, of course. So that's what I call him. He was Japanese, Ichiro. And he loved. He loved Ichiro.

[Matt Rife]

Yeah. Nah, that's racist. You can't just look around and call somebody the first ethnic name that you know.

[Shannon]

Nah. And so. But don't worry about it. He's like, you could be IDI Amin or you could be Johnny Mathis. So we went back and forth, but his sister, which was the oldest, was first born and she passed and he came to me and he said, shannon, I really appreciate it. My sister was first born. Is that. You're not calling me Ichiro anymore. I said, okay, bro. Fred, how you doing?

[Matt Rife]

Ah, that's tough.

[Shannon]

So if somebody in a group says that, that's offensive to me. I won't say it anymore. But I'm not a comedian either, though,

[Matt Rife]

so thank you for clarifying the context. Right. It's like it's having a job. You go tackle somebody. You go, what is a football player? Right? If I go tackle somebody, that's assault. It comes with the context of the job. Comedian is a clown. The only thing we're supposed to do up there is make you laugh, right? And if we can. If we can push a perspective like Chappelle is so good at doing, by all means, do that in a humorous way. But other than that, we don't mean anything we say. You know what I mean? If I were to call somebody Ichiro in the audience and he was like, actually, my sister passed away, I'd be like, thanks for bringing down.

[Shannon]

Down the move, man.

[Matt Rife]

You know what I mean? Like, you don't got to think it's the funniest thing, but don't. Don't ruin it for everybody else. I'm just messing with you. I'm not trying to. I'm not trying to make anything personal. I think it all comes back to context, man. People forget what a comedian is. I think they think I work at Costco and I'm just out here saying wild shit like, no, it's just. It's just the job. I'm just playing.

[Shannon]

You do have a large female audience. A woman's audience. I mean, I guess I'm not supposed to say female. Women's audience.

[Matt Rife]

You can't even say female.

[Shannon]

No, no, that's a. So let me. You have a large fan base.

[Matt Rife]

Web Universes. Yes.

[Shannon]

That are women. What's some of the wildest things. Do they do stuff like at a concert, like, if you were a singer, they be throwing stuff on the stage. You mentioned the guy that. Matt Rife is my hall pass. And the husband or boyfriend is sitting right there. Do you ever, like, I can't believe this is my life now?

[Matt Rife]

Oh, all the time. People will flash at a show from time to time. They'll throw like a brawl on stage. Yeah. A girl. Old people bring gifts all the time. A lady brought me a jar full of her hair. I don't know what part of her it came from. Just a jar of hair and a Photo album of her and her family. Absolutely insane. The first meet and greet I ever did. Lady bit my nipple. What? I give everybody a hug, obviously. And she was about nipple height. Latched right on. Drew blood. I had to, like, peel her off of me.

[Shannon]

What?

[Matt Rife]

Yeah. People, people.

[Shannon]

She had to be drunk, though, Matt.

[Matt Rife]

Probably. Probably. Probably. She's from Oregon, so it might not even have been a liquid, but people do weird stuff all the time. But again, I'll take the passion. I would rather have super highs and super lows than just kind of intermediate the entire.

[Shannon]

So basically, right now, you're the Drake of the comedic world.

[Matt Rife]

I don't know if that's a great comparison. All my fans are overage.

[Shannon]

There you go. C, man.

[Matt Rife]

That's not a dig, by the way. I was Team Drake over the beef.

[Shannon]

Just saying.

[Matt Rife]

I'm gonna go on record right now. I mean, Drake's a great comparison. Drake, if you're watching this, I play Toronto this year, if you want to come out.

[Shannon]

When are you in Atlanta? When are you in Vegas?

[Matt Rife]

Atlanta? Never.

[Bowen Yang]

Why?

[Shannon]

You don't come to Atlanta, man.

[Matt Rife]

This is gonna get me in even more trouble. But you're a real piece of work for doing this, by the way. It's 3pm Cheers.

[Shannon]

I thought we was gonna sip.

[Matt Rife]

I thought we were gonna shoot.

[Shannon]

No, you're not supposed. Matt, we're not supposed to. I mean, we're like. Hey, we're men. Look where we are. We got booked.

[Matt Rife]

We got booked. You know, Katt Williams read all these books. Unbelievable. I thought it was so little.

