November 20, 2025 • 35 mins
Rafi Bastos joins us to share his journey from starting comedy in Brazil to become the country's most famous comedian before moving to America and rebuilding his fanbase from scratch. This is masterclass is finding your voice and most authentic self.
Learn more about Rafi Bastos: https://www.rafibastos.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome back to Hot Breath,your weekly comedy tune up.
I am your host, comedian JoelByers, and our guest today is not
only a comedian, but the manwho started stand up comedy in South
America, which means nothing,which means nada.
As I know Mexican, Spanish, Idon't know Portuguese.
(00:21):
Oh, yeah.
Vote Vosotros.
That's all they taught us.
That's not Portuguese.
In America it is.
You thought you knewsomething, but you know actually
nothing.
That's good, that's good.
Well, he started comedyactually at a point in South America
where they were having toteach the audience what stand up
(00:42):
comedy already is.
He built the scene from theground up in just a few years, becoming
the biggest comic in Brazil,where he was actually known as the
Jon Stewart of Brazil.
After getting sued for acouple jokes and going through a
bit of a cancellation andpeople coming after him, he stood
his ground and stillmaintained that loyal following he
had from the beginning.
(01:02):
But he decided he wanted toget out of his comfort zone.
Your favorite line.
Oh, my God.
It looks like you're reading,but you're not.
You.
Did you memorize all of this?
Yeah.
Thank you.
For you.
This is wow.
For you.
Thank you, my friend.
Yes.
And should I keep going or.
Please.
Yeah.
I'm in awe.
I was about to get you movingto America.
No, please, please, please godo your thing because this is amazing.
(01:24):
I'm going to cut clips fromthis part.
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
So he moves to America, startsfrom scratch, doesn't try to leverage
his following in Brazil,builds another successful stand up
career here in America in justa few years, where he is now going
consistently viral and sellingout venues across the country.
This man has built twosuccessful comedy careers in two
(01:47):
different countries, in twodifferent languages, and today we're
going to learn how he did it.
Ladies and gentlemen, hotbrother and sister, welcome to the
hot breath of verse, Hafina Bastos.
Thank you for having me.
Yes, yes.
Welcome, welcome, welcome very much.
It's my pleasure.
I asked.
I actually asked to be on the show.
Yes.
Yeah, we connected.
Years ago, I asked two people to.
(02:08):
Be on the show.
I asked this one and I askedto be on Mark Norman's show.
The only two people.
Wow.
I actually asked to be on the show.
Why did you want to be on it?
You.
Why?
Because you talk about comedyand I like.
I love to talk about comedy.
You know, I love to be able togo into specifics and the process.
(02:29):
I like to.
I love stand up comedy andit's good to have a place where you
can Actually express yourselfand talk about the art form.
Yeah.
What do you love about it, man?
For me, it was a chance toactually match what I was doing at
the time.
I was a journalist, so I. Ialready had the observations, you
(02:53):
know, because I thinkjournalists try to look for interesting
things outside of the box a little.
And also I was starting to dosome comedy in Brazil, a little,
like, impersonators, like,doing some costume stuff online.
So when I learned about Stan,I was like, oh, so I can be funny
without all of these accessories.
(03:14):
That's amazing.
And I started watching somepeople at the time because I went
here to live in America toplay basketball.
So I watch it on tv, and I waslike, this is awesome.
I would love to do somethinglike this.
And then I started doing stuff.
So I love it.
I love the.
Because I think it matched my.
My personality a lot, you know?
But you're doing.
You say you start stand up,but you're doing it for people that
(03:36):
don't even know what stand up is.
Well, in the beginning.
Yeah, in the beginning, nobodyknew what stand up was.
So we.
We.
We were going up on stage,people were confused.
Right, right.
Because, like, is this a speech?
Is this like a.
Because this guy, is heactually himself?
So I'm a guy from the south.
(03:57):
I come from the south ofBrazil, and my father is Jewish.
So some people come to me atthe end of the show and come up to
me and be like, I love theJewish guy you do on stage.
It's.
That's the character thatpeople need to watch this.
I was like, no, no, I am that guy.
Okay.
People don't believe thatyou're actually yourself.
So that actually was veryconfusing for a lot of people, not
(04:20):
only to understand the formatbecause of the controversies, because
people are like, is thatreally his opinion about this?
Is he just making fun of the.
Well, what is.
What is.
What is going on?
It was confusing for them forus, too.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Because I had all the backlashwith jokes.
It's like, I don't want peopleto think that I'm a Nazi, but I want.
I would like to be able totalk about.
(04:41):
You had Nazi jokes.
I don't have it, but I'm.
What I'm saying, like, well,I'm not a. I don't hate women, but
if I. I can make a joke thatgo and touch that subject, you know?
Right.
So it was confusing for thepress, for the people, and even for
us to actually differentiate ourselves.
You know, what.
Who is.
Who is me?
(05:02):
And what do I Actually thinkabout those different subjects, you
know?
So what were those early shows?
Where were.
If people don't even know whatstand up is, where are you performing?
What is the crowd?
We started doing bars.
Okay.
Yeah.
In days that they didn't have music.
So, like a Tuesday in a bar.
(05:23):
I remember the first bar thatwe started doing stand up in Brazil
was a BDSM bar.
So we would go to thebathroom, and there was, like, cocks
and vaginas.
Yeah, I remember it was likethis was the only place was set that
as doing comedy.
They had a stage.
It looked good.
Like, the.
(05:43):
The setup was good.
Right, right, right.
But the.
The vibe was weird.
Like chains, bro.
Yeah.
And, like, pictures and weirdpictures of people having sex.
But it was the only chance,the only place who gave us an opportunity
to do it.
So after a while, when peopleactually got to know what stand up
(06:04):
was, then it was easier.
We just would book somewhereand they would.
And people knew when YouTubeshowed up in Brazil, like 2005.
Okay, then people are comingto the show because they watched
us on YouTube, you know?
Okay, so you were alreadythinking of social media even back
then.
Oh, yeah.
The whole thing about cuttingclips from the show.
We were doing this in 2004.
Five.
(06:24):
Oh, my God.
I was.
I actually had a viral videobefore YouTube.
It was a video of me talkingabout marriage.
It was a very old joke that I did.
One of my first jokes that Iused to say that marriage is a happier
moment for the woman than itis for the man.
That's why she wears white andhe wears black or something.
(06:46):
It was very simpleobservations, very predictable, because
we were just studying.
Of course, we couldn't evenwatch other people doing.
I think that was the biggest challenge.
The only reference we had waslike, those opening the seinfeld
Episodes in 2005 or 6, if Iremember correctly.
(07:10):
We.
Some of us.
It was like a small group of guys.
We had a CD.
A CD with files from thoseComedy Central presents, remember?
Yeah.
24 minutes.
25 minutes.
Yeah.
So I remember we had, like, aCD with Ted Alexandro, Adam Ferrara,
(07:32):
Brian Regan, Jim Gaffingen,Louis CK There was, like, a few of
those, and we would watch them.
It was like, oh, look at this.
There's material here.
When YouTube popped up, andthen people start posting stuff there.
We could watch more things.
Then we would start.
We started having morereference to do what we were doing.
(07:54):
Right.
But how did you find otherpeople even to do stand up?
Like, if you're.
You learned about it here inAmerica, and then go back and now
I learned here.
I remember I met two otherpeople who knew what stand up was.
They didn't.
They didn't ever watch it inperson or anything like that.
But Seinfeld was big in Brazil.
(08:15):
Okay, okay.
Seinfeld was big in Brazil.
So it was a reference, a guyspeaking on stage.
I remember, like our.
My first video promoting ourshow in Brazil started with.
Have you ever watched thoselittle monologues that Seinfeld does
every episode?
That was the first video of uspromoting Stand up to a new audience.
(08:37):
So that was our reference.
