Ashton Kutcher Launches World Tour for Matt Rife, Who Is Basically TikTok’s Ashton Kutcher
It’s nice to see that Ashton Kutcher is still dedicated to making the world a better place for hot-but-funny-but-also-hot dude comedians.
Matt Rife is one of the most successful performers on TikTok, boasting over 14 million followers for the stand-up videos and crowdwork clips that showcase his affability and aesthetic gifts in an algorithm-breaking formula for social media success. A 27-year-old stand-up comedian from Columbus, Ohio, Rife embodies the “do it your way” attitude of the next generation of comedians through his self-produced stand-up specials and distinct style of friendly-but-formidable audience interaction.
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Rife’s growing fandom is primarily composed of the older-Gen-Z-to-younger-Millennial crowd, but he’s also attracted some A-list attention during his meteoric rise. Case in point: Kutcher. The model and comedic actor who rose to prominence playing the airheaded hunk Michael Kelso on That ‘70s Show is co-signing on the next big muscular funnyman’s world tour in a promotional sketch video released this morning.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled to live out this lifelong dream! To tour the world, spreading laughter, with some of my best friends, is something I never thought would be possible. I’m so grateful to get this opportunity, and it’s even more fulfilling knowing that it’s all because of the incredible people who enjoy my comedy,” Rife told Deadline of the ProbleMATTic world tour, which will be produced by Live Nation. “I’ve been working so hard toward this for 12 years, and now I’ve surrounded myself with a team who works just as hard and share the same passion! I still can’t believe it.”
Rife’s success and upcoming tour, which will take him across Australia, Europe and North America, represents a paradigm shift in the way stand-up comics achieve superstar status. Though Rife has had a handful of guest appearances in more “mainstream” comedy projects such as Brooklyn Nine-Nine, the vast majority of his celebrity exists solely through his social media accounts. Furthermore, Rife still hasn’t been co-signed by either the traditional or neuvo-gatekeepers of comedy with no HBO, Netflix or Amazon special yet on his resume. In fact, his first two self-produced specials are available for free on YouTube. Even in the internet age, a strictly stand-up comedian with no major mainstream comedy credits launching a multi-continent Live Nation supertour is untread territory.
Clearly, Kutcher and his wife Mila Kunis see in Rife what his 14 million fans see — a superstar ready to take the next step. Since Kutcher and Rife both fill the beefy-but-funny archetype for their respective generations, maybe the elder humor hunk could give his protege some important advice, like, for instance, don’t do an Elon Musk biopic with Josh Gad.
