Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade - Matt Rife

Episode Date: August 28, 2024

Questionable journalism, crowd work, and blowing up on TikTok with Matt Rife. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn mo...re about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Baseball is finally back! Get in on Major League action and swing for the fences with BetMGM, the king of sportsbooks. Log in or sign up to play along as BetMGM brings the real-time action. Embrace a season's worth of swings with BetMGM, your one-stop shop for all things baseball. gambling problem call connects Ontario at 1-866-531-2600 bet MGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario Who's Beetlejuice? Don't ever say that name. Beetlejuice. I'm serious if you say that name three times really bad stuff is gonna happen. I'm not Beetlejuice.
Starting point is 00:00:38 Beetlejuice. You're the juice. The juice is loose. On September 6th. the wait is over. Thank you all for coming to this very special occasion. I felt a little tingle. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice September 6th. So we got Matt Reif today and Matt Reif is obviously up and coming, been up and coming for years though.
Starting point is 00:01:06 He's done it longer than people think. Yes, 10 years in the business and then exploded in the last two years via TikTok to doing his own specials. And now on Netflix, he has a new special called Lucid, where he does just crowd work. If you don't know what that means, he's just improvising with people in the audience for the entire special. And they've never had one like that on Netflix. So that's his latest gig.
Starting point is 00:01:34 It's tricky. He had one before that that did well on Netflix. He's had a YouTube special that sort of got around, and he's been out there hitting the road and hitting the clubs for a long time from Ohio. Very good looking. We all understand what it's like to be good looking and talk about that. We related to him heavily. He's a very personable, sweet, humble guy. He's sort of a little bit in the shock and awe of the success he's had in the last two years. And he's got a huge following and, um... He's, uh, he's really fun to talk to. He's got an interesting story about how he started
Starting point is 00:02:11 and his grandfather and all kinds of things. It was a very fun podcast. Yeah, he's a good dude and, uh, we had a lot of laughs. Anytime we have comedians on, it's really fun to just get inside baseball and just go, just talk about everything top to bottom, what it's like, and, uh, that was really fun to just get inside baseball and just go just talk about everything top to bottom, what it's like, and that was really fun with him. Cool dude.
Starting point is 00:02:29 Yeah. All right, here he is, Matt Reif. I think you'll enjoy it. I think you'll enjoy it. Oh, someone's blow dryer broke today. I love the wallpaper. Not mine. What is that?
Starting point is 00:02:43 Santa, grandma's special. this is a headboard. Oh, a headboard. So you're in bed. Oh, yeah. I'm not going to put on pants for this. Come on. Fucking Rorschach test. I've never worn undisclosed location.
Starting point is 00:03:02 Spades in L.A. Behind Mel's Dining. I like you. Uh oh. Look how Matt and I will relate. I like you. Have a farm. I'm at the farm. How did you know I have a farm? It's called research. Look into it.
Starting point is 00:03:18 Oh my god. Yeah. That got leaked where I live now. That's fun. I wouldn't give an address. I don't even give a state, but Oh yeah. I give the address cause some people don't have four, four, five, three, seven, five. Go, you go down the dirt road a piece. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:03:35 There's four mailboxes. Only three of them are operative. One has a blue flag. Stop there and make a U-turn. Anyway. We got our own crowd work special. Look at us go. Thanks for coming on.
Starting point is 00:03:49 I'm in danger. Matt, not at all. Thanks for coming on. We always danger Will Robinson. 60s old reference lost on younger people. Anyway, you're a phenomenon. It's pretty interesting reading. I read the New Yorker piece. I don't know if that.
Starting point is 00:04:09 Oh boy. But it was pretty comprehensive, but not too detailed, but it kind of told me your story pretty succinctly. You know, it did. It did OK. It didn't. It was my favorite article ever written, but it was nice.
Starting point is 00:04:27 Here's the deal. Here's what you do when you're Adam Sandler before he was Adam Sandler. Because what happens, you'd be interviewed by somebody, and you go, well, that didn't sound like me. And it's the cut and paste and added and edited. Like, well, I never said that. And now it sounds like I'm saying that. So that's just that.
Starting point is 00:04:46 So Sandler very early on, before he was Adam Sandler, he'd only do one's way to record it. And then they take what you say and put it in there. And even if they edit that, it is at least what you said word for word. So that's your next interview. I'm just learning it's interesting how people can interpret the interview that they had with you. Like how they perceived how you were saying something.
Starting point is 00:05:12 You're like, oh, I actually didn't mean it like that. But it's always better on video. I think Adam went totally off of print interviews. Yes, that was it. Because even I think they were going to put him on the cover of Rolling Stone. He goes, I don't want to do the interview. Because it's another interview where the writer sometimes benefits by going,
Starting point is 00:05:32 I'm gonna make a name for myself by spinning at him whatever way I want. And then it just turns into, well, I don't want you to go win some Pulitzer. So I'm gonna fucking just skip that part. So if we'd done this two months ago, you would not have that New York article. Yeah, thank you. But I wish I could say I've never heard of such a thing. An article you read, that's
Starting point is 00:05:57 not me. And I didn't say it like that or that. Yeah. Well, if it sounds negative, I mean, the truth is you worked hard, you've got big specials out and you sell the places out. I mean, I don't know how they can spin stuff, but that's the real story. Oh, thanks man. As long as that's what you got from it, I'm happy with it. Well, when all the dust settles, that's what's going on. We had it with someone, who'd we talked to the other day?
Starting point is 00:06:19 I can't keep track, but you know, people love to stir the pot. It was Bowen Yang. They just took one little quote and then they blew it up all over the web. By the time it got to the 10th place, it's showing up. It's completely distorted. So anyway, it happens. Oh yeah. So I didn't even, I don't even pay attention to those kinds of parts of the article.
Starting point is 00:06:39 I just skim over them. I don't even, they don't even take them seriously. It's funny how they can hang on one sentence. There was, I think, I think it was TMZ popped up on me in New York. One time they were asking, like, how do you describe your, it was for my first specials, a little over, almost a year ago, they were like, uh, how would you describe it? I was like, Oh, I think this one's like a little bit more for guys. And they were like,
Starting point is 00:07:01 Matt, right. Basically says, fuck women. This one, I hate women. What did he mean by that? I were like, Matt, right. Basically says, fuck women. This is what he mean by that. I was like, I mean, there's like 20 minutes about come like that's all I meant by it. But people get one. So I think I learned early on the TMZ as Chris Rock would say, they're not your friend. I mean, they're friendly, but their job is to get you to say something that gets picked up, and I didn't even figure that out for a while. They don't want to say, how are you?
Starting point is 00:07:30 They want to dig in and get a question that no matter how you answer, they got an answer. And it's, and if you, if you stiff them and you don't say anything, then they hate your guts and then now it's another problem. So play it, you sort of play along just to stay on their good side, but it is, it's a dangerous situation. And you are in the position. You're a shiny new object. Like you're, I've been in this business for so long. You know, you are.