So we had that.
Are you still cool with thoseearly people?
Did y' all keep in touch or.
Most of them.
Most of them, yeah.
Yeah, most of them.
Some of them are not doinganymore and they quit in the beginning.
But actually, most of thosepeople in the be.
They became stars in Brazil.
(09:00):
Wow.
Still have a good relationshipwith a few.
Some of them, I don't talkthat much.
Some of them, we hate each other.
That also happened because you started.
You hate each other.
Yeah, that happened too.
Was such a small group of people.
People were so different.
Competition was a little.
Was a little too much.
And comedians, we all havesuch small egos.
(09:21):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
It was kind of bumpy.
But I have very good friendsfrom that time.
I still have very good friendsfrom that time.
So what was the situation?
I saw the joke you did onlinethat, like, got canceled and you
got sued.
I'm just trying to think ofwhat was the transition to.
I mean, moving to America isnot something you just like, oh,
(09:43):
I'll just move to anothercountry and start my career over.
It's kind of like, what wasthe point in your career in Brazil
to where you were like, I gotto switch it up or I'm going to go
take this huge chance andstart over in this new country known
for comedy.
What was the.
Well, I feel there, Joel.
I feel like there's a fewmotivations for me to try to do it
(10:07):
in another country for.
First of all, I was always aguy trying to hang with high level
in everything I was doing.
So I remember when I wasplaying basketball, I wanted to play
ncaa.
I always trying to aim for the stars.
(10:30):
That's what you want to do.
If you're playing basketballin Guatemala, you wanna.
Your dream is to play in the NBA.
Even if you're in the bench ofthe Minnesota Timberwolves, you wanna
be there.
So you dream about being there.
But I was always active ontrying to pursue that.
So I actually came here toplay and study.
So it was always a dream inthe back of my mind.
(10:53):
Like I would love to see how Iwould, you know, how I would.
Am I gonna be able to actuallyhave a career or actually.
Or step on stage and do wellin New York and stuff?
So it was.
I was always curious aboutthat, but it was never something
that was possible or realbecause I was doing so much, so many
(11:13):
different things in Brazil.
It was like a very distantdream for me.
Then I had a career in Brazil,was able to build a career for myself,
made, made a little bit ofmoney enough for me to be comfortable,
you know, was a little tiredof the whole controversies and backlash
(11:34):
with jokes and having toexplain myself all the time.
And a little.
I didn't want to be afraid ofbeing creative because this is, this
is, this is a trap that we allhave to run away from.
Like when people start to lookat you and see everything you're
doing, you start to be alittle more careful.
(11:55):
And the good thing about whatwe do is that we have control and
we can say whatever we want.
And we don't necessarily haveto say the most horrific shit.
But I want to be the one who'sgoing to choose what I'm going to
say or not.
You know, I'm not saying thatpeople are like not allowing me to
say stuff there, but it wascausing so many problems and issue
(12:19):
for me that I was like, it'snot fun anymore.
The only thing that therepercussion with my work is only
the controversies people are seeing.
Like there's a psychopath.
I'm not this guy, you know?
So you become a little careful.
And I didn't want to becareful because when you start being
careful, you lose your authenticity.
So I was like, I needsomething, I need more, you know,
(12:40):
So I had every.
I did everything I wanted todo in Brazil.
I'm not saying that everythingwas a success, but I did everything.
I did series, I did TV shows,I did movies, I did SNL in Brazil.
I did a few things that waslike dreams of mine, you know.
So I remember 2017.
(13:01):
My ex wife at the time waslike, we gotta, we.
Why don't we go to America?
This is like, this is too much.
The things here are crazy.
Let's just move, let's justtry something new.
So I kind of made everythingpossible for me to try this thing.
So when I first started doingshows in English, I was like, I felt
(13:25):
alive again.
I felt in love with stand upagain because I felt the same excitement
that I had in the beginning.
And I wasn't feeling this foryears already, you know, Years.
Because I was doing anothershow and another show and traveling
my country.
We are very limited in Brazilbecause we have good people.
(13:47):
It's a big country.
But also we speak a languagethat only, like, three or four countries
speak in the world.
It's Brazil, Portugal, Angolaand Mozambique.
It's just like.
And we don't go to Angola andMozambique to do shows.
So it's very small.
So I was like, I need to beable to.
I want to conquer the world.
Right?
That's what I wanted to do.
I want to conquer more, you know?
(14:08):
So doing in English was the.
Was the path to do it, you know?
Did you know English when youmoved here?
Yes, I knew it because Iplayed here.
I played here.
My English was not that good.
My wife helps me so muchbecause she has been living in America
since she was, like, 20 yearsold, and now she's 22.
(14:28):
She's not.
She's 36.
I'm just kidding.
She's so.
She helps me a lot.
She helps with translating everything.
When I say something wrong,she corrects me.
So my English got much better.
I wouldn't.
I wouldn't be able to get to.
To give you this interview in 2018.
Okay.
You know.
Yeah.
Let me plug this recorder in.
Don't worry if dies.
(14:52):
Do you lose the file?
No, I don't think it was still safe.
I just bought it this week.
Yeah, I have an H6.
Like, but it's not.
Like, this one's more.
Mine has more buttons.
This is.
Is a.
This is the newer version, but it.
I just.
I'd been using the samerecorder since I started this show,
(15:13):
like, eight or nine years ago,and then it finally just.
I had an issue, you know, earthquake.
You know, the community earthquake.
So I was supposed to interviewhim when he was in Atlanta, and the
recorder wouldn't work.
So we ended up doing it when Iwas in la.
But, like, that was kind ofthe last straw of, like, I need to
figure this out.
So we're plugged in now.
(15:33):
We're good.
Yeah.
So we're talking about youlearning English.
Yeah.
Basically America, comedy.
You started in LA and thenmoved to New York, and now you are
basically.
I mean, New York is like theMecca of comedy.
That's where if you want tobecome one of the greats, that's
where iron sharpens iron, for sure.
(15:54):
I feel I have.
I love to do shows like wejust did here with my people.
People paid to Watch me, right?
It's crazy because the processwith me, it's kind of different.
Like, the dream of everyAmerican comedian is hustle and then
headline and be famous.
I. I feel like I had that inBrazil, so now I feel like I have
(16:19):
more fun doing spots in NewYork then.
I love to be here.
Of course I make money, Iconnect with my people, I take pictures
with them.
It's awesome.
But I feel like I moved hereto live the life of a comedian in
New York, so I'm happy there,you know?
So I don't.
(16:39):
I'm not.
I'm not, like, excited, so I.I don't.
I'm not even searching forfame, and I want to be, like, conquering
so much.
I just want to do comedy anddo stand up.
So having, like, two or threespots at the Cellar in one night
is the best.
I can watch people.
I can get excited watchingother people.
(17:00):
You know, this.
This little.
The little insect of thesuccess sometime is, like, biting
me a little.
And I'm like, I wanna.
I wanna do more.
I wanna conquer.
I wanna.
But then I was like, I have torethink and think, like, why did
I move here?
Just to be a comic.
And this is what I have beendoing the past few years.
So did you go from like,performing for thousands of people
(17:23):
in Brazil to then doing, like,open mics?
No, I never did open mics back here.
I never did open.
I never did.
Okay.
I kind of.
I wouldn't say open my.
It's crazy because Stand uphere has, like, clear, right?
Clear, like, comic steps.
(17:43):
Yeah, steps.
And, you know, like, you.
For sure, there's a hierarchy here.
You start and then you MC andthen you feature and then.
I didn't do open mics when Iwent to la.
I started performing at theLeft Factory and the Improv, they
kind of embraced me.
Okay.
I did.
(18:04):
Well.
People knew who you were.
No, they didn't.
They didn't knew.
They didn't know who I was.
I had a friend, a comedianfriend called Jade Carapo.
Okay.
