Rafi Bastos is a 6’7” tall Jewish-Brazilian comedian with an accent like Dracula and a rapidly growing social media presence of stand-up clips in English. Many of Rafi’s viral stand-up clips come from nightly performances at the prestigious Comedy Cellar. In his home-country of Brazil, Rafi is a trailblazer of comedy and media, and is one of the first comedians to pioneer the art of American-style stand-up comedy in Brazil.
Before coming to the United States, Rafi’s 17-year comedy and acting career achieved many firsts and was covered on "The Joe Rogan Experience". After setting more than a few records, he opened his own stand-up comedy club, Comedians, and continued to create national controversy by challenging Brazil’s oppressive laws surrounding freedom of speech.
Rafi’s videos of stage performances, music videos, interviews, and sketches have amassed more than 370 million views on his Youtube channel alone. In 2011, with his 7 million followers – now over 11.4 million – Rafi was considered for the "Most Influential Man on Twitter" title by the New York Times. In 2013, Rafi won the Shorty Award, also known as the “Oscars of Social Media”, for Best Comedian.
In both English and Portuguese, Rafi continues to prove that he is among the most talented artists in Latin America – always setting the bar higher for innovation, quality and influence. Rafi’s quick-witted observational humor, intelligence, and worldly view have made him an online sensation as well as the first Brazilian comedian to become a regular at the most globally renowned comedy clubs, including the Comedy Cellar in New York and Laugh Factory and the Hollywood Improv in California. He is also the first Brazilian comedian to headline at the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal, Canada, the largest comedy festival in the world.
Among his many credits, Rafi has three comedy specials on Netflix, "A Arte do Insulto", "Péssima Influencia", and "Ultimato". He has starred in movies, worked as an in-field journalist, and hosted both his own controversial talk show, and an array of reality shows (including Netflix's "Ultimate Beastmaster"). He is owner and co-Founder of Comedians, the largest comedy club in South America. Let’s just say Rafi has done almost everything in Brazil, and now he’s docked in the USA to do it all with a fresh perspective – in UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY.