Starting point is 00:07:58 Dana's beat up around the edges. You are, Brent. I'm so cynical. I can't even. But I think it's an IQ test for the audience. So people will read things could be true. Probably not. You know, you have to have it. It's not cynical. It's just like the way the world works, but you're a shiny new object came out of nowhere. I mean, according to the article, you're pretty much thinking of maybe stepping outside this career two years ago, basically in 2022. Is that accurate? Yeah, absolutely.
Starting point is 00:08:28 I had been doing standup for about 11 years and I'd been in LA for nine of them at that point. And, you know, auditions would go well, but it always came down to, oh, he's just not right for this project. And standup was just kind of stagnant. Like I couldn't get on TV and I wasn't getting a lot of spots
Starting point is 00:08:46 around town that I felt, but like I could actually grow and you know, for. Making money. I was having to like, I'd have to go on the road and do one nighters and just feature for people for like a month straight to save up for like two months worth of bills. So I wasn't getting to spend the appropriate amount of time in LA and the time I was spending there wasn't really to spend the appropriate amount of time in LA and the time I was spending there Wasn't really moving forward at all. So I was like, you know what? I'm
Starting point is 00:09:15 26 or 25 I was young enough that I can pick a new career I want to balls like well Austin's kind of booming a little bit right now. Let me like, let me just leave LA I'll give it one year in Austin where I can get a lot more stage time at least. And if I don't feel like my stand-up career is progressing, I'll just, I'll go do something else. Cause I mean, the depression fucking adds up, man, where you start to feel like delusional. Like am I chasing a dream? It's like so unattainable. Like is this not for me when I can, you know, I can go do something that at least feels more stable, I suppose. Wow. Truck driving. Yeah. You know, you know, it does feel like at least feels more stable, I suppose. Wow. Truck driving. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:09:46 You know, it does feel like at least a nine to five, you get a paycheck. Like, you know, I don't think people realize that as good as the lap factory improv and Comedy Store are, which they're fucking great and invaluable to be able to get on, it's not a big windfall. So I think when I started, it was 28 bucks a set. And then now it's, I don't know, it's 50, 75, but it's not like you're getting $3,000. I thought when you went on Johnny Carson or like Jimmy Fallon, when I was a kid watching it,
Starting point is 00:10:14 I go, in my head, I guessed you get $10,000 just for, to do a standup, to do six minutes. So I go, those guys are raking it in. And then someone told me once it's $450. I was like, for that? But that's even Ellen to this day, my last Ellen I did was probably 700 bucks, but that's just to get on to grow yourself.
Starting point is 00:10:37 But it helps their show, but you're giving your best shit and then you're, you know, it's low money. But say what you ever want to say, but I just, I want to, I just so fascinated by your grandfather taking you to a comic club when you're 15, but we can move on and get back to that. But I've never heard that before. That's a movie or something. I mean,
Starting point is 00:10:58 Oh, I mean, it basically was like he was bad Santa mixed with dirty grandpa. Like that was him as a person. He fucking, I mean, he's the reason I know who both of you are, actually, like I grew up watching your guys's movies like crazy. So he, he called that guy. He was great. You can take him up and thank him yourself. Is what are you doing this afternoon? So you're like a freshman in high school or something and your grandfather says, do you want to go to a comedy club kid?
Starting point is 00:11:30 I mean, is it just that casual? And you're like, or were you already kind of funny and watching a lot of comedy? Did he see something in you? I kind of spearheaded it. I would spend every weekend with him and we would watch comedy movies. Like that was the thing. He'd pick me up on a Friday after school and he'd have like six new DVDs that he picked up on the way home.
Starting point is 00:11:51 How fun, yeah. And then we would watch those. And then from that, this is when like Comedy Central Presents was like really starting to boom, like the half hours. So I would watch that pretty much every weeknight. The combination of the two just really made me fall in love with comedy.
Starting point is 00:12:07 And then I found out what like an actual like standup comedian was. And then I got wind of what an open mic was. And apparently that was like the beginning for every comedian. That's where you go to try out standup and the Columbus funny bone. I was living with my grandpa at the time and it was in the 20. He was a cook. He would, he would take me to this, uh, open mic. I emailed, uh, you know, Dave Stroop.
Starting point is 00:12:39 I don't, is that the Columbus funny bone? He, he owns like all of the funny. I never got any funny bones. Are you serious? Yeah. They didn't want me. That's when you send your tape in and then they, the, the denuncios, there was some people that own different clubs and they go, nah, no on the funny bones. I was like, Oh my God, that's like 12 fucking weeks of work. You have to send in a tape. Yeah. You have sending a half inch VC or whatever VCH. And then they look at it and then they never get back to you. That's the system. No fucking
Starting point is 00:13:13 way. Yeah. So email, I was sitting in my grandpa's truck while he was laying tile and I emailed the club. I was like, Hey, I'm 15. I know you have to be 21 enough to go in the club. Like if I had a Gap room with me, like could, could I still come? He had no reason to say yes. Like any club owner would make total sense for them. Like I'm not going to risk my liquor license for a kid to like try a hobby. But he said yes. So my grandpa would take me and he would pay, he would buy five tickets because it was like a five ticket bringer show was how you would get stage time there and every week he would do that. Oh, to go on.
Starting point is 00:13:48 I thought just to watch. Oh, to go. No, no, no, no, no. Yeah. He was still have to, uh, buy the five so I could perform. Yeah. That makes sense. Bringer show that, but that guy was cool to do that.
Starting point is 00:13:58 Is that, is your grandfather still with us? No, he just, no, no. Yeah. He died about two years ago. He died like the exact moment. All of this happened for me. So just died. No, no. Yeah. He died about two years ago. He died like the exact moment all of this happened for me. Oh, fuck. Oh, wow.
Starting point is 00:14:10 I'm good with the bad. I know. I know. You know, it's funny. You can't get, uh, that part's not funny, but it's, you can't get super cocky because you shouldn't be because the same with all of us. It's such a grind and so shitty and you feel so down so much that when it goes good, where it's, I guess, supposed to, that's the goal that you just can't
Starting point is 00:14:32 erase all the bads, you just go, fuck. Every day is lucky where you go, it could go back to that. I'm more used to that in a weird way. When it was shitty. Yeah. Yeah. I I've been, I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing, but I've been so busy since then that I was kind of happy that I was too busy to really be sad, but through therapy, I'm learning that I
Starting point is 00:14:54 haven't really quite had like the time to grieve, I suppose. But, you know, maybe I'm supposed to be this busy to keep me distracted. Well, I would just say without knowing him, but from my point of view and where I'm sitting on the life train, he must have had a blast. Well, you guys probably went to school together. So take a guess. We probably did.
Starting point is 00:15:18 You don't need to know. Look me up. Yeah, Matt, we'll email you later. We'll tell you. I'm north of 60, south of 70, but I'm wherever I am. Yeah. But look how, look how good I look. I mean, it's incredible, right?