She's a.
She's from Brazil.
She was born in Brazil, butshe moved to America when she was,
like, five, six years old.
She introduced me to theclubs, and I remember my.
(18:25):
The first time I performed atthe Laugh Factory, Jamie, you know
the guy who owns there?
Jamie.
Jamie Masada came up to me andsaid, yeah.
He said, buddy, you need tomove here.
I was like, oh, you think so?
You are very good.
This is.
Is this your, like, first time?
It was my.
It was my first Time doingstandard English.
And he was like, you.
There's so many things for youto do here.
(18:45):
It's a big.
You have a lot of Latinos.
You should definitely come andmoved here.
I was like.
It was like my first timedoing it, so I was like, that's good.
So I did well.
I did well.
I had a differential.
I was from a big country andthere was no Brazilians doing it.
So I think probably thefollowing kind of helped me.
(19:10):
I never used the credentials,but if they do a little research,
they know, you know, they knowthat I have like a million 1500 thousand
followers.
They know.
They know that, you know.
Right, right.
So.
But it happened because I. I did.
I did well.
But you didn't like la.
(19:31):
No, I. I kind of liked it, butNew York was better for a few reasons.
Logistically is much betterfor me.
Closer to Brazil, there's likethe shorter flights, cheaper flights,
more flights.
I have a kid in Brazil.
I need to go a lot there.
I also, I like to.
(19:55):
I write every joke I do.
I actually write.
I memorize those jokes.
That's the way I do.
I don't.
I'm not the guy who just go,ah, you know what, let's talk about
the Pope and see what I come.
What I can do.
No, no, no, I don't, I don't,I don't, I don't.
No, not.
Not even in Portuguese.
I used to do it.
I actually write everything,every little verb.
And when I do.
When you do it in anotherlanguage, I need to really be memorized
(20:20):
so then I can make it looklike it's not memorized.
I can play, I can act likeit's just coming now, this idea,
if I'm not memorized, then Ilook stiff, you know, So I need to
be really sure of what I'm doing.
So New York was better for that.
I feel like New York's morelike material oriented la.
(20:44):
It's a lot of actors, a lot of acts.
It's fun, you know, but it's adifferent type of comedy.
So I felt like I had more tolearn in New York too.
And I got passed at the ComedyCellar, which was.
Which became my.
My house.
Yeah.
That's the best.
Yeah.
So was there any ever, like,like you said, it can be kind of
(21:04):
cutthroat and whatnot.
Was there any of that when youcame into New York?
Was there any kind ofhesitation from other comics, like,
who is this guy?
Or anything like that?
I.
No, no, I don't, bro.
I think probably there was ButI didn't see.
Oh, yeah, and you're funny.
Being funny helps.
Yeah, I think he helps.
Yeah.
The problem with comedy is wenever know exactly what people think
(21:28):
about your comedy.
I don't know what they thinkabout what I do.
Because there's no.
Rarely you get compliments,and rarely you get someone honest
that come up to you and belike, you know this joke you're doing
kind of hacky.
What do you think?
I would love for someone tocome up to me and be like, I had
(21:50):
a few people who gave meadvices, and I love those advice.
It helped me so much.
Little things.
Little things that helped me.
I remember I used to do this joke.
This is one of my first jokesin America.
I used to say, I'm from Brazil.
I'm Brazilian.
So I know what you guys are thinking.
This guy waxed his vagina was.
(22:12):
Was like one of my first jokes.
Talking about myself, becausethat's the first instinct.
And someone told me, you know,awesome, you have this special cut.
This.
You know what you guys are thinking.
This is old.
This is an old.
So just go straight to the joke.
So the little things like this.
And then I became like, I'mfrom Brazil.
(22:33):
I'm Brazil.
So yeah, I wax my vagina.
Little things that made thatthing doesn't.
Is not as sucks.
It's not the worst joke in the world.
I'm just giving example.
Of course, of course.
Of like a little tweak that acomedian told me.
And I'm like, oh, thank you.
Nobody says anything.
They all.
I'm.
I'm pretty sure people talkbetween themselves.
(22:56):
All, this guy sucks.
Oh, that guy's amazing.
But they don't talk.
I compliment people when I goand when someone is doing a spot
and I'm going after, if thatperson did well, I tell them, that
was awesome, bro.
You killed it.
Not everybody does that.
Yeah.
Why?
(23:18):
I don't know.
You know?
Yeah, I like more camaraderiein comedy for sure.
That's what this show's all about.
I would love to have someonelistening to me like, oh, I have
an idea of a tag for you.
Mm.
I don't know if people feel offended.
Do you think some people feeloffended when you.
I don't know.
I wouldn't feel offended.
I'm open to suggestions.
You never know what may spark what.
Because even like that edittook the word like the joke from
(23:41):
like 15 words to eight, and itmay take it from a four to a seven
exact.
You know, like every.
Like, you said every single word.
Matters, and every single word counts.
And.
And it's more personal now.
Instead of, I know what you'rethinking now.
You're telling them.
And now it's more confident ina way.
See, we don't talk about the way.
That's why places like thisare good when you talk about the
(24:04):
process.
That's why I love, like,Mark's and Sam's to talk about comedy.
They don't.
They don't.
They're not worried aboutgetting more audience because they
want to be more broad.
Not going to specifics,because I think it's cool.
And I think people areenjoying seeing this too, you know?
Yeah.
People are having fun watchingpeople talking about the process
of being a comic.
(24:24):
Yeah.
And I'm excited to see morepeople like Mark and Sam doing it
on their shows because it'screating more of an appetite for
it.
Because, I mean, I did.
I started this show maybe2015, so maybe like, 10 years ago.
And this was back beforeanyone was, like, thinking about,
what do you set up Punchline?
What are you.
What are you talking about?
Like, none of this.
(24:45):
People weren't caring about that.
But I feel like as the biggercomics are now starting to talk about
it, I can see it starting totrickle down to this show of, like,
oh, there's.
Where else can we learn aboutthis kind of stuff?
Do you.
Did you have, like, big comicsthat sent you messages?
Oh, I love your show.
Like, comics, like, yeah, I'vehad Mark on and I've had Sam on for
sure.
Yeah.
And, like, Joe List, who Markdoes another podcast with.
(25:07):
Earthquake is one.
Did they send you messageslike, oh, I love your show?
No, Earthquake did.
I'm thinking.
I'm trying to think ofexamples of who reached out.
Earthquake was definitely one who.
We did a review of his comedyspecial, his Netflix special, and
he reached out with, like,gratitude about how helpful, like,
how much he loved it and justthe positive spirit of the show and
(25:29):
all that.
So, I mean, I've definitelyhad comics reach out nice.
And just show gratitude thatit exists.
But it's been a.
It's been a steady climb.
I would say it's been a laborof love for a while.
And, you know, now with a kid,it's kind of like, oh, I don't.
You can't buy diapers with karma.
You know, maybe.
(25:50):
Maybe we can start to rampthis thing up a little bit, which
it is.
So I'm very grateful.
And now you're on here, so which.
To the moon now.
Oh, my God, it's gonna get Views.
My people watch this thing.
Yeah, they do.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
There's a few podcasts that ifyou see them, the.
The number of views takes timebecause the algorithm distribute.
They're not gonna come here inthe first week.
(26:12):
Right.
But my name is going to be there.
So all of a sudden, they'regetting a podcast from Rafi and they're
going to watch, like, in amonth, two months.
There's a few podcasts thatall of a sudden they have, like,
with me, like the one I didwith Natalie Cuomo, Greg Stone, if
you see the.
Views are like, oh, look atthis, people love you.
I mean, the show tomorrow,sold out.
This one tonight was almostsold out.
(26:34):
And it was really.
I mean, they were mainlyBrazilian, actually.
No.
You know why it looks like itis because they're loud.
Oh, well, they weren't.
