Hop For Pop
Press Kit
Comedian · Singer · Writer
Aarushi Agni
Made to sing for the aunties and uncles at Indian parties in Wisconsin, aged four, against her will — and struck by what a room does when you hold it. She has been chasing that ever since.
Based
New York City · from Madison, Wisconsin
Works in
Solo show · Stand-up · Sketch · Improv · Music
Known for
EMOJI: The Hieroglyphs of Our Time
Also
Teacher
Interview
56 min · Hop For Pop · 2026
“The desire to be understood is greater than my fear.”
Aarushi Agni — Hop For Pop
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Biography
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Aarushi Agni is a New York comedian, singer and writer who grew up in Madison, Wisconsin. She was performing before she chose to: it became known in the family that she could sing, and at the big Indian house parties of her childhood her father would ask her to, at which point every adult in the room would join in until she gave in. She was four or five, and what stayed with her was not the singing but the effect — watching a crowd of people with far more life experience than her being moved by her voice.
She started stand-up in Madison, where the scene was small enough that everyone knew each other, and then spent close to a decade in New York working out which rooms were actually safe to develop material in. Sketch came next — she was recruited onto an all-Asian sketch team specifically because they kept writing musical sketches and needed someone who could sing — and then improv, which she describes as pure fun.
Her solo show, EMOJI: The Hieroglyphs of Our Time, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Send the Risky Text, is her own description: a TED Talk that is also a musical, and also a comedy. It is a substantial departure from the variety shows, sketch shows and bands she has worked in before, and she took it to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2026.
The part other press kits leave out
What you should know before you book her
Aarushi Agni is a genuine multi-hyphenate rather than a comic with a party trick — the singing is not a bolt-on, it is where the whole thing started. She is also unusually reflective about what performing costs and what it gives back.
Singer first, comic second
The voice is trained and natural, and it is why she was pulled into sketch in the first place. A musical show from her is a musical show, not a comedian attempting one.
Form-blending on purpose
Her show is a lecture, a musical and a comedy at once. She is explicit that this is unlike anything she has staged before, and she is doing it deliberately.
She knows what holding a room is
Her account of performance is about presence and controlled space rather than jokes — something she traces directly back to being a small child in front of a roomful of adults.
Teaching feeds the stagecraft
She teaches, and says holding space with people comes naturally because connection is the actual objective. It shows in how she works an audience.
Rooms matter to her
She sought out the New York mics where women and people of colour were present, on the grounds that you cannot develop material in a room where you are performing defensively.
Honest about the exposure
She is clear that being seen invites comment, that she registered having an audience very young, and that she has been defiant about it ever since.
For press · cleared for use with attribution
Quotable
01
“My parents would make me sing in front of people against my will — but then I would always be kind of happy that I did it.”02
“The aunties would be so dramatic about it, as though my voice was the cure to their suffering.”03
“Being so small, and seeing a crowd of people who had so much more life experience or power being moved by my voice — it really affected me.”04
“It is crazy how people respond when you are able to hold that space, or have that presence.”05
“It’s this place where none of the regular rules apply, and everyone’s just taking your lead.”06
“The desire to be understood is greater than my fear.”07
“Even though I feel all of these shame-related emotions when I’m on stage, that’s the moment when I actually have so much control, and I feel so much safety.”08
“I’ve gotten better at owning the space that I take up in the world.”09
“Because you’re allowing yourself to be seen, you open yourself up to criticism.”10
“From very young I was aware there was an audience — and that’s something I’ve been defiant about my whole life.”11
“What I want is to connect with people. That’s always my dream.”12
“You go to a mic wanting to do your best material so people will book you — but you’re actually supposed to be working out material at mics.”13
“I figured out which rooms felt safe to be in, and safe to work on stuff in.”14
“Somebody said: you sing really well and people keep writing musical sketches, so you should join our sketch team.”15
“Improv is so fun. It’s silly, it’s just that one time.”16
“It’s a TED Talk that’s also a musical, and it’s a comedy.”
Attribution: Aarushi Agni, speaking to Hop For Pop, 2026.
Career
Selected credits
Solo work
- EMOJI: The Hieroglyphs of Our Time, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Send the Risky Text — Edinburgh Fringe 2026
- Her first show of this kind, after years of variety shows, sketch shows and bands
Comedy & music
- Stand-up — began in Madison, Wisconsin; close to a decade on the New York circuit
- Sketch — member of an all-Asian sketch team, recruited as their singer
- Improv
- Singer and musician; has performed in bands
Also
Teacher, including on a summer programme. Writer and content creator with a wide-ranging Instagram presence.
This kit was produced by Hop For Pop. The interview and quotes are drawn from Hop For Pop × Aarushi Agni, recorded 2026. Aarushi Agni and their representatives are free to use any part of this document — the biography, the quotes — for booking, press and promotion, with credit to Hop For Pop for the interview material.
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