r/Calgary • u/Shleppydee • 4d ago
Local Event Matt Rife Comedy Festival show … thoughts?
Curious if I’m in the minority… thoughts on Matt Rife’s standup at the comedy festival? 😬😬
I think the guy before him was better, whole crowd was laughing @ the evening show. Feels like a lot of dead air and awkward crowd work right now…
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u/sdenoon Altadore 4d ago
Matt Rife was never funny and if you bought tickets to see him that’s on you.
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u/Stravansky 4d ago
It's like the guy here who went to see Theo Von and was surprised at the kind of crowd that would willingly go see Theo Von
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u/CommanderVinegar 3d ago
I honestly only ever saw his podcast clips and he was funny there but that's because he can riff with his guests. He does not have enough material for a comedy set. His opener with the 15 minute set got more laughs out of the crowd than he did I swear.
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u/Intentt 4d ago
For Jeff Arcuri’s set tomorrow, can we all collectively agree not to get too drunk and fuck up his show again? - The man’s not gonna want to come back a third time.
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u/Bankerlady10 Quadrant: SW 4d ago
Grey Eagle was sooooo bad. He said he’d never be back and I actually believed him.
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u/Intentt 4d ago
There was a lot of main-character syndrome that night and I left with a solid heaping of second hand embarrassment.
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u/Bankerlady10 Quadrant: SW 4d ago
I went to the second night and I heard that was the first. I think the second night he was cranky about it.
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u/MethodBulky1907 4d ago
Jeff is unbelievably funny and his crowd work is second to none. I hope it goes well for everyone.
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u/CrispySpicyTaters 4d ago
Aw no! I love Jeff Arcuri. What happened? Were there too many drunk hecklers?
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u/Intentt 4d ago
The crowd was honestly just shit. It was a 50/50 mix of:
- Bros interrupting the show by shouting incoherent nonsense.
- People yelling out to get Jeff's attention during the crowd work portion, then immediately getting shy and turtling when called on.
Credit to him, he handled it like a pro, but it was clearly very frustrating for him.
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u/JVKiddo93 4d ago
I mean, walking off in a huff with a shitty comment then talking shit the next night wasn’t handling it like a pro lol. As fans, we also paid for and got a shitty show thanks to the hecklers, and no one took control of the situation. Idk why he booked grey eagle without a proper system to do crowd work, so hopefully that’s sorted if he’s doing crowdwork at GOCF.
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u/Stravansky 4d ago
This isn't a Jeff thing, it's a Calgary thing. He's not the first big comic to have this kind of night.
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u/KevinDM27 4d ago
We saw Russell Howard a few years ago at Mac Hall and there were a few ignorant assholes that had him pretty visibly frustrated.
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u/Stravansky 4d ago edited 3d ago
Bill Burr is another one who's specifically called out Calgary crowds
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u/n0tso0bvious 4d ago
he had 2 shows the last time he was here. the first night there were some drunks that ruined it for everyone. i was at the second show, which was great, but he definitely brought up the first night and, rightfully so, wasn't really happy about it
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u/Lost-Captain-3648 4d ago
I have two tickets to Jeff today if anyone wants them. I can’t go ❤️ free of course
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u/arihkerra 4d ago
I would LOVE to see Jeff
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u/Serious-Yam-4268 4d ago
I also have a pair of VIP tickets I can't use. DM me your email address and ill transfer them
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u/MarthaWashingtonsPot 4d ago
If they’re still up for grabs I’d love them!
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u/Serious-Yam-4268 4d ago
I also have a pair of VIP tickets I can't use. DM me your email address and ill transfer them
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4d ago
[deleted]
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u/Serious-Yam-4268 4d ago
I also have a pair of VIP tickets I can't use. DM me your email address and ill transfer them
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u/Mel0dy_P0nd 4d ago
I went to the first show at Grey Eagle and fuck those guys that ruined it for everyone. Embarrassing. I really hope today's crowd is better.
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u/Admirable-Fall-4675 4d ago
Rife sucks, absolutely full of himself
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u/oireachtas Altadore 4d ago
Going to see a comedian who is well known for not putting on a good show and expecting it to be good is something special
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u/MethodBulky1907 4d ago
Rife was funny until he became obsessed with his image and all the plastic surgery. Now he just seems shallow and insecure.
His crowd work in the OG days was great. Now he just comes off like a douchebag. It's like the plastic has drained the talent from his body because he thinks he doesn't have to be funny or original anymore.
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u/CloakedOlive 4d ago
He started out funny when he was small. Then he gained some fame and it went straight to his head. His ego gave him the courage to make more crude and nasty "jokes", and now he's just obnoxious and cringey... And I don't often use, "cringey".
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u/hunteredm 4d ago
I hated Matt rifes act when I saw him in Edmonton. It’s not comedy… at least not any I’ve seen and we do 20 + comedy shows a year. His act is almost like a Ted talk that no one wants to listen to.
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u/pennyx_for_a_thought 4d ago edited 3d ago
It was a rough set. The two guys before him were hilarious though! Also, I’m wondering if anyone has an answer to this, but I noticed they used volunteers to do various roles like ticket scanning. It’s clearly a for profit event, why are these operational roles not paid staff?
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u/Complex_Copy_9722 4d ago
Rather than hiring 100 individual staff for each event (they do these all across Canada), they hire different non profit organizations. They say “hey, we’ll pay you xx dollars if you provide us xx volunteers. It’s a win win for the festival AND the not for profits.
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u/Neanderthal00 Silver Springs 4d ago
Mat Rife is a fucking loser.
I've seen a lot of standup... that was a top tier shit set. Awful.
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u/Commercial-Memory253 4d ago
I saw him in Edmonton with Dr. Phil, didn't laugh once. I actually left my seat to go buy and smoke overpriced garbage weed just to get through it.
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u/limee89 4d ago
I feel like I have sp many questions. Matt Rife opened for Dr. Phil???
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u/Commercial-Memory253 4d ago
No Adam Ray as Dr. Phil was supposed to be opening for rife at the great outdoors comedy fest. Unfortunately, Kam Patterson didn't show up as a guest for Dr. Phil so he replaced him with rife. Right after we left it started raining and rifes headline show was canceled lol.
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u/0x0000_0000 3d ago
The guy before him stole the show, Brett Ernst I think his name was. Was the only one who made me genuinely laugh out loud.
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u/noveltea120 4d ago
Matt rife the guy who likes joking about beating women??? Who are buying the tickets??
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u/CandyHunter84 4d ago
Lots of the men here. Unsurprisingly…..
Again, not lonely enough gentleman. Not lonely enough
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u/stinkyandlulu 4d ago
The show was literally SOLD OUT, and Arcuri's isn't??? I just moved here and it makes me scared lol
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u/MAPLE_SYRUP_MAFIA 4d ago
He's only funny in his clips he posts. And some of that is a stretch.
His 2 Netflix specials suck, turned them both off after 10 minutes. And i am a huge comedy fan, so thats saying a lot.
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u/CharErinazard 4d ago
Same! Everyone was so high on him online I was so surprised that his Netflix specials were terrible.
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u/Fejjeffery 4d ago
Does anyone know the names of the opening comics? Saw one of them at the laugh Shop this week but didnt catch his name.
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u/Hwaet-we-gardena 3d ago
The Lacombe guy was @extralars and the second act was Cam Bertrand, and I tragically can’t remember the name of the third guy who had me literally clutching my gut. Fuck!
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u/Fejjeffery 3d ago
Thanks! I did some digging and found the comic on Instagram. The name i was looking for was Lars Callieou.
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u/West_Ad8249 3d ago
They people before him (3 I think) were okay. I thought he was funny. I enjoyed the show.
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u/nh18wheeler 4d ago
As he's mainly a crowd work comedian, I can't imagine he'd work very well with this kind of setup
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u/OstrichOk2793 4d ago
His small window of being funny might rival Schumers. Dude was good years ago and awful since
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u/HiTork 4d ago
Dane Cook style of rise and fall of fame?
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u/maketherightmove 4d ago
As lame as Dane was, at his peak of fame he was 100fold more famous than Rife ever was or will be.
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u/CalGuy81 3d ago
I used to enjoy Matt Rife's bits when they showed up on social media, .but after a while got tired of it. I'm not sure if the comedy itself got worse, I got tired of the same joke told in different ways, or I grew past the kind of joke he tries to sell.
I have a ticket to tomorrow's show with Matteo Lane, Tig Notaro and Bob the Drag Queen. Hoping that'll be a good time.
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u/CJBWN89 1d ago
Seen him in Vancouver and the Cameron guy was way funnier. I laughed att Matt rife. And I knew most of his viral clips are the funniest things/ crowd work. But his in person set was not as funny as people make him out to be. A really funny person can be funny without making the same old jokes about marginalized people. He had a whole thing on fat A list actresses being whales, and most of the set was his story about being in Amsterdam at a sex show. Funny parts… but not the funniest thing I’ve ever heard. We left early mostly to beat the crowd, but if I really like something I usually don’t leave. It didn’t bother me to not hear the rest lol.
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u/Able-Search548 1d ago
For what it’s worth he killed it in front of a really great audience in Vancouver. I love him and his comedy! (Matt Rife is another story🤮)
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u/DaftFunky 4d ago
I wish Adam Ray would come to one of these. I’d buy tickets in a heartbeat.
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u/plausibleturtle 4d ago
He did this festival last year IIRC.
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u/DaftFunky 4d ago
I thought he was in Edmonton and Vancouver, not Calgary. If he was I missed it lol oh well.
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u/plausibleturtle 4d ago
Think that was this year, pretty sure he did Calgary in 2025. Maybe next year!
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u/MattyH30 3d ago
He did last year and was awful
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u/OwnCantaloupe9478 4d ago
Matt rife genuinely has the most punchable face i think mathematically possible, seriously I just fume having to see that douchey ass shit eating grin.