Matt Rife may have walked into Nationwide Arena as a hometown comedian, but he left as a part of Columbus history.
The central Ohio native drew approximately 20,000 fans to his “Stay Golden” tour stop, according to Dave Redelberger, director of communications and interactive marketing for Columbus Arena Sports & Entertainment, setting a record for the largest comedy crowd ever at the arena.
The sold-out show on Aug. 9 not only underscored Rife’s rapid rise in stand-up comedy, but also added to a summer of career milestones. Just weeks earlier, he became the youngest comedian to sell out Madison Square Garden and is the most recent co-owner of Ed and Lorraine Warren’s famous occult museum and former home in Connecticut.
“Matt Rife is very proud of that,” Micheal Gatto, chief operating officer of Columbus Arena Management (CAM), said. “It’s absolutely because the show’s in the round … on a smaller stage.”
Gatto said Twenty One Pilots holds the record for the most tickets sold at the arena for a series of shows.
CAM representatives also said that Rife’s record does not mean he’s the most popular act in arena history. Rather, his comedy show — which required little floor space— allowed for the most tickets to be sold.
Fans celebrated Rife’s achievement on TikTok as a Columbus Blue Jackets bathrobe was hung in the rafters next to Rick Nash’s jersey.
Rife’s Columbus show also came with a full-circle moment as comedian Dane Cook, who opened for Rife, recalled how a teenage Rife attended one of his shows in 2011.
Cook brought to the stage an email he had sent the young aspiring comic more than a decade ago, which offered advice that Rife said helped chart his course to the record-breaking night.