[Shannon]

No, I mean, we. This is a conversation. We're having a great conversation.

[Matt Rife]

I'm gone. This is.

[Shannon]

When I come to Rhode Island, I'm like, hey, man, how you doing? Oh, my God.

[Matt Rife]

We'll sip, I promise.

[Shannon]

I love what you've done with the place.

[Matt Rife]

Yeah, you got me in your study right now. All right, all right.

[Matt Rogers]

Oops.

[Matt Rife]

Well, you gonna have me Orlando Brown in here. Dude, this is about to be wild.

[Shannon]

Not more. No, this is a conversation piece.

[Matt Rife]

Okay.

[Shannon]

Conversation.

[Matt Rife]

Okay, okay. What was the question again? I'm so sorry.

[Shannon]

The women fans.

[Matt Rife]

Female fans. Yeah, we talked about it earlier. Just. It's the most passionate man. And also, it's not an easy fan base to get. Not a lot of comedians have a large female fan base, and I take a lot of pride in that. Like I said, I want my comedy to. To be for as many people as possible.

[Shannon]

If you're accepting, I'm for you, you're for it.

[Matt Rife]

Well, that's also. It's so frustrating. That's another thing I got that got misconstrued over my very first special. TMZ caught me outside of my hotel one time. And it was just a question I wasn't really expecting, but they were like, you know, what can people kind of expect audience wise from, from your next upcoming special? And I used the verbiage, this one's gonna be a lot more for the guy. And when the controversy over that stupid joke had come out, they thought that's what I meant. They thought me doing a joke that was implicative of domestic violence, which, by the way, every comedian has done. I'm not the first one being punished for it. For some reason, they thought that's what I meant. I was Talking about the 15 minutes of come in the Middle of the Special. There was like a 20 minute section in the middle of this special that was purely about, like, learning to jerk off as a kid. Kid that only guys were gonna be

[Shannon]

able to relate to.

[Matt Rife]

Yes, that's what I meant. But instead they took that as like, oh, this, this special was intended to like, eliminate his female audience. No, that's insane. If anything, it was just supposed to find something relatable to some guys that maybe some girls wouldn't get a certain portion of the special. Hopefully they did. Hopefully they found it entertaining. But the women are the ones that push the excitement of your content. Like, they share it the most, they're the most passionate, they're there for you. They genuinely care about you. Something happens to you, you're sick. Your guy fans don't give a f. No. The women are so motherly about it. I hope you get well soon. They're the best audience you could possibly ask for. I hate that so many of them felt that I was trying to turn my back on them.

[Shannon]

Is that the situation where you had the barstool and you said, I'm done with barstool because they had the interview where. And it kind of tried to pit you against the women, your fan base.

[Matt Rife]

Yeah, I felt like that was super unfair, granted. I mean, I probably could have answered the questions better, but I'm not media trained. I remember my publicist asking me when all this happened, like, do you want to go to, like, media training to learn how to answer questions? I was like, you mean be a robot? No, that's. That's so inhuman. I just didn't know. There's ways to answer questions that are a little more vague and are less often to be misconstrued. So I answer some of those questions. Maybe the way that I shouldn't have. But also, that's what barstool does. Like, they. They want to get you. They want to. They want to get clicks. But that felt like. That was super unfortunate. Cause I was really excited to meet them. Thought they were doing a good thing at the time. And I wish that had gone better.

[Shannon]

Right? Stay. We saw Chappelle at the Hollywood Bowl. Somebody ran up on stage.

[Matt Rife]

Were you at that show?

[Shannon]

I was not at that show.

[Matt Rife]

Okay.

[Shannon]

Were you there?

[Matt Rife]

No, unfortunately not.

[Shannon]

Have anybody ever tried to run up on stage on you?

[Matt Rife]

It happened in Chicago, actually.

[Shannon]

Damn.

[Matt Rife]

Yeah, I know.

[Shannon]

Why they gonna run up on stage on you?

