RAFI BASTOS: Unfamiliar Territory

presented by
Just For Laughs

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 super-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 media, and is one of the first comedians to pioneer the art of American-style stand up comedy in Brazil.

Rafi’s 17-year comedy and acting career before coming to the United States garnered many firsts, and was covered in an interview on The Joe Rogan Experience. After setting more than a few records, he opened a stand up comedy club and continuously created National controversy by challenging Brazil’s oppressive laws surrounding freedom of speech.

Rafi’s videos with stage performances, music videos, interviews, and sketches have now more than 370 million views on his Youtube channel alone. In 2011 he was considered by the NEW YORK TIMES as the Most Influential Man on Twitter — with 7 million followers at the time, now 11.4 million. In 2013 Rafi won the SHORTY AWARDS — also known as the “Oscars of Social Media” — for Best Comedian. Both in English and Portuguese, Rafi continues to prove that he is among the most talented artists of 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 a hit online, and the first Brazilian comedian to become a regular at the most renowned comedy clubs globally, including COMEDY CELLAR in New York, LAUGH FACTORY, and THE HOLLYWOOD IMPROV in California. He is also the first Brazilian comedian to headline at JUST FOR LAUGHS — the largest comedy festival in the world — hosted in Montreal, Canada.

Among his many credits, Rafi has three comedy specials on Netflix: A Arte do Insulto, Péssima, Influencia, and Ultimato. He has starred in movies, had his own controversial talk show, and been an in-field journalist and hosted reality shows (Ultimate Beastmaster for Netflix). He is the Co-Founder and owner of Comedians — the largest comedy club in South America. Let’s just say Rafi has done almost everything in Brazil, and now he’s in the USA and Canada to do it all with a fresh perspective in: UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY.