It seems that there is no comic that Netflix won’t give a special to, no matter the strange dynamic they have with their fans. And if Matt Rife can be that person, he is certainly going to try.
“On the internet, people can say anything they want,” Rife said in the trailer for his special, Natural Selection. If that isn’t a mantra for the comedian, we don’t know what is. In recent years, he has become quite a controversial figure. Rife hasn’t quite been canceled yet, but oh does he love towing that line. While the height of his fame first started out being on the arm of Kate Beckinsale, he has since blown up in the comedy special sphere and has no qualms about saying whatever comes to mind. This was especially evident in his odd dynamic with his superfan known as Christina.
How did Rife and Christina meet?
It all started with a care package at a typical show. In a now infamous interaction, one fan interrupted a set to give Rife a gift.
“You seem frustrated,” said the woman we now know is Christina Reeder. “We thought maybe a gift would help.” At first, the interaction seemed to catch Rife off guard, but when he found out what was inside, he was impressed. Christina had gifted him a shirt with text in reference to oral sex and accompanied it with a container full of cookies. Both gifts seemed to delight the comedian in equal measure and he spent a substantial portion of the set in an odd getting-to-know-you bit. After the video went viral, Rife told E! News about the dynamic with his fan.
“She was the hottest mom ever in the middle of Iowa, where I didn’t even know they made hot moms. She talks about how hot her daughter was and we FaceTimed her daughter on stage.”
Rife spoke with an air of something that is all in good fun, and in some ways, it is. He often incorporates working the crowd into his sets. But this can also be a slippery slope. Reeder allowed the 27-year-old comic to Facetime her daughter who was bathing when she answered. Comedy, as we know, is subjective and controversy always gets attention. But if Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla has taught us anything, it is that dynamics between fans and icons they are devoted to can get a bit murky.