[Matt Rife]

It was so weird. Like, of all, for the amount of people who don't like me, I expected it at some point in my life. This guy was so positive. It was just a Dr. Like, he just. He hopped up on stage real quick and was running towards me. And he came from where my videographer is usually set up, right? So I thought for some reason, sometimes my videographer has to hop on stage. It was at the Chicago theater. So sometimes he has to hop on stage and, like, sneak by the curtain, replace a battery or whatever. So I didn't think too much of it. I thought it was him getting up, and then I see him running towards me. And by the time I noticed it, he was, like, 2ft away. And he. There was nothing threatening about it. He was just, like. He was so happy. And so he was, like, trying to, like, get a hug, but I just kind of, like, got a stiff arm away from him. And my. My security, like, snatched him off pretty much immediately. I didn't really think anything, like, that was ever going to happen. But ever since that did, I'm, like, so ready to swing. Like, bro, it could be. It could be anybody.

[Shannon]

You do want to get one. You want to get one off, huh?

[Matt Rife]

It could be anybody at this point. And I'm swinging immediately.

[Shannon]

They were like, matt R. Fired on somebody, bro.

[Matt Rife]

I'm not. I'm not taking in fake facial expressions. I don't care about your tone. I'm swinging immediately because a lot of people were like, oh, he didn't even defend himself. First of all, the guy wasn't really a threat, right. Second, I never thought that would happen. Now that I know it's even maybe possible we have more security, right? I didn't roll up with any today because we're in Georgetown. I think I'm probably okay. But, yeah, now. Now I'm a lot more prepared for it. Sometimes I'll hear something Happen like we're in the round and I can hear something happen behind me. And every now and then, you'll see me just. Just like, grip my fist for a second.

[Shannon]

You just want to fire on somebody just one time.

[Matt Rife]

Just one time.

[Shannon]

Street cred gonna go way up.

[Matt Rife]

You think so?

[Shannon]

What?

[Matt Rife]

You think so? If you fire on somebody, I like my odds.

[Shannon]

Say you gonna get one up in the security, tackle him.

[Matt Rife]

Yeah, man, that's the best part about it. We gonna fight for four seconds before it gets broken up. I'm gonna get one in.

[Shannon]

I know you're close to Dave Chappelle. He said he's giving you great advice. He's seen some of your sets. He take notes, tells you things that you can improve on, things that you really great at. So, I mean, are you surprised that Dave Chappelle, who's at the apex, say, you know what? He thinks enough of Matt R. To give him advice to help him even go to a higher level.

[Matt Rife]

It's something that's. It's hard to fathom, man. Like, I would. I would consider him a genuine friend. And there's still that air of, like, every time I see him, I'm like, wow. Yeah, like, that's. That's the. That's the best to ever do what I want to do. But he's been so kind to my family and my friends. Every time he stays sees me and any of my crew, he knows all their names. He always says hello, asks how their families are doing. He. He's so invested in. In. In caring about other people. And it's. It's something I never would have expected, obviously, but the amount of shows we've gotten to do together, I mean, the first arena I ever did was I got a chance to open for him at Madison Square garden for his 50th birthday party. And I'd never performed in an arena at that point in my life, so he's given me so many opportunities. He gave me the opportunity to work out his. His brand new club, the Firehouse in Yellow Springs, and he hosts that show, and then I headline it, and then he came back on stage with me afterwards. We riffed for, like, half an hour.

[Shannon]

Wow.

[Matt Rife]

One of the coolest moments of my entire life. He's the only person that has the footage. I don't know if it'll ever see the light of day, but probably not one of the coolest moments of my entire life.

[Shannon]

You said he once saved you 750k. How did he do that?

[Matt Rife]

Oh, you saw that?

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Matt Rife]

Yeah, we were talking about the money I had made from from Live Nation for, for a guarantee for a first part of a tour. And it was more money.

[Shannon]

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[Shannon]

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[Matt Rife]

Nah, I'm just kidding.

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[Matt Rife]

even heard of in my entire life. And he was asking if I had a good team and a good lawyer and everything. And he was like, is your Lawyer, is he 5% or is he, is he hourly? And I was like, he's 5% like most lawyers. He was like, nah, I got a guy here who will do it hourly who does all my. For me. So in doing so saved me like close to a million dollars. Yeah. Which that's not my long term lawyer. Unfortunately, most lawyers won't work for that.

[Shannon]

Right?

[Matt Rife]

Like don't search out an hourly lawyer for everything that you, you do. Oftentimes you'll get what you pay for.

[Shannon]

Right?

[Matt Rife]

But if Dave Chappelle vouches for him, I'm gonna. It's a lot of weird indiscrepancies in the budgeting of your, of your team, right? It's like agents get 10%, your manager get 10%, your lawyer gets 5%, your business manager gets 5%. So when you hear somebody makes like a million dollars, you don't get a million dollars. You get maybe about 250, something like

[Shannon]

that by the time Uncle Sam get his 50. And then everybody.

[Matt Rife]

It's not what you think.

[Shannon]

No.

[Matt Rife]

Which breaks your heart, man. You see the check you get and you're like, what? And they go out of a million.

[Shannon]

That's all I got.

[Matt Rife]

But you try not to be ungrateful, right? You're like, listen, it's still, it's still

[Shannon]

more than, more than I ever imagined.

[Matt Rife]

It's more than I ever thought I'd make in my life that I'm making for a weekend. Right. But it is weird having to break it up into so many different pieces.

[Shannon]

You realize now as you've gotten to this level here, everything that you say, they dissect it. So if you say something about this comedian, man, you heard what Matt Rife said. If you say something about this person, you heard what Matt Rife said. Do you find yourself have to be overly cautious, overly guarded about things you say, knowing that everything that you say is going to be dissected?

[Matt Rife]

Oh, of course, man. You don't think my publicist was like, be careful on Shannon's podcast. Be careful what you say. Everything lives forever now. Yeah, people definitely. I feel like people definitely look to misconstrue what you say now, now. And obviously anything negative spreads better. Spreads faster than anything positive.

[Shannon]

Absolutely.

[Matt Rife]

But I mean, it helps that I don't. I don't have anything negative to say about anybody really. Maybe a couple people in my personal life, but it's like. But honestly, those people don't deserve the press that I would give them by talking about them. But as far as, like my peers and comedians and everything, I don't. I don't have anything negative to say about anybody. There's. There's 8 billion people in the world.

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Matt Rife]

If I have have a few million fans, and for some reason that. That pisses you off that I get to be successful and find my fan base. There's seven and a half billion other people you're about to make fan of for yourself. I wish the best for everybody, man. I don't have a single bad thing to say about literally anybody.

[Shannon]

But how did it make you. How did it make you feel? Because a lot of times, like I said, you, you. The level of success that you've enjoyed. There are a lot of older comedians that have been at this a lot longer than you have that haven't been able to enjoy that level of success.

[Matt Rogers]

You.

[Shannon]

And because. And for whatever reason, that's not your fault that they haven't enjoyed the level of success that you have. But when they say, like, bro, I mean, I'm a fan of yours, and had I been in this situation, I would never say anything negative about you.

[Matt Rife]

Yeah, it definitely happens, but I'm not in their shoes. You know what I mean? I don't know the decisions that they made. I don't know the decisions that they didn't make to get where they're at right now. But I know a lot of them refuse to adapt. Like, talk about social Media a lot. It's. That's what changed my life.

[Shannon]

You got to be able to do it now.

[Matt Rife]

I grew up starting stand up with those comedians.

[Shannon]

Right.

[Matt Rife]

The ones who are, they're living off of doing morning radio.

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Matt Rife]

In the city. They're performative that night. Right. Like, social media is not an important thing to that generation when I started out. So for me, it's. It's something for my generation.

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Matt Rife]

30 and under, social media is their whole life.

[Shannon]

It is.

[Matt Rife]

I should love it, I shouldn't embrace it. Just not really what I grew up on. It's not what I really respect. It's not what I have a passion for. But a lot of these comedians just won't adapt. They won't do the clips, they won't do the social media marketing. They won't, they won't brand themselves on social media and try to really grasp the fan base. So again, I don't know the decisions they made or didn't make to get where they're at, but I understand it. I mean, I've. I've been bitter, I've been jealous. I used to be a hater, for sure. That's why I understand it now. There used to be comics that would hate on for sure. And then when I got like, I'm better than him.

[Shannon]

I don't know how he. So.

[Matt Rife]

Oh, of course. It happens for everybody. It happens for literally everybody. If you say you've never been jealous of somebody, you're a liar. And that makes you very insecure for not admitting it. It happened. You can. Envy affects everybody at some point in their life.

[Shannon]

Right.

