CO→NC to see Matt Rife...

It's no secret to people that know me, I LOVE comedy. Growing up, me and my brother chose to watch Mr. Bean and The Golden Girls instead of the traditional kids shows like Barney and Dragon Tales. Anything comedy… sign me up!

A few months ago, I was on Instagram and saw Matt Rife's post that he added a show to his stop in North Carolina. What did I do? I immediately bought two tickets.

The main problem? While I have spent most of my life living in NC, I currently live in Colorado.

So as any normal, rational, person would, I booked a plane ticket back home just to see a “TikTok comedian’s” stand-up performance.

Once I booked my flight, I asked my childhood best friend to go with me even though she hadn’t heard of Matt Rife before! (spoiler alert: she LOVED him!!)

When we got to the show it was pouring down rain. Thankfully Kristin had an umbrella in her car because without that we would have been miserable. Once we got seated, we looked forward to the opening act and we ordered drinks and mozzarella sticks. (random detail but I promise it’s important)

Matt Rife comes on stage and absolutely KILLS IT. I mean seriously, if you ever have the chance to see him in person please do! You will not regret it! Jokes after jokes with some crowd work sprinkled here and there. He even started calling people out for taking photos of him because like most shows there is a no-phones policy. (I have never seen people put their phones up so comedically fast lol)

Throughout his show, he touched on many social issues while keeping them respectful and funny.

Why do I bring this up, you ask? I'm not shy about the fact that I was born with a physical disability. While it's not noticeable now, it was growing up. Because of this, I've always been able to laugh at myself through any situation life has thrown at me ESPECIALLY regarding my disability.

If I am being honest, I was so in the moment during the show that I don’t remember what led up to this joke. BUT having jokes told by my favorite comedian, about something I have personally gone through was HILARIOUS. Some people in the audience were noticeably more uncomfortable during this portion of the show but I could not stop laughing. It honestly just felt so nice to be able to laugh with people about something that has made me sad more times than I could count throughout my entire life.

Towards the end of the show, he made a joke about someone “with a disability just chilling eating mozzarella sticks” and at that moment I knew I was meant to be in the audience that night. The trek all the way to North Carolina from Colorado was 100% worth it.

What I didn't mention earlier was, while waiting for the doors to open before the show, I impulsively bought the VIP upgrade for our tickets. This meant Kristin and I got to meet Matt after the show! Being the people Kristin and I are, we ended up letting a majority of the people go before us and we made friends with the girls next to us in line. (call it our southern charm if you will)

He was genuinely the nicest person ever. You know that type of person you would be friends with in another life if they weren't famous? He was 100% that type of person. Even though he hates social media and I am literally getting my Master's in Media...

To say I couldn't stop smiling after the show is an understatement! I am so lucky to also have tickets to one of his shows in December. (I mean seriously his tickets sell out SO FAST!!)

Once again I get to bring one of my best friends to experience one of his stand-up shows!

Only this time in Kentucky... Because I really can't make things easy on myself.