They were looking at me like,why is this guy from immigration
up here right now?
If you ask that Brazilians ina house, you're gonna hear a lot
of noise.
But if you actually ask who'snot Brazilian, you see, like a good
(26:58):
40%.
Is like, oh, well, that'sgood, though.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
But like, immigrants, what Iwould say Brazilians.
Yeah, but immigrants.
A lot of immigrants there.
That's my audience.
That's the people who actuallyidentify of with what I'm doing,
which is something that I'mtrying to run away from right now
(27:19):
creatively.
And I've been thinking aboutit a lot, you know, because my first
show was very like, fish outof water.
Which I would say is yourfirst instinct when you're an immigrant
comedian.
Coming here is watchingeverything with a perspective of
(27:41):
like, I'm an immigrant andthings are weird.
Let me point out the weird things.
And in Brazil, for years, Iwas talking about myself, my life,
my kid, my.
My wife, my.
My dog, my dad, my father.
And I feel like my first showwas very like me with this outside,
outside perspective of America.
(28:02):
This show that I did here.
I already have like a good 50,60% of the show, which is about my
father, about the Internet,about technology, about my kid, about
marrying a younger woman.
I'm trying to go that moreprobably I won't have the same appeal
with my people, but I don'twant to be the immigrant for the
(28:26):
rest of my life.
I am an immigrant.
I'm proud to be an immigrant,but I don't want to be the guy who
you go for just for this lookspecifically, you know.
Yeah, yeah.
But I still have the comfort zone.
I have those jokes that workwith my people.
But I'm trying to, you know,to balance a little.
So I'm not just thisextraterrestrial who landed here
(28:50):
and is pointing fingers ateverything, you know, I want them
to know me a little more.
That's so interesting.
Was in comedy in Brazil.
It sounds like it was very autobiographical.
Yeah, a lot.
So was there much of adifference with the audiences here?
Like, you just had to figureout how to do these things in English,
but, like, the sensibilitykind of similar.
(29:12):
Well, what I would say is thatI'm being personal recently.
I'm writing more thingspersonal recently.
My first whole hour.
I would say almost whole hour.
It's me writing about things Isee here.
Well, I didn't.
I actually never translated alot of my material I wrote.
(29:34):
One of the reasons why I movedhere was to be creative.
I want to write things in.
I want to put myself inanother reality and be able to be
creative.
That's why I moved here.
I could translate a lot of thejokes, and some of them I did.
And I just posted on Instagram.
I use a lot of my old materialfor clips, right?
So I memorized, like, a oneminute of an old joke in Brazil.
(29:55):
I was like, oh, I'm talkingabout my.
My.
My cell phone here.
Oh, I could translate.
This could be a clip.
And then I go with the cellthat I recorded and I posted.
It's not part of the hour, butI do that a lot.
But I feel like in thebeginning was a lot of me just pointing
fingers, you know, like,pointing and seeing, oh, look at
this, you guys.
Are we.
Your commercials, you know,your medication commercials, because
(30:20):
everybody's happy.
Medicare people are dying.
Those people are like, theAIDS people have aids, and they're
dancing in commercial.
So this is me, like, lookinghow things are weird.
And even America, it's notonly immigrants who like this.
Even Americans, I can see theyare so used to those things that
they don't see them anymore.
So when I come and I point along.
(30:41):
This is weird.
You guys shoot guns for fun.
It's weird.
It's me.
But now I want more of the.
I want them to know where I'mleaving, what's the moment that I'm
living in my life.
You know, I'm trying tobalance this.
Yeah, I think that's good foryoung comics.
Starting out is to try to tapinto that stuff early and not try
to think of, like, oh, what'sthe silly turn?
(31:03):
Or whatnot.
But think about, well, what isunique about me or my point of view
and how can I find humor in that?
And I feel like that's whenyou start to connect to that authenticity,
I think.
Yeah, it's crazy, right?
Because we are living in thismoment where people are celebrating
all the storytellers.
(31:24):
You know, I feel like peopleare celebrating guys like Chappelle
and people who actually talkabout their lives and their perspective
about reality and life, butalso, like, the observational.
I'm a huge Jim Gastingen fan.
I think he is amazing.
Amazing.
(31:45):
He should be celebrated muchmore than he is, because now it's
this moment where people liketo see.
Yeah, but who is this guy?
What is his thinking?
Right?
And I feel it's so unfair.
Seinfeld is a genius.
Yeah.
He has been doing a lot of thesame material for a long time, but
whatever pieces of art thatguy has, you know, So I think there
(32:06):
is a little bit of both, you know?
That's true.
There is no.
Should I mean, comedy.
There is no shoot.
It's whatever you want, really.
I just think that yourperspective, even if it's not about
your life.
Right.
Can be unique, and you can becreative in things that other people
even already talked about.
As long as it's you looking atthat thing, you know, it's difficult
(32:28):
to be unique, and it takes time.
I. I think, like, I've heardthat when.
When George Carney, like, five.
Like three years before GeorgeCarlin died, he was like, I feel
like I'm getting right now.
I think.
I think.
I think I know who I am.
Right, bro.
That guy with that manyspecials and a huge career at seven
(32:49):
years old, he was like, hey, Ithink I'm starting to figure out
who I am.
So it takes time, you know?
Yeah.
So I think.
I think she's trying to kickus out.
Yeah, she's trying to kick us out.
Okay, well, we can land the plane.
We'll do.
Yeah, we'll.
We'll do.
We'll do this again, though, I think.
I don't want her to.
She was.
She like, get out of here.
Yeah.
(33:10):
Does she know who this is?
Well, I mean, do you have any.
I mean, you.
You like the show?
You know, the spirit of it.
Do you have any closing adviceor anything?
We didn't get to.
That.
You want to get to.
I hope that some otherimmigrant comedians can watch this
and.
And I hope that my story, it'san inspiration for other comics to
actually try to come toAmerica and do it, you know, and
(33:32):
be yourself and create anarrative and be able to tell your
Story.
There's so many successfulcomedians in other countries that
see what I'm doing, they'relike, oh, that's so cool.
So try it.
You know, I know this is a lotof comics.
Watch this.
Try it.
Try to be different.
I'm starting to do.
My plan is to have an hour in Spanish.
Now, that's what I wanted to do.
(33:53):
So challenge yourself.
Mix it up to be creative.
Put yourself in other placesand situations that can make you
more creative and.
And.
And create more material.
You know, don't just keeprunning to the same cities and doing
the same shows and the sametheaters for the rest of your life,
(34:13):
because that's not.
It's.
It's cool.
Yeah, it is.
You're.
You have an audience.
You have a loyal audience.
But build that audience is difficult.
But if you have a chance, justtry to do something new and different
because you're going to be happy.
Well, I appreciate your time.
My pleasure, my friend.
Where would you like people togo and support and show love?
People are kicking us out,but, yeah, people are.
(34:35):
We get no respect around here.
This is the.
This is the biggest comedyinterview show in the world.
So many people today, they'remaking money out of my.
Making a lot of money.
And they tried to upsell on mewhen greets.
They tried to do meet and greets.
It's horrible.
Horrible.
And now they're saying, getout of here after all this money
you made.
For them, my friend.
Americans, America, becauseyou're an immigrant.
Americans, because you're an immigrant.
(34:57):
I heard him talking.
They're like, we would let.
If he was American, he couldstay all night, but he's.
He's an immigrant.
You know, this country is just.
You came at the worst time.
I'm so sorry for us.
Yeah, it was three years agowith Biden.
They wouldn't be kicking this video.
Let me tell you something, Rafi.
Comedy.
Just follow me on my Instagram and.
And.
And I'll have a lot ofmaterial there.
Beautiful.
(35:17):
Well, there you go.
Hot breath the verse.
Go follow Rafi on social media.
If you enjoyed this episode,let him know you appreciate his time.
And we'll do a round two wherewe do it even longer.
So subscribe to our YouTubechannel and we will see y' all next
week.
Thank you, guys.
Bye.
Welcome back to Hot Breath,your weekly comedy tune up.
I am your host, comedian JoelByers, and our guest today is not
only a comedian, but the manwho started stand up comedy in South
America, which means nothing,which means nada.
As I know Mexican, Spanish, Idon't know Portuguese.
(00:21):
Oh, yeah.
Vote Vosotros.
That's all they taught us.
That's not Portuguese.
In America it is.
You thought you knewsomething, but you know actually
nothing.
That's good, that's good.
Well, he started comedyactually at a point in South America
where they were having toteach the audience what stand up
(00:42):
comedy already is.
He built the scene from theground up in just a few years, becoming
the biggest comic in Brazil,where he was actually known as the
Jon Stewart of Brazil.
After getting sued for acouple jokes and going through a
bit of a cancellation andpeople coming after him, he stood
his ground and stillmaintained that loyal following he
had from the beginning.
(01:02):
But he decided he wanted toget out of his comfort zone.
Your favorite line.
Oh, my God.
It looks like you're reading,but you're not.
You.
Did you memorize all of this?
Yeah.
Thank you.
For you.
This is wow.
For you.
Thank you, my friend.
Yes.
And should I keep going or.
Please.
Yeah.
I'm in awe.
I was about to get you movingto America.
No, please, please, please godo your thing because this is amazing.
(01:24):
I'm going to cut clips fromthis part.
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
So he moves to America, startsfrom scratch, doesn't try to leverage
his following in Brazil,builds another successful stand up
career here in America in justa few years, where he is now going
consistently viral and sellingout venues across the country.
This man has built twosuccessful comedy careers in two
(01:47):
different countries, in twodifferent languages, and today we're
going to learn how he did it.
Ladies and gentlemen, hotbrother and sister, welcome to the
hot breath of verse, Hafina Bastos.
Thank you for having me.
Yes, yes.
Welcome, welcome, welcome very much.
It's my pleasure.
I asked.
I actually asked to be on the show.
Yes.
Yeah, we connected.
Years ago, I asked two people to.
(02:08):
Be on the show.
I asked this one and I askedto be on Mark Norman's show.
The only two people.
Wow.
I actually asked to be on the show.
Why did you want to be on it?
You.
Why?
Because you talk about comedyand I like.
I love to talk about comedy.
You know, I love to be able togo into specifics and the process.
(02:29):
I like to.
I love stand up comedy andit's good to have a place where you
can Actually express yourselfand talk about the art form.
Yeah.
What do you love about it, man?
For me, it was a chance toactually match what I was doing at
the time.
I was a journalist, so I. Ialready had the observations, you
(02:53):
know, because I thinkjournalists try to look for interesting
things outside of the box a little.
And also I was starting to dosome comedy in Brazil, a little,
like, impersonators, like,doing some costume stuff online.
So when I learned about Stan,I was like, oh, so I can be funny
without all of these accessories.
(03:14):
That's amazing.
And I started watching somepeople at the time because I went
here to live in America toplay basketball.
So I watch it on tv, and I waslike, this is awesome.
I would love to do somethinglike this.
And then I started doing stuff.
So I love it.
I love the.
Because I think it matched my.
My personality a lot, you know?
But you're doing.
You say you start stand up,but you're doing it for people that
(03:36):
don't even know what stand up is.
Well, in the beginning.
Yeah, in the beginning, nobodyknew what stand up was.
So we.
We.
We were going up on stage,people were confused.
Right, right.
Because, like, is this a speech?
Is this like a.
Because this guy, is heactually himself?
So I'm a guy from the south.
(03:57):
I come from the south ofBrazil, and my father is Jewish.
So some people come to me atthe end of the show and come up to
me and be like, I love theJewish guy you do on stage.
It's.
That's the character thatpeople need to watch this.
I was like, no, no, I am that guy.
Okay.
People don't believe thatyou're actually yourself.
So that actually was veryconfusing for a lot of people, not
(04:20):
only to understand the formatbecause of the controversies, because
people are like, is thatreally his opinion about this?
Is he just making fun of the.
Well, what is.
What is.
What is going on?
It was confusing for them forus, too.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Because I had all the backlashwith jokes.
It's like, I don't want peopleto think that I'm a Nazi, but I want.
I would like to be able totalk about.
(04:41):
You had Nazi jokes.
I don't have it, but I'm.
What I'm saying, like, well,I'm not a. I don't hate women, but
if I. I can make a joke thatgo and touch that subject, you know?
Right.
So it was confusing for thepress, for the people, and even for
us to actually differentiate ourselves.
You know, what.
Who is.
Who is me?
(05:02):
And what do I Actually thinkabout those different subjects, you
know?
So what were those early shows?
Where were.
If people don't even know whatstand up is, where are you performing?
What is the crowd?
We started doing bars.
Okay.
Yeah.
In days that they didn't have music.
So, like a Tuesday in a bar.
(05:23):
I remember the first bar thatwe started doing stand up in Brazil
was a BDSM bar.
So we would go to thebathroom, and there was, like, cocks
and vaginas.
Yeah, I remember it was likethis was the only place was set that
as doing comedy.
They had a stage.
It looked good.
Like, the.
(05:43):
The setup was good.
Right, right, right.
But the.
The vibe was weird.
Like chains, bro.
Yeah.
And, like, pictures and weirdpictures of people having sex.
But it was the only chance,the only place who gave us an opportunity
to do it.
So after a while, when peopleactually got to know what stand up
(06:04):
was, then it was easier.
We just would book somewhereand they would.
And people knew when YouTubeshowed up in Brazil, like 2005.
Okay, then people are comingto the show because they watched
us on YouTube, you know?
Okay, so you were alreadythinking of social media even back
then.
Oh, yeah.
The whole thing about cuttingclips from the show.
We were doing this in 2004.
Five.
(06:24):
Oh, my God.
I was.
I actually had a viral videobefore YouTube.
It was a video of me talkingabout marriage.
It was a very old joke that I did.
One of my first jokes that Iused to say that marriage is a happier
moment for the woman than itis for the man.
That's why she wears white andhe wears black or something.
(06:46):
It was very simpleobservations, very predictable, because
we were just studying.
Of course, we couldn't evenwatch other people doing.
I think that was the biggest challenge.
The only reference we had waslike, those opening the seinfeld
Episodes in 2005 or 6, if Iremember correctly.
(07:10):
We.
Some of us.
It was like a small group of guys.
We had a CD.
A CD with files from thoseComedy Central presents, remember?
Yeah.
24 minutes.
25 minutes.
Yeah.
So I remember we had, like, aCD with Ted Alexandro, Adam Ferrara,
(07:32):
Brian Regan, Jim Gaffingen,Louis CK There was, like, a few of
those, and we would watch them.
It was like, oh, look at this.
There's material here.
When YouTube popped up, andthen people start posting stuff there.
We could watch more things.
Then we would start.
We started having morereference to do what we were doing.
(07:54):
Right.
But how did you find otherpeople even to do stand up?
Like, if you're.
You learned about it here inAmerica, and then go back and now
I learned here.
I remember I met two otherpeople who knew what stand up was.
They didn't.
They didn't ever watch it inperson or anything like that.
But Seinfeld was big in Brazil.
(08:15):
Okay, okay.
Seinfeld was big in Brazil.
So it was a reference, a guyspeaking on stage.
I remember, like our.
My first video promoting ourshow in Brazil started with.
Have you ever watched thoselittle monologues that Seinfeld does
every episode?
That was the first video of uspromoting Stand up to a new audience.
(08:37):
So that was our reference.
So we had that.
Are you still cool with thoseearly people?
Did y' all keep in touch or.
Most of them.
Most of them, yeah.
Yeah, most of them.
