Comedy Fest Chat: Steen Raskopoulos

Steen Raskopolos won Best Newcomer at the 2013 Sydney Comedy Festival and was nominated as Best Newcomer at the 2013 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. He’s back in Melbourne for this year’s MICF with I’m wearing two suits because I mean business.

He chats with Anne-Marie Peard about what to do when a drunk jazz band heckle and tells us what shows he isn’t going to miss at the festival.

Steen Raskopoulos
Steen Raskopoulos

What MICF shows are you most looking forward to seeing?
Late Night Gimp Fight, The Axis of Awesome, Late Night Impro, Matt Okine, Rhys Nicholson, Ronny Chieng, Luke McGregor and Michael Hing. But, I’d have to say I’m most excited about Susie Youssef’s debut show Sketchual Chocolate. She is also a solo sketch performer, one of the best I’ve ever seen.

What makes MICF different from all the other festivals?
I think the ability to find a quality show/meal/drink/coffee/other  within walking distance of the performance venue you’ve chosen is pretty awesome. 

What’s an absolute must do for you in Melbourne?
On 12 April at the video game arcade on Bourke St at 10 pm, Matt Okine and I will duel compete in three games of Street Fighter IV to see who is the King of Melbourne. You don’t have to ask who the current champ is … it’s me.

What comedians/performers have influenced you the most?
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. They both come from a strong improv and sketch background, not to mention Tina’s Greek, which appeases my grandparents knowing a Greek has been successful in my profession. 

What advice do you wish you’d been given before your first gigs?
Enjoy the moment and don’t react onstage to something you don’t like during an improv show – the audience can see your distasteful reactions on your face.

Do you do still your own flyering? Can you tell us something great or horrific that’s happened to you when flyering?
I did it every day last year. Obviously when no one knows who you are, you have to put in the work. Also, it felt more rewarding when you see the people you’ve flyered in the audience later that night. I once met the reincarnation of Cleopatra – well that’s what he said; he wasn’t very convincing.

What’s the best (or worst) thing a review has said about you or your show?
Well, I’ve never read a review about me, but Skeen Paskopoulos and Steven Raskololpoulous seem to be going pretty well and I wish them the best.

If you could invite anyone to see your show (and you know they would come), who would it be? Ghostbusters Bill Murray; not Garfield Bill Murray.

What comedian (alive or dead) do you wish you’d seen live?
I think watching John Belushi and Bill Murray improvising together would be an amazing show.

When did you realise that being funny is the career for you?
Performing Theatresports week in and out at Sydney University, the crowds laughter was so infectious.

What’s the best heckle you’ve received?
I can’t really remember a heckle, my show isn’t really stand up so I don’t really give them an opportunity. But one of my last times hosting the Sydney University Theatresports Grand Final, a jazz band was double booked for the night. There were over four hundred students there for Theatresports so the band got bumped from the night. The band then decided it’d be professional to get drunk and heckle.
They kept yelling out, so I used one of the guy’s heckles as a piece of stimulus and then just publicly humiliated him. You’d think that was enough, but a friend of mine came up to me after the show and told me how the heckler’s girlfriend yelled at him in front of everyone and screamed “You’re not getting sex for a week!” and then walked off. I shit you not!

Is there anything you’re not prepared to joke about?
Bees. They are my one weakness and allergy.

Anne-Marie Peard

Anne-Marie spent many years working with amazing artists at arts festivals all over Australia. She's been a freelance arts writer for the last 10 years and teaches journalism at Monash University.

Anne-Marie Peard

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