Starting point is 00:15:30 You look great. It doesn't make sense for how old I am, but my point is without, we could tear up on a podcast, we'd go wherever we want, but, um, he must've got such a kick out of it. He's got this grandson is 15. Obviously you're an affable, agreeable, cool person. And, and he must've just got such a kick out of it. He's got this grandson is 15. Obviously you're an affable, agreeable, cool person. And he must've just got such a kick out of that. I just want to ask you one question because we talk about your very, very, very first set. Did you, I'm guessing you kind
Starting point is 00:15:55 of did, you outperformed, did better or did you bomb? Because usually people say their first sets maybe goes well and then you bomb for years after the first one. It wasn't years after the first set went really well. I forgot my set like three minutes into it. And I like literally froze for like 10 seconds and some of the audiences are you got it? Like they were very supportive. And then I got back on track.
Starting point is 00:16:20 I said something about them yelling that out. Uh, and it ended up going really well. My second set, I was so confident. I did, I did a bit that was basically my version of, uh, Dane cooks. Uh, I did my best bit where it's like, just you crying profusely and I like, I got, I was on the floor like kicking and screaming. Like this was like the big act out of this bit. Cause my confidence was so high from the first show.
Starting point is 00:16:48 And the bit was over and I had to pick myself up off the ground to absolute silence. And to this day, I cannot commit to a big physical bit. So fucking terrifying. It was so humiliating. Dust yourself off. I'd say like second and third time I ate shit. It's so fucking terrifying. It was so humiliating. Dust yourself off. I'd say like second and third time I ate shit. Uh, and then I got back into like having fun, but nobody ever told me about building a set either.
Starting point is 00:17:14 So I would go every single week for like five months and just do like a new five minutes, which I didn't know was like not what you're supposed to do. Oh, I thought you're doing the same five, which also you should be adding onto. But that first one is like cocaine where if it goes good, you're just trying to chase that first one and go, holy shit. Because I thought it's interesting the guy let you in because when you're like a regular person, it's a little quicker than the NFL. Like you said, I wish I watch football every day.
Starting point is 00:17:43 I wish I could play. It's almost like they go, we don't, we have tryouts with the pros on some nights and you're like, really? So you can actually get in. But open mic nights are very interesting that you just wait in line and you can get in and then you're literally on a stage in a professional comedy club, good or bad, doing three minutes. And three minutes sounds like nothing. It's long if you're new and you don't have anything. You know, that instant confidence boost you get from an outfit that makes you feel good. This is true. That's what you get with Stitch Fix. Like when I nail it every month or two, I get one thing right. I go ta-da. But you could have that more often with Stitch Fix. You get a stylist who understands your
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Starting point is 00:20:19 started today at StitchFix.com slash fly. Stitchfix.com slash fly. Where did you start? You know, I did it in Arizona and, uh, I, my first night, someone threw, threw a book at me. I was 18 and they threw a, uh, I don't, this sounds so dumb or fake, but I was doing my jokes about mustard and whatever. I had some pretty sweet about mustard and whatever. I had some pretty sweet subjects. Your mustard chunk.
Starting point is 00:20:48 I remember that one. Mustard is watery when you first squirt it out. I don't steal my premises, but that was one of them. I had a rock in my shoe and it moved every time I walked and it would go to a different part of my foot. These were the things. The hot cement in Arizona, Dana. The funniest, funniest part about, about Arizona
Starting point is 00:21:10 was I built up a minuscule, like nine minutes. And then someone said, you can go to New York and do the clubs there. And I'm trying to do 15 with nine AZ minutes, which eight don't work in New York cause they're about my block. And you know what I mean? You go, I was at Smitty's and they're like,
Starting point is 00:21:30 I don't know what that is. And I'm like, the store. And they're like, that's the one store in America and it's in your town. And I'm like, really? And it's just about things no one relates to. So you have to get a broader, you know what I mean, Dana? Like you're doing shit that no one gets
Starting point is 00:21:45 and it's Arizona based. Even just the state, it's a little wider, but East coast was so different and foreign to me. So it was just very hard. I didn't, it took me a long time to get better. I want to ask Matt, what was your first kind of surefire, even if it was a quick bit or what the bit that the first time he gets something that, okay,
Starting point is 00:22:04 that that always works anything referencing Justin Bieber at that time because he's like two years older than me and he was the biggest thing on the planet when I stand up oh and you're right in the pocket of his age and shit oh yeah my I think the first thing I ever said on stage was I used to have like this really slick, like gelled hair. And I think my first bit was like, uh, no, I'm not Justin Bieber. My hair is cool and virtually sperm free. And it just went to the club. I get it.
Starting point is 00:22:37 That is a classic turn. I'm done. Done. Done. Done. And then boom. So those always work. We did not get coming. Bebs is a good one. And then boom, so those always work.
Starting point is 00:22:46 We did not get coming. Bebs. Bebs is a good one. I didn't have much Bebs stuff, but Columbus is a good, is it a good, I'm asking now, is it a good comedy club? It's right in the middle of nowhere. My parents both went to Denison, which is a small school in Ohio.
Starting point is 00:23:04 So I've heard great things about Ohio, but it's the heartland. Davidson. Okay. Go ahead. It's, uh, the comedy was good. Yeah, it was good. It was like, like most comedy clubs is in a mall. It's an Eastern mall there.
Starting point is 00:23:19 And, but the open mics were really nice because you would actually have a crowd. Like my heart goes out to anybody who starts comedy in New York or LA because you're not getting a real opportunity to perform for a real audience. It's mostly other comics who don't want to laugh at your shit. They don't want to let you know you're funny. Horrible. But for Columbus, I mean, you would get 30, 40 people in there. It was really nice.
Starting point is 00:23:44 That's good. That's a real crowd. I have a question for you. I want to interrupt your train of thought. What were you going to say? No, I was going to say they've remodeled it since then, but it used to be like a 300 seater, maybe at eight foot ceiling. So I mean, like when you got a pot, you really heard it was perfect. Yeah. No, that is awesome. I was just going to say that this interim thing of seeing a stand-up, when you're first going in the open mics, you haven't really got paid yet, and he's a local stud or something, but he's not on TV. No one's ever heard of him,
Starting point is 00:24:13 but he's really good. And that was sort of like revelatory to me, like, oh, this guy's not on TV and he's really, really good. Do you remember anyone blowing through that club and go, hmm, and seeing him and going, he's not on TV, but he's damn good. You know, road comic. It's like inspiring. It was more the host, this guy named Rick. Okay. It kind of looked like Barry Katz a little bit, but he was like six foot seven, just this giant grizzly dude with a nine foot. He would just, but you would never see his head. He would move. He would move a ceiling panel scraping the roof.
Starting point is 00:24:53 He would murder, but I didn't realize he was doing all local material. I didn't realize he had been at that club for like 12 years. He knew every single reference of every person who has ever lived in Ohio, though he would destroy not knowing he had been doing that same set for like six years, but at the time I was like, how is this guy not doing arenas? He would crush, but that also is when I learned, you know, cause like the first step kind of after guest spots and open mics, like you do, you have to host in clubs first.
Starting point is 00:25:27 That's when I figured out like, okay, you have to test the water a little bit, let the people know you know about them, I suppose. And where they're at, do a little bit of research for you to travel. An honor Dana to host. Like when Bud Friedman gave me the improv, I got passed. He goes, I'm going to have you host. And I was like, oh great. So get here at eight and leave at 1 a.m. And you get like three or four upfront.
Starting point is 00:25:50 Uh-huh. And that's what you think about all week. And then you literally just stand in the hallway and go, hi, Kevin, Neal. What do you want me to say about you? And then you have to, and you might get one line in between, and then you got to bring up the next day, bring up the next day and you're running late. So they don't want you to do anything. Don't do any time. Just bring them up.
Starting point is 00:26:10 And then that gets to be a grind, but it helps. Speaking of, uh, Kevin Nealon, that's Dana. I don't know if you remember meeting me on his show. Like, Oh God, seven years ago, hiking show. No, no, but he used to do his new material night at the last. Oh yeah. Yeah. Oh God, seven years ago, I would say it was. Hiking show? The hiking one? No, no, but he used to do his new material night at the last night. Oh yeah, yeah, we did meet just briefly, right?
Starting point is 00:26:31 You were gone, did you go on that night or you just there? Yeah, yeah, you were, you went on, I think, right, I think right before me. And I was so flattered that you stayed and like even acknowledged my set. You were super complimentary, you were very nice, little flirtatious, but, uh, it was, it was awesome. You were, you were, you were so nice.
Starting point is 00:26:50 Usually Dan has the door open and they run them right out into the limo right after his set of laughing. Well, I have a special room upstairs. It's a key to get into it. And it's a place that I chill. It's beyond the upper part. It doesn't matter. They bring in chalupas.
Starting point is 00:27:05 Yeah. Wait, you've never been in a limo? Is that what you just said? Never been in a limo. Fucking thank God. No idea what it looks like in there for real. Oh, it's unbelievable. You know what?
Starting point is 00:27:14 It's car sickness. I mean, once SUVs came in, oh, that's much more comfortable, you know? But- Yeah, it really is. Are there seat belts? No. In a limo? No one dies. David, did you ever ask- I find there seat belts? No. In a limo? No one dies.
Starting point is 00:27:26 David, did you ever ask? I find that hard to believe nobody dies in a limo. No one dies in a limo. Come on. Usually ODs. Yeah, that's more OD situation. Well, yes, Danny, you have a question for me? I think Tracy Morgan might have something to say about limos because I think that's where
Starting point is 00:27:38 you got smacked. I've met Matt off and on over the years and always pleasant guy. He's rife with fucking killing. He's rife with jokes. Oh, I was watching your special and we can jump into the special. I have to say I get my notes out. Well, before we get to the special, just quickly, because I think it's fascinating that you spent all this time, you're down and out. It's just two years ago.
Starting point is 00:28:02 And then in the modern world, you put out a TikTok video and that sort of lit the fuse. This is what I gathered, which is fascinating to me and led to these other things. So talk about that and that thing blowing up, that TikTok video, what it did for you. Is it one or is it a bunch? One really lit the fire under all the other ones. It's so weird because TikTok and social media is so my generation, but it's not for me. I got the very tail end of what was like the organic stand up dream of exactly what you described. You go on Car Center Fallon, you perform at the clubs, you get discovered at the clubs, you get a five minutes, then you go to JFL and then
Starting point is 00:28:48 you get a deal for a pilot and then you do a sitcom and then you do movie. Like that was kind of the blueprint for the what? Last 30, 40 years. For sure. That's what I always dreamed of doing. That's how I wanted my standup career to go. I fucking hate social media. If I didn't have to be on it, I wouldn't have one. So I was always very reluctant to it. And then when I contemplated moving, maybe like six months before that, I was like, you know what, how long can I go against the grain? You know, a couple of guys, Sam Morrill, Andrew Scholl was like, are starting to post these clips online and they're doing really well. So I was like, you know what?
Starting point is 00:29:25 Let me just fry. I'll buy a camera with money. I don't have, I'll have my friend teach me how to edit on like basic software. And I'll just start recording my one nighters because you know, funny, random things happen or a new bit. Maybe I'll toss it out there. In the first couple of videos I posted on Tik TOK, they did like a hundred to 250,000 views, which is like, it's pretty, pretty fucked good.
Starting point is 00:29:49 Yeah. And I really, well, I got it then I was like, Oh, tick tock is genius. I see how this is immediately addictive and they reward new users. New users get their stuff pushed crack before anybody else. Yeah. Instant crack. They get you. Yeah. Instant crack. They get you. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:30:06 So I started posting and it would, most videos would average from like 50,000 and like 300,000 views. It was really good. I was starting to get a little bit of falling on there. And then I did one show in, uh, in Arizona at copper blues live, like just north of, uh, Phoenix, you know, maybe. 70 people there, most of which came from like my first YouTube special that I put out on my own.
Starting point is 00:30:31 And this one lady was that I was working on this bit in my set about red flags, which was like a big social media pop culture thing at the time where everybody would talk about their morning signs and relationships. And I was going through like three examples of red flags I had for women. And just one night on stage, I was like, this seems kind of unfair. I want a woman's perspective on red flags. Like what are some red flags for guys? That began me asking the women in the audience for them.
Starting point is 00:30:58 And I was actually searching for material. I was searching for someone to say something that I could write about. But it became so, everything just got so rowdy when I would bring it up or start talking to this person amongst the amongst the audience. It kind of was more fun than going home and turning it into a bit. I was like, Oh, if I could have a new fun thing, every single show, why not keep doing this? This woman of Phoenix yelled out, he doesn't do anything, which was different from what I usually heard. Like it was usually like, Oh, he wears flip flops or he doesn't eat ass. Like something just kind of base
Starting point is 00:31:33 level. Yeah. So like didn't do anything. I was like, what do you mean? Like in life, he doesn't do anything or doesn't do anything with you. And she was like, in life, he doesn't do anything. I was like, well, what does he like do for work? And she was like, Oh, he's, he do anything. Well, what does he do for work? And she was like, oh, he's he works in the ER. He was a fucking hero. Like forgive Superman for not wanting to go to the farmer's market with you after he gets done saving the world. Is that what it was?
Starting point is 00:31:56 He was too busy. Yeah. He was too tired at the end of the day to do anything with her. And I just got to destroy her for like four or five minutes. And that clip took off and that clip did like 10 million views overnight. And that video made everybody go to my profile. And then that made every other video on my page do like a million views. We just kind of caught fire in that.
Starting point is 00:32:20 They also go to your special, your YouTube special. So just circulates around. Yeah. That's special. I just. Yeah. Circulates around. Yeah. That's special. I think so like 13 million views. Now the one I did after that was also off of Tik TOK views. That one's like 20 million. Uh, that one's actually named after my grandpa.
