From a small town near Columbus in Ohio, Rife started performing at the age of 15 then moved to Los Angeles two years later, where he began his career in Hollywood.
In addition to stand-up, he made his television debut on MTV’s Wild ‘n Out, then went on to host the reboot of Total Request Live and appeared on The Challenge. Other credits include Fresh Off The Boat, NBC’s comedy competition show Bring The Funny and Netflix’s That ‘90s Show.
A few months ago, Rife was, as Gen-Z would say, “cancelled” for a controversial joke he made about domestic violence. His argument was that people need to laugh to heal through the things that make them uncomfortable.
He’s not the only one who has made inappropriate jokes.
But as a comedian who has benefitted from social media, Rife also has to face the modern-day backlash.
Despite being ‘ProbleMattic’ as his live show’s title jokes, Rife had a full house in Dublin on Tuesday, where he brought quick-witted and vulnerable comedy to the stage while debuting Eminem-like bleached blonde hair.
In 2019, Rife brought his tour to Dublin but ended up cancelling it because only one ticket was sold. But this week, he had 8,000 people in his Irish crowd.
He had the audience in the palm of his hands almost instantly when he started talking about his struggles to sleep at night. Many people related, as he spoke about how melatonin and meditation didn’t work, but listening to the BBC as white noise sent him straight to sleep. He talked about his experience in the UK and said: “England’s f**king weird.” Simple, but it had the crowd hooked.
If the crowd doesn’t laugh at his jokes, he’s fond of laughing at them himself – and his laughter is contagious
Irish crowds also love it when somebody rips into the Irish. Rife discussed his previous visits to Dublin, where he noticed we have “knives and not guns.” He made reference to his visit to Dicey’s Garden and “stab city,” Limerick.
He spoke about our gardaí and said they were losers for not having guns, our housing crisis, and at one stage took a crack at speaking Irish when he was encouraged to say he had “gorm liathroidí,” but he was never told what it meant.
Rife also expressed his vulnerability during the show, where he discussed his mental health, and his mother. He spoke of how he wanted to make it big to buy her a house, proving he does have a heart.
All in all, Rife is a naturally quick, funny guy. He has proved himself capable of big stages internationally and if the crowd doesn’t laugh at his jokes, he’s fond of laughing at them himself – and his laughter is contagious.
Rife took the bad things in life like the housing crisis, crime and many other world issues, and made a joke about them, proving if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry. But that sometimes laughter is the best medicine.
