Superstar comedian Matt Rife first took an interest in comedy at 14 years old, when a teacher said that there would be a talent show at his high school. After a friend encouraged him, he did the show - and started performing professionally a year later at 15. In 2017, Matt Rife was a host on the short-lived reboot of TRL and appeared on MTV's The Challenge: Champs vs. Stars. He was further featured on the television series Bring the Funny in 2019.  He also had guest roles on the sketch comedy and improv game show series Wild 'n Out, as Brandon Bliss on the comedy television series Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and as Logan on the sitcom television series Fresh Off the Boat. The New York Times described him in 2022 as "just another struggling road comedian" who then became more popular from TikTok over the following year. In 2023, he released a self-titled special Matthew Steven Rife on Valentine's Day. He then released Walking Red Flag, focusing on crowd-work. Rife states that he created an entire special surrounding the topic of audience "red flags" to stop audiences from interrupting his future sets with the bit. Matt continues to sell out arenas across the country.