Starting point is 00:32:34 So that's probably my favorite one. Uh, is that a fun story? It's it's called Matthew Steven, right? Uh, cause my middle name is Steven. His name was Steven. I opened with a story about getting him a pocket pussy for Christmas. It was, it was, it's called Matthew Steven, right? Uh, cause my middle name is Steven. His name was Steven. I opened with a story about getting him a pocket pussy for Christmas. It was, it was, it's fun. So if you, if you were just cause I'm a little slow that this process is so
Starting point is 00:32:57 fast and how succinctly if you're meta met you, a guy like you, but he's 18. He's frustrated. You would say, get a camera. You only have one angle. I get into the technical part. Oh yeah. You're literally in the back of the room, set up on a little tripod. You're hoping it's in focus. And then as they call your name, you hit record and then run on the side of the stage.
Starting point is 00:33:22 There's a waitress standing in front of it. Most of your set. Like the back row of people's heads the whole time. The sound isn't always that great because unless you're dialed in, it comes off authentic to a point as long as it's not too horrible. But when you start doing the route work, would you have two cameras then, or someone swinging it around? No, the person just here be- You just hear them. You would just hear them for the longest time. Until much further into my career, like a year later,
Starting point is 00:33:50 I could finally afford to have somebody there with me to get another angle. You know, it was funny, a funny trick, Dana, you know this, this one, you're like in a big crowd and you see some comic and they go, look at this fucking guy in the front row, hey, I do curls every day. And everyone laughs and I see the guy and he's some meek this fucking guy in the front row. Hey, I knew curls every day. And everyone laughs and I see the guy
Starting point is 00:34:06 and he's some meek skinny guy going, you're not talking to me, right? But you can't see him. So everyone's just like, oh, he must be strong. Or the reverse of that, because the camera couldn't get them, I'd throw out a reference and nobody would get it because you're like, oh, you can't see it.
Starting point is 00:34:21 Nevermind. Nevermind. But it was fucking spot on. So anyway, they, they blow up on TikTok. They get into the algorithm and then they start exponentially getting bigger and bigger and bigger. And then how do you, then they just find your special on YouTube. It just all matriculate it all kind of. And then tenet sales.
Starting point is 00:34:41 Yeah. The ticket sales was insane. I did my first tour that I kind of put together with comedy clubs called the chip shoulder tour at the beginning. It was like January through June of 2023. And to me, this was like, this was like the epitome of what I thought a comedian could ever be. I was like, Oh my God, I'm going to sell out comedy clubs.
Starting point is 00:35:03 And we did like six months straight, every single weekend, Thursday through Sunday. It was a dream come true. Like everybody was coming from the internet. It was fresh. It was new. It was exciting. You know, six months before that, I was doing one nighters for just paper rooms of like maybe a hundred people if I was lucky.
Starting point is 00:35:20 Um, so everything kind of shifted super fast and I was like, Oh my God, this is, I made it. This is so cool. And then when I partner partner with live nation, they're like, we're going to try some, we're going to do some theaters. I was fucking terrified. That was like, I, I maybe I played like two theaters ever opening for people and way different. It's way more pressure for sure.
Starting point is 00:35:43 Uh, you can take your time. There's so much intimacy in's way more pressure for sure. You can take your time. There's so much intimacy in a comedy club versus a theater. It's a different type of performance. So I was so nervous. I was like, well, what if, what if people don't come? And we went on sale and I woke up the first morning of artist presale, which was just me sending out a code to my fans. Every show sold out in like five to 10 minutes.
Starting point is 00:36:08 And we were adding shows immediately. 600,000 tickets, right? In 48 hours. Yeah. And we've added so many shows since that we're close to like a million tickets sold for the past, uh, past two years, a year and a half, really. That's amazing. I don't recommend it to anybody out there is super hard to do.
Starting point is 00:36:27 It's very tricky. It's hard to sell them that fast. But I think you're also more in the age of not the one direction Taylor Swift, but people know when they like someone they're younger, they fucking get on it and they get online and they do stuff. And it's, I kind of miss that because by the way, no one was playing, I'm not saying I would, but no one was playing really theaters when I was, you know, early on, but not that early on. I mean, even when I was on SNL, it was probably Leno, Seinfeld, but no one even thought that
Starting point is 00:36:55 was a possibility really. No one took, even when I was doing clubs 10 years ago, you're just, oh, I added a night at the Irvine Improv. Oh, I added a night here. Oh, I'm going to sell out all five nights. And that was the big victory. Yeah. And then you start hearing about theaters and you go, wait, they're playing a real theater and you do instead of three shows, you just do one in a bigger place that sounded, and then now it's kind of the norm, but
Starting point is 00:37:18 it's still hard to do. Yeah. Hard for me. Your team requested a ride, but this time not from you. It's through their Uber Teen account. Hard for me. You'll flip for $4 pancakes at A&W. Wake up to a stack of three light and fluffy pancakes topped with syrup. Only $4 on now. Dine in only until 11 a.m. at A&W's in Ontario. It's extraordinary. One thing I'm curious about Matt is like, so now still the timeline is so fast. How has it affected you as a performer? I mean, have you gotten more confident, more loose, more in the pocket or, you know, just you're famous and then everyone's coming there to see you because they love you before they're in, you know, it's just a huge leap. How has it affected your performing?
Starting point is 00:38:25 Are you just more confident looser, better you think, or, or, or not at all? Or what do you, what, I mean, it's such a huge fast leap. Well, definitely way more confident. You know, I finally got the validation that I wanted for 11 years of just wanting an opportunity to convince people I'm funny and now they're coming to the show and I get to show them that and they're just fun. It's, it is so interesting to perform for an audience of your fans. Like they, they trust you. So you get to have more fun. You can try new things. Um, I will say there's more pressure as well. I mean, even though they are your fans, like you,
Starting point is 00:39:03 you still have to, and you won't always it's impossible to please everybody, but you want to meet that standard, you want to meet that expectation that they have of you. And it sucks when you don't. And sometimes you can feel when you don't, but when you. Supercede their expectation that feels, there's no, there's no greater high than that, I think then when you get to just crush for like 5,000 people and you all feel like you share the exact same experience. Cause sometimes you can know the crowd had a good time and you didn't have a good
Starting point is 00:39:34 time or you can have a good time. You know, the crowd didn't have a good time. It doesn't always match up. So when it does, um, it's such an electric feeling. And I, and I love that definitely more confident for sure. Just having more fun. From watching some of your stuff, I do think that you really, you create an intimacy even in the big room and it's very, you're kind of a little bit referring to yourself. It is sort of like, hey, it's Matt, you know, the audience is in it with you as a person as you're doing this task. And that's sort of a, a skillset that's very nice to have that
Starting point is 00:40:11 they you're there as a real person. It's not just your act. You know, absolutely. I think some of that's inspiring. Like my two favorite standups, sorry guys. Uh, well, you mean your third and fourth favorite. Fourth is perfect. Dave Chappelle and Ricky Gervais third and fourth favorite for this. Perfect. Dave Chappelle and Ricky Gervais are my two favorite stand-up. Dave, who?
