Rufat Agayev

Rufat Agayev and his parents immigrated from Azerbaijan to the United States as refugees of war in the ‘90s. He quickly fell in love with hip-hop and started rapping as a teen. While attending Florida State University, he released music and opened up for big-name artists like Wiz Khalifa, Big Sean, and Mac Miller.

After moving to New York City to further his music career, he decided to try a different forum to tell his story: stand-up. Unsure where to start, he asked his friend from college, Kevin Barnett, a writer on Broad City, what to do. Barnett gave Rufat the link to a website run by a Russian guy that listed open mics in the city, and he’s been at it ever since.

Rufat was a finalist in New York’s Funniest at the New York Comedy Festival in 2019. He’s a featured writer in the book Alien Nation, a collection of short stories from immigrants published by Harper Collins. You can see Rufat perform all over the country at clubs, colleges, festivals, and independent shows. In New York City he has a self-produced show at Scorpion Records, and he’s a regular at BKLYN Comedy Club and the world-famous Comedy Cellar.