Some of them are not doinganymore and they quit in the beginning.
But actually, most of thosepeople in the be.
They became stars in Brazil.
(09:00):
Wow.
Still have a good relationshipwith a few.
Some of them, I don't talkthat much.
Some of them, we hate each other.
That also happened because you started.
You hate each other.
Yeah, that happened too.
Was such a small group of people.
People were so different.
Competition was a little.
Was a little too much.
And comedians, we all havesuch small egos.
(09:21):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
It was kind of bumpy.
But I have very good friendsfrom that time.
I still have very good friendsfrom that time.
So what was the situation?
I saw the joke you did onlinethat, like, got canceled and you
got sued.
I'm just trying to think ofwhat was the transition to.
I mean, moving to America isnot something you just like, oh,
(09:43):
I'll just move to anothercountry and start my career over.
It's kind of like, what wasthe point in your career in Brazil
to where you were like, I gotto switch it up or I'm going to go
take this huge chance andstart over in this new country known
for comedy.
What was the.
Well, I feel there, Joel.
I feel like there's a fewmotivations for me to try to do it
(10:07):
in another country for.
First of all, I was always aguy trying to hang with high level
in everything I was doing.
So I remember when I wasplaying basketball, I wanted to play
ncaa.
I always trying to aim for the stars.
(10:30):
That's what you want to do.
If you're playing basketballin Guatemala, you wanna.
Your dream is to play in the NBA.
Even if you're in the bench ofthe Minnesota Timberwolves, you wanna
be there.
So you dream about being there.
But I was always active ontrying to pursue that.
So I actually came here toplay and study.
So it was always a dream inthe back of my mind.
(10:53):
Like I would love to see how Iwould, you know, how I would.
Am I gonna be able to actuallyhave a career or actually.
Or step on stage and do wellin New York and stuff?
So it was.
I was always curious aboutthat, but it was never something
that was possible or realbecause I was doing so much, so many
(11:13):
different things in Brazil.
It was like a very distantdream for me.
Then I had a career in Brazil,was able to build a career for myself,
made, made a little bit ofmoney enough for me to be comfortable,
you know, was a little tiredof the whole controversies and backlash
(11:34):
with jokes and having toexplain myself all the time.
And a little.
I didn't want to be afraid ofbeing creative because this is, this
is, this is a trap that we allhave to run away from.
Like when people start to lookat you and see everything you're
doing, you start to be alittle more careful.
(11:55):
And the good thing about whatwe do is that we have control and
we can say whatever we want.
And we don't necessarily haveto say the most horrific shit.
But I want to be the one who'sgoing to choose what I'm going to
say or not.
You know, I'm not saying thatpeople are like not allowing me to
say stuff there, but it wascausing so many problems and issue
(12:19):
for me that I was like, it'snot fun anymore.
The only thing that therepercussion with my work is only
the controversies people are seeing.
Like there's a psychopath.
I'm not this guy, you know?
So you become a little careful.
And I didn't want to becareful because when you start being
careful, you lose your authenticity.
So I was like, I needsomething, I need more, you know,
(12:40):
So I had every.
I did everything I wanted todo in Brazil.
I'm not saying that everythingwas a success, but I did everything.
I did series, I did TV shows,I did movies, I did SNL in Brazil.
I did a few things that waslike dreams of mine, you know.
So I remember 2017.
(13:01):
My ex wife at the time waslike, we gotta, we.
Why don't we go to America?
This is like, this is too much.
The things here are crazy.
Let's just move, let's justtry something new.
So I kind of made everythingpossible for me to try this thing.
So when I first started doingshows in English, I was like, I felt
(13:25):
alive again.
I felt in love with stand upagain because I felt the same excitement
that I had in the beginning.
And I wasn't feeling this foryears already, you know, Years.
Because I was doing anothershow and another show and traveling
my country.
We are very limited in Brazilbecause we have good people.
(13:47):
It's a big country.
But also we speak a languagethat only, like, three or four countries
speak in the world.
It's Brazil, Portugal, Angolaand Mozambique.
It's just like.
And we don't go to Angola andMozambique to do shows.
So it's very small.
So I was like, I need to beable to.
I want to conquer the world.
Right?
That's what I wanted to do.
I want to conquer more, you know?
(14:08):
So doing in English was the.
Was the path to do it, you know?
Did you know English when youmoved here?
Yes, I knew it because Iplayed here.
I played here.
My English was not that good.
My wife helps me so muchbecause she has been living in America
since she was, like, 20 yearsold, and now she's 22.
(14:28):
She's not.
She's 36.
I'm just kidding.
She's so.
She helps me a lot.
She helps with translating everything.
When I say something wrong,she corrects me.
So my English got much better.
I wouldn't.
I wouldn't be able to get to.
To give you this interview in 2018.
Okay.
You know.
Yeah.
Let me plug this recorder in.
Don't worry if dies.
(14:52):
Do you lose the file?
No, I don't think it was still safe.
I just bought it this week.
Yeah, I have an H6.
Like, but it's not.
Like, this one's more.
Mine has more buttons.
This is.
Is a.
This is the newer version, but it.
I just.
I'd been using the samerecorder since I started this show,
(15:13):
like, eight or nine years ago,and then it finally just.
I had an issue, you know, earthquake.
You know, the community earthquake.
So I was supposed to interviewhim when he was in Atlanta, and the
recorder wouldn't work.
So we ended up doing it when Iwas in la.
But, like, that was kind ofthe last straw of, like, I need to
figure this out.
So we're plugged in now.
(15:33):
We're good.
Yeah.
So we're talking about youlearning English.
Yeah.
Basically America, comedy.
You started in LA and thenmoved to New York, and now you are
basically.
I mean, New York is like theMecca of comedy.
That's where if you want tobecome one of the greats, that's
where iron sharpens iron, for sure.
(15:54):
I feel I have.
I love to do shows like wejust did here with my people.
People paid to Watch me, right?
It's crazy because the processwith me, it's kind of different.
Like, the dream of everyAmerican comedian is hustle and then
headline and be famous.
I. I feel like I had that inBrazil, so now I feel like I have
(16:19):
more fun doing spots in NewYork then.
I love to be here.
Of course I make money, Iconnect with my people, I take pictures
with them.
It's awesome.
But I feel like I moved hereto live the life of a comedian in
New York, so I'm happy there,you know?
So I don't.
(16:39):
I'm not.
I'm not, like, excited, so I.I don't.
I'm not even searching forfame, and I want to be, like, conquering
so much.
I just want to do comedy anddo stand up.
So having, like, two or threespots at the Cellar in one night
is the best.
I can watch people.
I can get excited watchingother people.
(17:00):
You know, this.
This little.
The little insect of thesuccess sometime is, like, biting
me a little.
And I'm like, I wanna.
I wanna do more.
I wanna conquer.
I wanna.
But then I was like, I have torethink and think, like, why did
I move here?
Just to be a comic.
And this is what I have beendoing the past few years.
So did you go from like,performing for thousands of people
(17:23):
in Brazil to then doing, like,open mics?
No, I never did open mics back here.
I never did open.
I never did.
Okay.
I kind of.
I wouldn't say open my.
It's crazy because Stand uphere has, like, clear, right?
Clear, like, comic steps.
(17:43):
Yeah, steps.
And, you know, like, you.
For sure, there's a hierarchy here.
You start and then you MC andthen you feature and then.
I didn't do open mics when Iwent to la.
I started performing at theLeft Factory and the Improv, they
kind of embraced me.
Okay.
I did.
(18:04):
Well.
People knew who you were.
No, they didn't.
They didn't knew.
They didn't know who I was.
I had a friend, a comedianfriend called Jade Carapo.
Okay.
She's a.
She's from Brazil.
She was born in Brazil, butshe moved to America when she was,
like, five, six years old.
She introduced me to theclubs, and I remember my.