Starting point is 00:40:30 Chappelle. Not sure. You clips of them. They're both, they're both absolutely brilliant. I think I know all about those guys. Is it on TikTok? Go ahead. They are not.
Starting point is 00:40:44 They, I don't think they even have the app on their phone, which good for them. They've just taught me like patience and performance and seeing like I've opened for Chappelle at Madison Square Garden, which was fucking insane. Not not just for me to perform, but to watch him control. What is that room in the round? Like 18,000 people. Yeah. For them to all stay silent while he stays silent.
Starting point is 00:41:13 Yeah. Like there's, there's an art to that. So many people don't understand that. Shows get out of hand and it's, it's too many people that that can be a problem. Like if they're coming to see you, also, there's a pressure of ticket prices higher. They got a babysitter now. It's a whole fucking shenanigans. They parked and they paid and you want them to walk out and go, I'm glad I did it. Instead of like, you don't want them to go with shoulder shrugger. I was all right, but that's when you want them to come again. Next tour. Longevity, I, you know, the flash of success.
Starting point is 00:41:45 Yeah. The thing about the pressure comes in now. For sure. Chappelle, and this is what they always related to Cosby pre all the Cosby stuff is that he mastered the level of confidence got to the point where he would tell his story and he'd be sitting on a stool and there wouldn't really be a laugh for 10 minutes. They told me at corporate dates, which I did after them or whatever, sometimes 20 minutes he's in his chair because the ladies said then the man,
Starting point is 00:42:15 and it's nothing funny. And then waterfall of laughs start to happen. And I saw that with Dave too, always a great standup. But at some point his confidence or whatever he did, he made a leap into this other level of a storyteller where he is not afraid of the silence at all. And the audience feels that, so go ahead. I think Dave found his don't give a fuck.
Starting point is 00:42:44 And when I say that You guys know Eric Griffin, right? Yeah. Yeah she's a very good friend of mine and I Used to open for him a lot when I was really young and he used to tell me I get off stage I didn't think I had a good set and I you know I'd be fucking miserable in the green room and he'll be like dude You have to stop giving a fuck and I used to throw a tantrum. I was like, how can you fucking say that?
Starting point is 00:43:08 Like people are paying their hard earned money to come see you out for the night. Like you deserve, like they deserve a good show. You have to give them a good show. I cannot give a fuck how it goes. And I didn't understand what he was saying. He meant confidence. Like you have to not give a fuck what they think and trust and know that you're funny and you're going to give them a good show. And not every
Starting point is 00:43:28 show is going to go your way. That's what he meant by not give a fuck. I think Chappelle found that, you know, he had so many like he had such a roller coaster of a career of like the veer ups and severe downs that eventually he just stopped caring in the most, in the most healthy way possible. And now that confidence just that confidence just kind of like seeps through. And I do think I've always thought it was an analogous word alert of a guy going into a singles bar and really wants to get laid. It can and not going to have yeah, the guy goes in, it doesn't really give a fuck, but we'll see what happens.
Starting point is 00:44:07 Boom. It's, it's applicable to so many things in life, but that is a good way to go to, but I'm such a people pleaser. I feel terrible if I don't levitate the room. If I don't get a standing ovation, I get cranky, but I'm not that cranky. I just, I do something you might find funny. So I started playing the guitar at the end of my stand up because I just, you know, they were tired and then I do this big jing and then I hold my guitar up by the neck way up. And, and when I do that motion upward,
Starting point is 00:44:43 I'm like 12 feet tall. And then I usually will get a standing ovation once I do that motion upward, I'm like 12 feet tall. And then I usually will get a standing ovation once I do that move. So you could use that if you want. I have a guitar on stage that I never play just lifted at the very end. Oh really? That's funny.
Starting point is 00:44:58 As a funny prop? Yeah. Yeah. I'll keep like several on the saxophone, a guitar, a keyboard and just throw out. Then you go guys, it's been an hour 10. I never got like several on the saxophone, a guitar, a keyboard and just throw out. Then you go guys, it's been an hour 10. I never got time to do the music, but next time. And then they're like, wait, what?
Starting point is 00:45:12 I will sing the best of Perry Como. I got talked about Lucid Dana. We got to talk about. No, no, let's get on to your now, your specials. On Netflix. It seems like there was one a year ago. Was that a year ago? It was pretty recently.
Starting point is 00:45:29 Last November, yeah, natural selection. Hey, look at that. That's pretty quick. Well, that's why I kind of wanted to do the crowd work because I was like, I can do that anywhere, anytime. You know, it's not, it's not where Lyle helped me building a set. So with Lucid, your first kind of coming out on Netflix is kind of a, you
Starting point is 00:45:48 know, it's, it's a big deal to get a giant special and there was controversy about that. People said, ask about the controversy. I mean, that was a natural selection. Yeah. That was the first. Oh, that's natural selection. Not Lucy.
Starting point is 00:46:02 I'm sorry. That I always call it the crowd work special. I don't know. How many are there now? Lucid is the new one. And I was watching, great. Go ahead, Daniel. I just call it the crowd work special.
Starting point is 00:46:13 Sure, that works. That's more than I like. But you may have, it's better. Lucid is better. So anyway, to the first one, what did that do for you? That was your first big, big Netflix special. What did that do for you? That was your first big, big Netflix special. The first one, it taught me that if people see any, they will exploit any chink in your
Starting point is 00:46:35 armor as possible. I love that special. I think it's, I think it's really funny. I had, I had some problems with the production of it, but the material in it, I fucking liked. I think it's really funny and There was some controversy around the beginning of the special special which was such which is total bullshit by the way I learned that we live in a society where it's it's like it's cool to hate something like we latch on to one thing in a certain moment a couple of times a year and
Starting point is 00:47:04 Like we lacked on the one thing in a certain moment, a couple of times a year. And I got to be that thing that people went, aha, this is awful. He's a piece of shit. This isn't funny. He's the worst person in the world. And the only reason I know that that's, that wasn't a real thing, um, was because at least a million people have watched that special since January, right? No one's complained about it since January. Not one single person has written a bad tweet. Not one person has written me a mean comment.
Starting point is 00:47:33 Nothing. It was purely a pop culture outrage that people knew. This was also at a point in time in my career that if you just mentioned my name in your video or even just the title of your one of your videos, you would get a million views. Like I was able to make other people famous. So it was a bullshit controversy. It wasn't a real thing. I didn't do anything wrong. So it was just a learning experience really for me, but it was a fun special. I liked it. It did work on my TikTok when I
Starting point is 00:48:02 mentioned you a lot. Just hashtag, just a hashtag. I didn't really mention you. It worked for Jess on the two and Marin. I've legally changed my name to Matt Rife. Hashtag Matt Rife. My attorney just confirmed it. Yep, I'm Matt Rife with two F's. So I don't know how long it takes.
