Bill Burr Doesn’t Get the Hate for Matt Rife
Bill Burr says he doesn’t like “naming names and shit,” but when he talks about the handsome young comic with the abs, it’s pretty clear he’s talking about Matt Rife.
“There’s a comic over here,” he told comedian Tommy Tiernan on his Monday Morning Podcast. “He’s young, he’s good-looking, he’s crushing it.”
“Yeah, muscles,” replied Tiernan, impersonating a Rife flex. “I don’t like ‘em.”
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Tiernan’s not alone, and Burr doesn’t think the hate is healthy. Why is everyone so obsessed with (probably) Rife’s success? “Younger comics, I get that because they started out at the same time. You’re young, you’re going to fall into that comparison stuff.”
But what’s the excuse for comedians of Burr’s generation? Burr is tired of “watching older comics having an issue with this person just because they’re successful,” he explained. “At the age I’m at, I’ve seen a few people saying stuff or whatever. I’m just looking at them going, You’re going to be that guy? This guy is like 30 years younger than you are. Be happy for him. He’s bringing people to comedy. Have you even watched?”
If you actually watch the comic with the muscles, he’s funny, ranted Burr. “I understand it when you’re younger, to be looking at people and comparing because you haven’t lived enough life to understand that you’re going to get what you’re supposed to get. Nobody is taking anything away from you. You get what you get and just be happy for fucking everybody.”
The funny thing, Burr said, is that most comics wouldn’t be at peace with that level of success if it somehow found them. “If somebody books something big, it’s very easy from afar to be like, ‘Ah fuck, I wish I got that.’ Then you get the gig, and you’re like, ‘Oh my God, I got to do all of this fucking work?’”
The “successful” comic who sees another comedian sitting in a coffee shop with no call time isn’t any happier. “Fuck, I wish I could go sit down and have some bacon and eggs, but I got to be here at fucking four and five in the morning.”
There are two things to keep in mind, replied Tiernan. First, it’s a generous thing to say another comic is bringing happiness and just be joyful for them. But second is to acknowledge your envy so you’re able to let it go. “Just pinch your nipple,” he said, “to acknowledge the dark side.”
Tiernan makes an excellent additional point — it’s much easier to be happy for a comic like Matt Rife when you already have the success of Bill Burr.
“That envy thing,” sighed Burr. “That’ll fucking eat you up.”