(18:25):
The first time I performed atthe Laugh Factory, Jamie, you know
the guy who owns there?
Jamie.
Jamie Masada came up to me andsaid, yeah.
He said, buddy, you need tomove here.
I was like, oh, you think so?
You are very good.
This is.
Is this your, like, first time?
It was my.
It was my first Time doingstandard English.
And he was like, you.
There's so many things for youto do here.
(18:45):
It's a big.
You have a lot of Latinos.
You should definitely come andmoved here.
I was like.
It was like my first timedoing it, so I was like, that's good.
So I did well.
I did well.
I had a differential.
I was from a big country andthere was no Brazilians doing it.
So I think probably thefollowing kind of helped me.
(19:10):
I never used the credentials,but if they do a little research,
they know, you know, they knowthat I have like a million 1500 thousand
followers.
They know.
They know that, you know.
Right, right.
So.
But it happened because I. I did.
I did well.
But you didn't like la.
(19:31):
No, I. I kind of liked it, butNew York was better for a few reasons.
Logistically is much betterfor me.
Closer to Brazil, there's likethe shorter flights, cheaper flights,
more flights.
I have a kid in Brazil.
I need to go a lot there.
I also, I like to.
(19:55):
I write every joke I do.
I actually write.
I memorize those jokes.
That's the way I do.
I don't.
I'm not the guy who just go,ah, you know what, let's talk about
the Pope and see what I come.
What I can do.
No, no, no, I don't, I don't,I don't, I don't.
No, not.
Not even in Portuguese.
I used to do it.
I actually write everything,every little verb.
And when I do.
When you do it in anotherlanguage, I need to really be memorized
(20:20):
so then I can make it looklike it's not memorized.
I can play, I can act likeit's just coming now, this idea,
if I'm not memorized, then Ilook stiff, you know, So I need to
be really sure of what I'm doing.
So New York was better for that.
I feel like New York's morelike material oriented la.
(20:44):
It's a lot of actors, a lot of acts.
It's fun, you know, but it's adifferent type of comedy.
So I felt like I had more tolearn in New York too.
And I got passed at the ComedyCellar, which was.
Which became my.
My house.
Yeah.
That's the best.
Yeah.
So was there any ever, like,like you said, it can be kind of
(21:04):
cutthroat and whatnot.
Was there any of that when youcame into New York?
Was there any kind ofhesitation from other comics, like,
who is this guy?
Or anything like that?
I.
No, no, I don't, bro.
I think probably there was ButI didn't see.
Oh, yeah, and you're funny.
Being funny helps.
Yeah, I think he helps.
Yeah.
The problem with comedy is wenever know exactly what people think
(21:28):
about your comedy.
I don't know what they thinkabout what I do.
Because there's no.
Rarely you get compliments,and rarely you get someone honest
that come up to you and belike, you know this joke you're doing
kind of hacky.
What do you think?
I would love for someone tocome up to me and be like, I had
(21:50):
a few people who gave meadvices, and I love those advice.
It helped me so much.
Little things.
Little things that helped me.
I remember I used to do this joke.
This is one of my first jokesin America.
I used to say, I'm from Brazil.
I'm Brazilian.
So I know what you guys are thinking.
This guy waxed his vagina was.
(22:12):
Was like one of my first jokes.
Talking about myself, becausethat's the first instinct.
And someone told me, you know,awesome, you have this special cut.
This.
You know what you guys are thinking.
This is old.
This is an old.
So just go straight to the joke.
So the little things like this.
And then I became like, I'mfrom Brazil.
(22:33):
I'm Brazil.
So yeah, I wax my vagina.
Little things that made thatthing doesn't.
Is not as sucks.
It's not the worst joke in the world.
I'm just giving example.
Of course, of course.
Of like a little tweak that acomedian told me.
And I'm like, oh, thank you.
Nobody says anything.
They all.
I'm.
I'm pretty sure people talkbetween themselves.
(22:56):
All, this guy sucks.
Oh, that guy's amazing.
But they don't talk.
I compliment people when I goand when someone is doing a spot
and I'm going after, if thatperson did well, I tell them, that
was awesome, bro.
You killed it.
Not everybody does that.
Yeah.
Why?
(23:18):
I don't know.
You know?
Yeah, I like more camaraderiein comedy for sure.
That's what this show's all about.
I would love to have someonelistening to me like, oh, I have
an idea of a tag for you.
Mm.
I don't know if people feel offended.
Do you think some people feeloffended when you.
I don't know.
I wouldn't feel offended.
I'm open to suggestions.
You never know what may spark what.
Because even like that edittook the word like the joke from
(23:41):
like 15 words to eight, and itmay take it from a four to a seven
exact.
You know, like every.
Like, you said every single word.
Matters, and every single word counts.
And.
And it's more personal now.
Instead of, I know what you'rethinking now.
You're telling them.
And now it's more confident ina way.
See, we don't talk about the way.
That's why places like thisare good when you talk about the
(24:04):
process.
That's why I love, like,Mark's and Sam's to talk about comedy.
They don't.
They don't.
They're not worried aboutgetting more audience because they
want to be more broad.
Not going to specifics,because I think it's cool.
And I think people areenjoying seeing this too, you know?
Yeah.
People are having fun watchingpeople talking about the process
of being a comic.
(24:24):
Yeah.
And I'm excited to see morepeople like Mark and Sam doing it
on their shows because it'screating more of an appetite for
it.
Because, I mean, I did.
I started this show maybe2015, so maybe like, 10 years ago.
And this was back beforeanyone was, like, thinking about,
what do you set up Punchline?
What are you.
What are you talking about?
Like, none of this.
(24:45):
People weren't caring about that.
But I feel like as the biggercomics are now starting to talk about
it, I can see it starting totrickle down to this show of, like,
oh, there's.
Where else can we learn aboutthis kind of stuff?
Do you.
Did you have, like, big comicsthat sent you messages?
Oh, I love your show.
Like, comics, like, yeah, I'vehad Mark on and I've had Sam on for
sure.
Yeah.
And, like, Joe List, who Markdoes another podcast with.
(25:07):
Earthquake is one.
Did they send you messageslike, oh, I love your show?
No, Earthquake did.
I'm thinking.
I'm trying to think ofexamples of who reached out.
Earthquake was definitely one who.
We did a review of his comedyspecial, his Netflix special, and
he reached out with, like,gratitude about how helpful, like,
how much he loved it and justthe positive spirit of the show and
(25:29):
all that.
So, I mean, I've definitelyhad comics reach out nice.
And just show gratitude thatit exists.
But it's been a.
It's been a steady climb.
I would say it's been a laborof love for a while.
And, you know, now with a kid,it's kind of like, oh, I don't.
You can't buy diapers with karma.
You know, maybe.
(25:50):
Maybe we can start to rampthis thing up a little bit, which
it is.
So I'm very grateful.
And now you're on here, so which.
To the moon now.
Oh, my God, it's gonna get Views.
My people watch this thing.
Yeah, they do.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
There's a few podcasts that ifyou see them, the.
The number of views takes timebecause the algorithm distribute.
They're not gonna come here inthe first week.
(26:12):
Right.
But my name is going to be there.
So all of a sudden, they'regetting a podcast from Rafi and they're
going to watch, like, in amonth, two months.
There's a few podcasts thatall of a sudden they have, like,
with me, like the one I didwith Natalie Cuomo, Greg Stone, if
you see the.
Views are like, oh, look atthis, people love you.
I mean, the show tomorrow,sold out.
This one tonight was almostsold out.
(26:34):
And it was really.
I mean, they were mainlyBrazilian, actually.
No.
You know why it looks like itis because they're loud.
Oh, well, they weren't.
They were looking at me like,why is this guy from immigration
up here right now?
If you ask that Brazilians ina house, you're gonna hear a lot
of noise.