Starting point is 00:48:21 Oh, your credit score just went down. Well, yeah, social media just obviously, it's the dark side of humanity. You just came out of nowhere to a lot, some people and you were incredibly successful. Some people go, that's enough. You're, you're young. Oh, absolutely. You're, you're handsome.
Starting point is 00:48:36 I mean, comedians are usually, you know, kind of funny looking or, you know, average, you know, so you're handsome. You don't wear it on your sleeve. You're funny. And I think that people come out of the woodwork. I don't like this guy. He's too successful. But it's people go, you got too big for your britches.
Starting point is 00:48:51 And you're like, you gave me the britches. Yeah, that's your third special. You gave me the britches. Hey, I don't really play up my handsome card. I sort of is where I had I cruise around. Anyway, other than that, other than that. Other than that. So then you're like, well, this on Lucid, I don't
Starting point is 00:49:09 know why I want to keep jumping to Lucid. No, no, this is Lucid is happening right now. This is the new one. And just came out. Like the beginning, it looks cool. I like, I couldn't sit on a stool for an hour. You, you're comfortable. You got a green hoodie that pops.
Starting point is 00:49:25 And you talk a little bit and it's crowd work, but it seems just a couple of questions. Crowd is lit from underneath too. Like at the tables or they're like little, like candle-ish things to give them some light. Right. Cause the whole thing is designed. So we're going to talk to the crowd.
Starting point is 00:49:41 So anyone in the crowd can talk. Yeah. Which is, makes it really fun for them. They start out as a good crowd right off the bat, which I thought I've had a special where they're not good right off the bat and you're like, this is my fucking special. You're paying extra to see me. Like it's unreal. The worst audience is always the time you're shooting your special. Because they're looking at the cameras, they're like, I'm gonna be part of it. And then they're nervous. Something about a special sometimes tightens people up.
Starting point is 00:50:06 Uh, but I remember just the first couple of laughs, I go, oh fuck. He's this is I'd be in a good mood if I was him because they're having fun. They like them already. Then you start going off the first guy and then you talk a little bit. And then you, then you, then you start going after someone else. But I liked that that way it was shot. I guess, do you hide cameras coming this way or do they see them coming at them? No.
Starting point is 00:50:27 So have you done the, uh, the Charlotte comedy zone? I have not. That was in Charlotte. Yeah. I haven't done it. Okay. Okay. So the Charlotte comedy zone is, uh, kind of like the original Columbus
Starting point is 00:50:36 funny bone where it's very low ceilings, about 350 people. And I chose that club. I had to do it in a comedy club because for the sake of production, everybody needed to be able to hear everybody. I knew if I talked to somebody in the back of the room, the people in the front of the room needed to be able to hear it for the taping at least. And this club, the walkway on stage is behind black curtains from the very side of the room all the way to the behind the stage. You come out and I knew, because I've been playing that club since I was like 16, that I could poke cameras through the black curtains and we could hide them from a lot of people and hide
Starting point is 00:51:12 them from the other cameras. Yeah, good. I understand. I'm just, just before we go a little further, because I, I'm interested in maybe very quickly what you were, didn't quite like about the production on the previous one. But this one, the beginning is great. Mamas and Papas, Dreaming Little Dream. Yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 00:51:33 I mean, then I'm already like, this is not a normal special and it feels so good and dreamlike, which becomes your theme. Cause that was the other thing I thought, okay, you had the guy with the weird shoes, you're doing all your stuff, and then you're just sort of talking. And I'm going, okay, how no one is yelling out at this moment. Yeah. How is he getting there? Oh, they can get rowdy. That's the fear. They get too rowdy.
Starting point is 00:51:54 They could get rowdy, but it was, I thought it was inspired to say, I want to hear about people's dreams. Like that's such a great hook to then get people talking. So that was, that was kind of deal with Netflix. Like they were obviously interested in doing something with crowdwork for me. But, and I totally agree, but they were like, we don't want to just be like a highlight reel of you talking to random people about random things, if it needs to be a theme through the show. So I spent a couple of months playing with different themes and it
Starting point is 00:52:25 needed to be something everybody can contribute to and everybody has a dream. Every single person has or has had some kind of aspiration. So I went on, I did, I did four weekends and by weekends I mean Monday, Tuesdays, the only two days I've had off for the past year and a half. And I would go to comedy clubs near where I was playing theaters and I would test it out. I would do entire crowd work shows, which I'd never done before. Like crowd work is such a small part of my actual live show. I do like 10 minutes of it, maybe throughout the show. And it's perfectly placed. Like it has to do kind of like red flags where it's like, it has to do with the bit that I'm already talking about.
Starting point is 00:53:05 It's not at total random usually. Um, so I had to feel, I had to feel what it felt like to try to improv for an entire hour, and I also needed to kind of hear, make sure people had dreams that they wanted to talk about. And I didn't know if they were going to be super generic, like just a firefighter or sports player or musician. I didn't know if it was going to be super generic, like just a firefighter or sports player or musician. I didn't know if it was going to be like, you know, the generic kinds that were going to get old enough to jump on.
Starting point is 00:53:30 Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So, but going and doing these eight warmup shows or eight weekends that I, that I did. That's when I realized, Hey, you're right. They could be super fucking rowdy. Like there were some shows that I was like, this taking might be a terrible idea. We might not get anything. Some people really want to be part of the show and they keep yelling and you're like, yeah. And alcohol plays a piece in that too. Yeah. And that's never the
Starting point is 00:53:53 person who offers the most interesting interaction. It's always the least assuming person. Yeah. And they say, you're just doing your act. You look over and someone has decided to involuntarily stand up and start yelling stuff and then he's like we got a situation here you know exactly yeah exactly um go ahead try to answer you asked you asked three questions in one uh dreams was something everybody could contribute to um the only thing i didn't like about the production and natural selection was just the editing. We went back and forth with the editor a lot. I don't, the first 15 minutes was chopped so quickly and that I didn't like, I felt
Starting point is 00:54:37 like a lot of the air was taken out of beats and jokes. You need it. You need it. And you fucking need it. When I watched it on Netflix, when it first came out, I was so fucking excited. I checked my Netflix like four times, because I thought I was watching it and fast forward.
Starting point is 00:54:53 Because so much of the air had been taken out from just with camera angles and they cut it like a TikTok video or like it's something where they go. Yeah, I hated that. I don't I don't And I don't blame anybody. It was a group effort on that. And you know, it was my first big special and I could have done that a lot better.
Starting point is 00:55:11 Yeah, I had been in that situation. And I said, you're making an audience member is in a magic chair that all of a sudden I'm the size of an ant. The next cut is full face in screen. Then it's a hard left angle. I mean, what the fuck? We already figured out the money shot, the Johnny Carson, what they call the cowboy shot moving. Just, just that's a, that's your primary shot. So the last special I did, they go,
Starting point is 00:55:37 uh, we didn't really get the cowboy shot. So they didn't not have any of that shot. They had head to toe or just neck up. So yeah, it was experimental. Yeah. So that's a learning experience. So what, what I guess I wasn't even thinking about when I, when I saw Lucid, yeah, it seems, it just seemed very organic, very real. Like you're there wasn't cut to pieces and tight closeups. It was just very comfortable. And also being in a hoodie on a, you know, on the stool denotes casualness. I like when you tell the crowd, if this doesn't work, it's equally your fault. Oh, thank you.
