Matt Rife: Mocking Cancel Culture in New Skit for Crowd Work Netflix Special

On August 13, comedian Matt Rife will be making a comeback to Netflix with his latest crowd work special, titled Lucid. In the trailer, Rife poked fun at cancel culture and those who were offended by his previous special.

In 2023, Matt Rife’s Netflix special, ‘Natural Selection,’ marked his debut on the streaming platform. However, his set sparked a wave of backlash due to a joke about domestic violence that he made at the start of the show.

Instead of apologizing, he chose to stick to his stance and ridiculed his critics – a decision he repeated in the trailer for Lucid as well, despite being 28 years old.

At the headquarters of the streaming platform, Rob Riggle portrays a Netflix executive in the trailer, leading a pitch meeting to discuss Rife’s upcoming special.

LUCID – AUGUST. 13th – @netflix pic.twitter.com/hFQlTUtD3u

— Matt Rife (@mattrife) August 6, 2024

Riggle then inquires a group of Netflix staff members, all portrayed by Rife, about the idea behind the special and dispels any false beliefs about the comedian.

“Wasn’t he supposed to be canceled?”one inquires.

“He has not been canceled. In fact, he has been on a sold out worldwide tour for the past year and a half,”Riggle responds confidently.

“Didn’t his previous special completely fail?”inquires a blue-haired Rife.

“The special was the most watched during the third and fourth quarter of last year, based on watch time rather than just views. Furthermore, it was significantly ahead of any other program in this regard.”

Matt Rife’s last comedy special was a hit on Netflix.

In the end, a janitor, portrayed by Rife as well, stumbles upon the gathering and proposes that the upcoming special should highlight his exceptional ability to interact with the audience – an aspect that Rife has gained widespread recognition for.

“Riggle proclaims, as the trailer ends, that they will indeed be giving the people what they want.”

As Netflix continues to expand its live content offerings, it appears they may soon be signing comedy podcast Kill Tony. This comes as Rife releases his new special on the platform and Netflix secures the rights to highly anticipated events like Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson and WWE programming in 2025.

Lucid’s debut will take place slightly more than one week after Joe Rogan’s return to Netflix with his live special, Burn the Boats, which was broadcasted on August 3.