But if you actually ask who'snot Brazilian, you see, like a good
(26:58):
40%.
Is like, oh, well, that'sgood, though.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
But like, immigrants, what Iwould say Brazilians.
Yeah, but immigrants.
A lot of immigrants there.
That's my audience.
That's the people who actuallyidentify of with what I'm doing,
which is something that I'mtrying to run away from right now
(27:19):
creatively.
And I've been thinking aboutit a lot, you know, because my first
show was very like, fish outof water.
Which I would say is yourfirst instinct when you're an immigrant
comedian.
Coming here is watchingeverything with a perspective of
(27:41):
like, I'm an immigrant andthings are weird.
Let me point out the weird things.
And in Brazil, for years, Iwas talking about myself, my life,
my kid, my.
My wife, my.
My dog, my dad, my father.
And I feel like my first showwas very like me with this outside,
outside perspective of America.
(28:02):
This show that I did here.
I already have like a good 50,60% of the show, which is about my
father, about the Internet,about technology, about my kid, about
marrying a younger woman.
I'm trying to go that moreprobably I won't have the same appeal
with my people, but I don'twant to be the immigrant for the
(28:26):
rest of my life.
I am an immigrant.
I'm proud to be an immigrant,but I don't want to be the guy who
you go for just for this lookspecifically, you know.
Yeah, yeah.
But I still have the comfort zone.
I have those jokes that workwith my people.
But I'm trying to, you know,to balance a little.
So I'm not just thisextraterrestrial who landed here
(28:50):
and is pointing fingers ateverything, you know, I want them
to know me a little more.
That's so interesting.
Was in comedy in Brazil.
It sounds like it was very autobiographical.
Yeah, a lot.
So was there much of adifference with the audiences here?
Like, you just had to figureout how to do these things in English,
but, like, the sensibilitykind of similar.
(29:12):
Well, what I would say is thatI'm being personal recently.
I'm writing more thingspersonal recently.
My first whole hour.
I would say almost whole hour.
It's me writing about things Isee here.
Well, I didn't.
I actually never translated alot of my material I wrote.
(29:34):
One of the reasons why I movedhere was to be creative.
I want to write things in.
I want to put myself inanother reality and be able to be
creative.
That's why I moved here.
I could translate a lot of thejokes, and some of them I did.
And I just posted on Instagram.
I use a lot of my old materialfor clips, right?
So I memorized, like, a oneminute of an old joke in Brazil.
(29:55):
I was like, oh, I'm talkingabout my.
My.
My cell phone here.
Oh, I could translate.
This could be a clip.
And then I go with the cellthat I recorded and I posted.
It's not part of the hour, butI do that a lot.
But I feel like in thebeginning was a lot of me just pointing
fingers, you know, like,pointing and seeing, oh, look at
this, you guys.
Are we.
Your commercials, you know,your medication commercials, because
(30:20):
everybody's happy.
Medicare people are dying.
Those people are like, theAIDS people have aids, and they're
dancing in commercial.
So this is me, like, lookinghow things are weird.
And even America, it's notonly immigrants who like this.
Even Americans, I can see theyare so used to those things that
they don't see them anymore.
So when I come and I point along.
(30:41):
This is weird.
You guys shoot guns for fun.
It's weird.
It's me.
But now I want more of the.
I want them to know where I'mleaving, what's the moment that I'm
living in my life.
You know, I'm trying tobalance this.
Yeah, I think that's good foryoung comics.
Starting out is to try to tapinto that stuff early and not try
to think of, like, oh, what'sthe silly turn?
(31:03):
Or whatnot.
But think about, well, what isunique about me or my point of view
and how can I find humor in that?
And I feel like that's whenyou start to connect to that authenticity,
I think.
Yeah, it's crazy, right?
Because we are living in thismoment where people are celebrating
all the storytellers.
(31:24):
You know, I feel like peopleare celebrating guys like Chappelle
and people who actually talkabout their lives and their perspective
about reality and life, butalso, like, the observational.
I'm a huge Jim Gastingen fan.
I think he is amazing.
Amazing.
(31:45):
He should be celebrated muchmore than he is, because now it's
this moment where people liketo see.
Yeah, but who is this guy?
What is his thinking?
Right?
And I feel it's so unfair.
Seinfeld is a genius.
Yeah.
He has been doing a lot of thesame material for a long time, but
whatever pieces of art thatguy has, you know, So I think there
(32:06):
is a little bit of both, you know?
That's true.
There is no.
Should I mean, comedy.
There is no shoot.
It's whatever you want, really.
I just think that yourperspective, even if it's not about
your life.
Right.
Can be unique, and you can becreative in things that other people
even already talked about.
As long as it's you looking atthat thing, you know, it's difficult
(32:28):
to be unique, and it takes time.
I. I think, like, I've heardthat when.
When George Carney, like, five.
Like three years before GeorgeCarlin died, he was like, I feel
like I'm getting right now.
I think.
I think.
I think I know who I am.
Right, bro.
That guy with that manyspecials and a huge career at seven
(32:49):
years old, he was like, hey, Ithink I'm starting to figure out
who I am.
So it takes time, you know?
Yeah.
So I think.
I think she's trying to kickus out.
Yeah, she's trying to kick us out.
Okay, well, we can land the plane.
We'll do.
Yeah, we'll.
We'll do.
We'll do this again, though, I think.
I don't want her to.
She was.
She like, get out of here.
Yeah.
(33:10):
Does she know who this is?
Well, I mean, do you have any.
I mean, you.
You like the show?
You know, the spirit of it.
Do you have any closing adviceor anything?
We didn't get to.
That.
You want to get to.
I hope that some otherimmigrant comedians can watch this
and.
And I hope that my story, it'san inspiration for other comics to
actually try to come toAmerica and do it, you know, and
(33:32):
be yourself and create anarrative and be able to tell your
Story.
There's so many successfulcomedians in other countries that
see what I'm doing, they'relike, oh, that's so cool.
So try it.
You know, I know this is a lotof comics.
Watch this.
Try it.
Try to be different.
I'm starting to do.
My plan is to have an hour in Spanish.
Now, that's what I wanted to do.
(33:53):
So challenge yourself.
Mix it up to be creative.
Put yourself in other placesand situations that can make you
more creative and.
And.
And create more material.
You know, don't just keeprunning to the same cities and doing
the same shows and the sametheaters for the rest of your life,
(34:13):
because that's not.
It's.
It's cool.
Yeah, it is.
You're.
You have an audience.
You have a loyal audience.
But build that audience is difficult.
But if you have a chance, justtry to do something new and different
because you're going to be happy.
Well, I appreciate your time.
My pleasure, my friend.
Where would you like people togo and support and show love?
People are kicking us out,but, yeah, people are.
(34:35):
We get no respect around here.
This is the.
This is the biggest comedyinterview show in the world.
So many people today, they'remaking money out of my.
Making a lot of money.
And they tried to upsell on mewhen greets.
They tried to do meet and greets.
It's horrible.
Horrible.
And now they're saying, getout of here after all this money
you made.
For them, my friend.
Americans, America, becauseyou're an immigrant.
Americans, because you're an immigrant.
(34:57):
I heard him talking.
They're like, we would let.
If he was American, he couldstay all night, but he's.
He's an immigrant.
You know, this country is just.
You came at the worst time.
I'm so sorry for us.
Yeah, it was three years agowith Biden.
They wouldn't be kicking this video.
Let me tell you something, Rafi.
Comedy.
Just follow me on my Instagram and.
And.
And I'll have a lot ofmaterial there.
Beautiful.
(35:17):
Well, there you go.
Hot breath the verse.
Go follow Rafi on social media.
If you enjoyed this episode,let him know you appreciate his time.
And we'll do a round two wherewe do it even longer.
So subscribe to our YouTubechannel and we will see y' all next
week.
Thank you, guys.
Bye.
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