[Matt Rife]

But then when I got where I'm at now and started to see what comes with it, I had such an understanding. I went, wow, I know what it takes to get there. And I know what you deal with because you're in. The spot you're in now gave me such a respect for it. Now I. I wish the best for everybody.

[Shannon]

Right? But these comedy beefs. Did you, when you got into comedy, do you know anything about comedy beefs?

[Sean Duffy]

No.

[Matt Rife]

It's so weird. It's so high school. Why do you care? Oh, I'm funnier than so and so. Okay. Are they more. Are they more successful than you then? Statistically, I guess not.

[Shannon]

Right.

[Matt Rife]

Go prove it. Numbers are the only thing that matter, right? Unfortunately, statistically, it's the only thing you can say. Opinions are going to vary and it's not something you can prove. There's so many, so many funnier comedians in my personal opinion, than I AM that have significantly less followers, sell less tickets. There's so much more that goes into that. Yes. The beef aspect makes no sense. Why does it affect you? What is hating on this person gonna do for your career? If anything, you kind of look weak for trying to tear somebody down. You should be lifting each other. Go on tour together. If both of y' all are selling out clubs together and there's a weird beef there, how about y' all combine a fan base and now go do a bigger.

[Shannon]

You do 5,000. He does 5,000. So guess what? Now that's a 10,000.

[Matt Rife]

Now you can go do an arena. Arena together. Yeah, it. It makes no sense. Ego gets involved, insecurity gets involved. It's. It's very unfortunate. I. I haven't really had any. Thank God. There's. There's nobody. I have beef.

[Shannon]

I don't.

[Matt Rife]

Well, there's plenty of people that don't like me, but, I mean, it hasn't really affected me, and I. I haven't really been stuck in the middle of anything. Have you heard anything?

[Shannon]

No.

[Sean Duffy]

No.

[Shannon]

Even. Even my. My daughter. I told my daughter, my daughter the. On Friday, and she's like, what you doing? I said, well, I'm getting ready. I'm packing because I'm getting ready to go to. I'm going to. She's like, well, who you doing? I said, matt Rife. She's like, really? You know him, dad?

[Matt Rife]

How old is your daughter?

[Shannon]

She'll be 34. She's 33. For real? Yeah.

[Matt Rife]

What does she do?

[Shannon]

She's an HR at Northside Hospital.

[Matt Rife]

That sounds like stress. No, thank you. Tell her say hello.

[Shannon]

I sure will. I'm gonna send. I'm gonna FaceTime as soon as I get out of here. As a matter of fact, let's FaceTime her once we get done.

[Matt Rife]

Would love to.

[Shannon]

30 years of age. You've accomplished so much in your first 30 years. What can we expect from Matt Rife in the next 30?

[Matt Rife]

Oh, man, I don't know. I think about that every day. You know, like I said, I'd like to make the transition over to more acting. I love movies. I love watching movies. I love making the few that I've done. I've got one with Owen Wilson that's going to come out later this year, which was crazy. I mean, talk about one of the greatest of all time. He's an absolute legend. I hope to transition more that and maybe I'll end up doing less stand up as that time goes on. Or maybe I'll find. Maybe I'LL be able to find the balance. But I know I can't tour like I'm touring right now for the rest of my life. It's piece of advice Chappelle gave me was like, you got to live your life. Material comes from living your life. You got to go experience things. You can't just live on the road. We can talk about being on the road all the time. It's not related.

[Shannon]

Right.

[Matt Rife]

People don't know about the tour bus and the behind the scenes and all that. Some funny stories can happen, but you got to go out there and you got to live your life. Life. And I live on this beautiful place in Rhode island now. I want to. I want to explore the world with my friends, make memories and everything.

[Shannon]

So you ain't mentioned nothing about no wife, no kids? You ain't mentioned nothing that we've been talking for an hour, for 90 minutes. You ain't mentioned none of that.

[Matt Rife]

We'll see what happens.

[Shannon]

Somebody to share that with.

[Matt Rife]

No, man, I just want somebody I can go on live with. You know what I mean?

[Shannon]

There you go.

[Matt Rife]

Change the trajectory of my career, you know,

[Shannon]

I'm sure there's some people out there who let you go online with them, bro.

[Matt Rife]

You didn't know?