Starting point is 00:56:16 Because the first critic review when that trailer came out was Matt Rife's already blaming his audience for how bad this is gonna be. You're kidding. Where to, God? I'll send you the article. I like that. Wow, that's so ridiculous. It's funny.
Starting point is 00:56:32 Looking forward to a career in this. TD and your small business go together like... TD small business account managers have in-depth business banking expertise so they can give you the advice and resources you need to make your day-to-day easier. So if you're ready to meet your small business match, we're ready for you. Visit td.com slash small business match to book an appointment with one of our advisors. You know what's great about ambition? You can't see it.
Starting point is 00:57:14 Some things look ambitious, but looks can be deceiving. For example, a runner could be training for a marathon or they could be late for the bus. You never know. Ambition is on the inside. So that road trip bucket list? Get after it. Drive your ambition. Mitsubishi Motors. I like the twin towers joke. I mean, I'm not going to go through all the jokes, but I think people, you know, crowd work can get looked down upon with comics or they can get looked up upon because how fucking hard it is.
Starting point is 00:57:50 It's too hard for me to do. I do it a tiny, tiny bit. But doing your act on the road, you know it and you're sharpening little tiny corners and it's hard to focus. But when you have to focus on every goddamn thing that's going on with crowd work, what they're saying, what the reaction is, how to call back the last guy when he's tied into this, make sure that guy's not moving. Why is that way?
Starting point is 00:58:11 Just walking over there and, and you're just trying to do that for an hour. It's hard. So there's something to that to keep it going. Did you have to do two shows? I was thinking, how would you do two shows? Because people know the crowd now. Well, that was the biggest thing in the edits. Um, we had, we had multiple tapings where I was like, this could be the entire thing.
Starting point is 00:58:33 So you had to go, obviously you go through and you're like, okay, what's going to be the best ones. And we ended up having to use predominantly the first show we did because of how, because we obviously wanted everything to look the same, right? We didn't want exactly what you were just saying where you see the front row is one person in a bright red hoodie and the obviously I recognize that guy. And then the big shot is, yeah, yeah, exactly. The guy with the giant and the flow of it.
Starting point is 00:58:59 You know what I mean? Like I didn't want to go from a blow job story to talking about something so drastically different that didn't match the flow of the show. So a lot of it wasn't editing that we were like, we're just going to have to use predominantly one show. And usually one show is the best, sorry Dana, but usually one show stands out. Go ahead, Dana.
Starting point is 00:59:17 No, I was just saying that you're okay, you're doing your specialty. And then you get an occupation of a woman who teaches other women how to perform oral sex. I'll just say it that way. Gifts from comedy gods, dude. And then you're like, okay, let's unpack. I mean, you're like, you must have thrown a little bit of a party in your head for a second.
Starting point is 00:59:36 Okay, here we go. Do you move that up front? She was the first interaction. I was thinking that'd be great because I would have, if that happened later, I'd probably go, let's get the crowd going right away. Let's throw that right up front. Oh, I definitely would have moved it, but she was the first and I was like, oh, we're going to have fun.
Starting point is 00:59:54 And then it was her daughter over here and she was sitting separately, which was funny. I couldn't fucking believe it. Her just mentioning that I was like, oh, we've got 10 minutes. We're good. And the mom sitting on the other side of the room was so fun. And then everything she said was funny. The amount of people who think that's fake is so funny to me. I'm like, you don't think I really fucking love you?
Starting point is 01:00:14 You couldn't really fake it because it was such odd answers. Couldn't fake it, couldn't plan it. I wouldn't write her to say those things. I would make it different, but just her answers were weirder and weirder. And then she was a gift. Yeah No, it was it was great. They were they were a gift the boots were a gift but then you also get I was so happy that we kept in the the lady who had like the the daddy issues at the very end the girl who looks like walking Phoenix and Joker just Because she was spouting fucking nonsense.
Starting point is 01:00:46 And I got to have just an, an authentic moment of acknowledging like, yeah, this, you're not always going to get a good answer. You know, not every interaction is funny. And sometimes you get fed some bullshit and we had to keep that in. So you have all this, um, very variables in the show rather than just couples that are going to break up three in a row, you know, there's all these different modalities. And I just thought it was nicely done too at the end where you kind of froze on the
Starting point is 01:01:13 people and said what they're going to do with their life or whatever in the closing credits. Oh, thank you. Thank you. That's a nice touch. So it was, you know, I just wonder how some of your peers would think about this, like, because you're the first one to do a pure crowd work, at least for Netflix, right? It's the first one they've produced. Um, Todd Berry had one in 2015, which was fucking great, but this is the
Starting point is 01:01:35 first one that Netflix produced. They acquired his. Yeah. He's funny guy. It also like Andrew Schultz has done a crowd work special before he did one on the DC improv. Uh, I did one on YouTube two years ago as well. Um, all red flags.
Starting point is 01:01:51 Um, so I mean, it's, it's, it's been done before, but this was the first one on this scale, I suppose. That's good. Yeah. I've got anything else for this guy. No, I just, I just think that was a really cool idea. Good idea. And it worked out great.
Starting point is 01:02:07 We're fans, we think you're extremely talented. You've earned everything you got. This is where we get sincere and tear up a little bit. No, but be proud of yourself and your grandpa's looking down, he's around, he's here. And just keep doing what you're doing. I wouldn't know what to say. I just think, uh, you know, haters got to hate, but I think that's probably
Starting point is 01:02:28 now everyone's used to you and they've seen two great specials. I don't, you know, I think we're all over any kind of. It gets corny to make fun of you at a certain point. We did that. That's over. Let's move on. It's working. Something's working over there.
Starting point is 01:02:44 Well, thank you, man. And I can't thank you guys enough for even wanting me to do the pod, man. You guys, this is gonna sound sappy and corny, but you guys are genuinely the reason I do comedy. Growing up watching you guys, you guys are my fucking idols. So thank you so much for having me do this. Damn.
Starting point is 01:03:01 Thank you, bud. Well, appreciate to see you out there. Yes, sir. I'll see you around. All right, man. Have a good day. Pleasure. Later you, bud. Well, appreciate to see you out there and take care of yourself. Yes, sir. I'll see you around. All right, man. Have a good day. Pleasure. Bye, Dan. Later, you guys. This has been a presentation of Odyssey. Please follow, subscribe, leave a like, a review, all this stuff, smash that button, whatever it is, wherever you get your podcasts. Fly on the Wall is executive produced by Dana Carvey and David Spade,
Starting point is 01:03:22 Jenna Weiss Berman of Odyssey and Heather Santoro. The show's lead producer is Greg Holtzman.

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