Matt Rife axes comedy shows after being hit by ‘unexpected medical emergency’
Matt Rife axed his comedy shows at Indiana University after he was stricken by an “unexpected medical emergency”.
The 28-year-old comedian, who has been touring non-stop on a bus with his stage crew and friends since 2023, told fans he had “never experienced” anything like the health scare in an apology posted to his Instagram Stories.
He said: “I’m so f****** sorry, but due to a last minute medical emergency I have to reschedule our shows tonight (again.)
“I’ve been doing 40-plus shows a month for a year and half and never had to do something like this.
“I’m so sorry, I hope you understand and I love you so much.”
Matt’s cancellation, posted on Wednesday (29.05.24), comes after he opened up on X about the toll touring has taken on him.
He told his followers: “Sometimes I feel 98 years old and then I remember I sleep maybe 14 hours a week if I’m lucky so I am quite literally a corpse.”
An Instagram post from the Indiana University Auditorium, where his now-cancelled shows were set to take place, reassured fans on Wednesday their payments “will be refunded in full and will be reflected within 30 days”.
Some fans hit out at Matt for cancelling, with one fuming they had already made a three-hour drive to the show before hearing it had been dropped.
Others sent well-wishes to Matt.
Matt made headlines last year after he made a joke about domestic violence in his Netflix special ‘Natural Selection’.
He joked he was once seated at a restaurant in Baltimore by a hostess who had a black eye, adding: “This is the face of the company? This is who you have greeting people?”
Matt then claimed his friend suggested the woman should be put in the kitchen where “nobody has to see her face”, and said he replied: “Yeah, but I feel like if she could cook, she wouldn’t have that black eye.”
The comic hit back at the criticism over the joke by posting a fake apology on his Instagram Story that said: “If you’ve ever been offended by a joke I’ve told – here’s a link to my official apology” – with a link to helmets for people with special needs.