[Shannon]

I didn't know, man. I don't, bro. I still don't. They called me. I was wondering why everybody was calling me. I was just. I just kept decline, declined, decline. Jordan, my guy here is like, hey, hey, boss. You know? I said, know what? I said? How?

[Matt Rogers]

How?

[Shannon]

I said, did anybody see anything? They said, no, they couldn't see anything, but they could hear everything.

[Matt Rife]

I was like, yeah, man, I never growled until I saw you. And I was like. I was like, oh, this what I'm doing wrong. Got it. He said, all right, all right. Hey, I appreciate the pointers, but we'll see, we'll see. You know what I mean? Maybe. Maybe a wife and kids is in the picture. I hope it is. But it's also got to be timing, right?

[Matt Rogers]

Right?

[Shannon]

Yes.

[Matt Rife]

Right now. I live a very selfish lifestyle. It's like, I'm on tour. My work is my life.

[Shannon]

Is your wife married to that?

[Matt Rife]

Yeah, I'm married to work right now. And eventually, I really pray somebody, you know, can be a part of that. I can share all of this with them, but it's got to be the right time. I don't want to be a half ass boyfriend. I want to be a half ass husband. I want to be supportive.

[Shannon]

From when you started to. Now, is comedy harder then or is it harder now?

[Matt Rife]

I think comedy gets harder every year that goes by. I think social media doesn't make that easier. For sure, with meme culture and all that, like jokes. Jokes are all over social media all the time. I'll think of a joke one day and I'll see it as a meme the next day, and I go, well, thank God I didn't say that on stage.

[Shannon]

Wow.

[Matt Rife]

Or I could be doing one on stage and then somebody makes a meme of it. And I go, I've been doing that joke for a year now. I can't do this. People gonna think I stole it from the Internet. I think it gets. It gets harder and harder as time goes on. More and more comedy happens. People put out more specials. There's more people starting comedy. There's more perspectives being in the game. I do think this is. This is gonna get clipped out of context, but I think comedy was easier in the 70s, 80s, 90s, just because nothing had been done yet. Nothing but women. Be shopping was a crazy concept in the 80s and 90s. Right. Nothing had been talked about, all things.

[Shannon]

And nobody got canceled for selling a joke.

[Matt Rife]

Nobody got canceled at all. Which I think people are getting less and less scared.

[Shannon]

I do.

[Matt Rife]

Right.

[Shannon]

I do, too. I do, too.

[Matt Rife]

Unless. Unless it comes down to some kind of malicious intent, and you could tell this person really means the up thing. They're saying right now, you can't cancel a comedian. Our power lies entirely in the hands of our fans.

[Shannon]

Right.

[Matt Rife]

As long as people look at people who got canceled. Let's talk about Louis CK or Chris d', Elia, whoever it may be. They still sell out theaters, by the way. Yes. And they got canceled. They had shit taken from them professionally. Their fans still sell out tickets. So therefore, are they really canceled?

[Shannon]

No.

[Matt Rogers]

No.

[Matt Rife]

What does the word cancel even mean? You're in trouble in the eye of the public. What does that do?

[Shannon]

Right. You know what the tour girl say you are celebrity crush. She said she tried to get at you.

[Matt Rife]

Haley Welch. Yeah, I met her on.

[Shannon]

You met her?

[Matt Rife]

Well, yes, I did. I met her first on facet. Whitney Cummings FaceTimed her on her podcast. She was very sweet. I said I was a celebrity crush or something. And then I was performing in Nashville at Bridgestone arena, which was my first real size arena that I ever did in Nashville. I love Nashville. I think I'm back there in October.

[Shannon]

Yeah, Nashville. Nice.

[Matt Rife]

Yeah, I love Nashville. Thought about moving there.

[Shannon]

Yeah, I thought about moving there, too,

[Matt Rife]

but there's no land within the city. I Wanted some land?

[Shannon]

No, you got to be out, you got to go out.

[Matt Rife]

But if you live an hour outside of Nashville, you really live in Nashville or you in Memphis. Memphis, you know what I mean? Chattanooga.

[Shannon]

Yeah, for sure. For sure.

[Matt Rife]

So then I invited her to that show. She came out and I do these like, kind of like behind stage walkouts, like almost. I don't know if you've ever seen any Morgan Wallen shows where like the camera kind of follows them on the jumbotron, right from backstage out to the stage. We do a similar thing, right? And for this one, I rode a horse in on at the very beginning of it. And then I got off the horse and I walked over the camera pan over to her and she like hawked to it into my spitting my hands. And then I walked up to the beach.

