Matt Rife’s five sold-out shows earn him spot on Mohegan Sun Walk of Fame

Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant
·2 min read
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The hot young comedian Matt Rife is the latest performer to be placed on the Mohegan Sun Walk of Fame.

Rife, whose national fame grew exponentially in the past year, sold out five shows this week at Mohegan Sun Arena.

The award was presented by Mohegan Sun’s president of sports and entertainment Tom Cantone.

“This has been an incredible experience for me and means more than a Hollywood Walk of Fame star.” said Rife in a statement released by Mohegan Sun. “Thank you to everyone that has supported me from the beginning. Five sold-out shows at one venue is unbelievable, and I hope everyone attending this run of shows enjoys themselves.”

There are now 41 Mohegan Sun Walk of Fame inductees, including Taylor Swift, Ringo Starr, Chris Rock, Bon Jovi, Pentatonix, Tony Orlando, Christmas holiday stalwarts Trans-Siberian Orchestra and country stars Toby Keith, Thomas Rhett and Luke Combs. Their names are embedded in the forecourt outside the Mohegan Sun Arena box office.

Following the ceremony honoring Rife, Mohegan Sun also acknowledged three guests who represented a landmark event at the arena: 15 million guests at the venue since it opened in 2001. The milestone coincides with Rife’s string of shows there.

The 28-year-old, Los Angeles-based Rife was a host of the 2017 version of MTV’s “Total Request Live” and released his first solo comedy special in 2021. He’s been on the sketch show “Wild ‘N Out” and the sitcoms “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “Fresh Off the Boat” and “Burb Patrol.” After several specials on YouTube, his latest, “Natural Selection,” was released on Netflix. Some of his routines have been deemed controversial due to sexist and insensitive comments. He was playing comedy clubs (including the Funny Bone in Manchester) just a year ago, but his popularity has exploded since then and his current “ProbleMATTic” world tour has him filling arenas and large theaters like the Hollywood Bowl and the Royal Theater Carré in the Netherlands.

Rife’s Mohegan Sun Arena booking started with a single show but quickly grew to five, all of them sold out.