[Shannon]

You. While you. Wow. You wild for that one, man.

[Matt Rife]

She was. She was so down for it. She was very nice. She. And then she got in trouble for that. That crypto.

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Matt Rife]

That poor girl. Yeah, I know people got mad at her, but I'm like. And I mean as respectfully as possible. You really think she had anything to do with that? You think she knows anything about crypto? You think she was like, I can't wait to people over.

[Shannon]

No.

[Matt Rife]

Somebody came to her and was like, I have an idea how you can make a bunch of money quick. They up. And then she got in trouble. It's the problem with immediate fame, man.

[Shannon]

Man, you know what, bro? Thanks for coming on Club Shack. Shay, is there anything that you want to promote?

[Matt Rife]

Just come out and see the show this year, man. I think you'll really enjoy yourself. It's very different. It's untraditional, and I think you'll really enjoy it. And if you don't get to check out the show, watch a special, watch. Watch a TV show or a movie coming out later this year. And thanks for the support. I appreciate it.

[Shannon]

How close are you to Vegas?

[Matt Rife]

Vegas? Oh, fuck. What? A five hour, five hour flight? Something like that?

[Shannon]

No, I'm saying how close are you coming to Vegas to do a show?

[Matt Rife]

I got Loft Laughlin in May, which is what, an hour outside? Something like that.

[Shannon]

Nevada?

[Matt Rife]

Yeah, some. Some place.

[Shannon]

How you go to Laughlin and not Las Vegas? Okay. Yeah, makes sense to me.

[Matt Rife]

Yeah. Well, we did Vegas last year. We did. We did the MGM Arena, I believe it was. So we gotta take a little bit of a break. I mean, you can't exhaust it, but I love Vegas, man.

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Matt Rife]

You live in Vegas.

[Shannon]

I do.

[Matt Rife]

What?

[Shannon]

Yeah, I've thought about, I thought about it was Vegas, Nashville, Houston, Dallas Austin, Houston.

[Matt Rife]

White people's Atlanta.

[Shannon]

No, Houston. Houston is the devil's playground.

[Matt Rife]

Houston's ratchet.

[Shannon]

Yeah, bro.

[Matt Rife]

I. I mean Vegas is scary. Do you gamble?

[Shannon]

I don't.

[Matt Rife]

Not at all.

[Shannon]

Not at all.

[Matt Rife]

Really? Not on sports or nothing?

[Shannon]

Not on anything interesting.

[Matt Rife]

Feel like you have to say I'm going to ask you again off camera.

[Shannon]

No, I don't G. No. Hell no.

[Matt Rife]

I don't know how you do. I can't go to Vegas and not lose my whole check. It's so frustrating.

[Shannon]

So check this out. He has tour dates coming to US and Europe. He has a film with Owen Wilson rolling loud dropping in September and limited series with Netflix with Julia Gardner called the Altruist coming out later this year. Ladies and gentlemen, Matt R. Thank you, bro. Appreciate it.

[Matt Rife]

Appreciate you.

[Shannon]

Man, oh man, this was awesome. Thank you to the Lennox Bar for hosting Club Shay and letting us record in their incredible space. We truly appreciate the hospitality and and support. If you're ever in the Washington D.C. area, do yourself a favor and stop by Lennox Bar. Great vibes, great drinks and an even better atmosphere. Make sure you follow Lennox DC Bar on Instagram.

[Matt Rife]

All my life been grinding all my life Sacrifice, hustle, paid the price, wanna slice, got to roll a dice that's why all my life I've been grinding all my life, all my life Grinding all my life Sacrifice, hustle, paid the price, want a slice, got to roll a dice that's why all my life I've been grinding all my life.

[Sean Duffy]

I'm U.S. transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

[Matt Rife]

We all get distracted when we drive,

[Sean Duffy]

whether it's from our phones or kids in the backseat bickering.

[Matt Rife]

But how we have handle these distractions can be a matter of life or death. Before you get on the road for your next road trip, please put your phones on silent and take a mental

[Sean Duffy]

note to focus on driving. Paid for by nhtsa.

[Matt Rife]

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