Relax with the King of Greek Ethnic Comedy Angelo Tsarouchas
Angelo Tsarouchas
I interviewed comedian Angelo Tsarouchas who is performing as part of this year’s Ethnic Show line up. Montrealer at heart, Tsarouchas, was born to Greek parents living in the area or Parc Extension or the “Greek hood” as he calls it. For Tsarouchas who grew up in Montreal and then moved to Ottawa, stand-up comedy was always the center of his career. He started performing comedy in high school at variety shows. However it was something that came very naturally for him. Being silly with the other kids at school helped him propel his comedic talents further. Yuk Yuk’s was one of the first stand-up comedy clubs that Tsarouchas performed at where his success saw a steep rise.
Tsarouchas saw a decline in his career as a comedian after he first got married. However after this setback, he gathered his courage and went back at it with even stronger desire to succeed. He continued performing in comedy clubs, which became the core of his career in show business, and eventually took it further by getting himself an agent and immersing himself in acting as well. Tsarouchas has been on screen with some of the biggest names in the cinema industry such as Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Russell Crowe and many others.
If you might be wondering what his humor is about, well he does a lot of observational humor and storytelling. His comedy has no limits and he says that if he is able to dish it out, he can certainly take it back and laugh at himself. A lot of the subjects he jokes about are directly related to his origins. Angelo says that with a name like Tsarouchas, pronounced Tsar-ou-has, there are a lot of things to laugh at. Good material is produced when there is tension in everyday situations he also states that comedy comes from pain and therefore “comedy = tension + time.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syBisxITXaA
After performing everywhere around the world, Tsarouchas places Montreal in third position in his favorite crowds’ list after Cape Town, South Africa and Melbourne, Australia. When asked about his personality in regards to his chosen career, Tsarouchas says that he is pretty laid back as a person however he stresses that he focuses on coming up with jokes to entertain his crowds. Otherwise he tries to keep himself busy and has normal everyday worries. His vibrant personality and eclectic character are going to certainly keep a grin plastered on your face.
Angelo Tsarouchas animates of the Ethnic Show with his hilarious comedy about nationality, origin, background and identity. Along with him is Iranian-American host Maz Jobrani known for detangling misconceptions about race and the Middle-East. Sharing the stage with Angelo Tsarouchas and Maz Jobrani is comedian Erik Griffin who comes from a multicultural background. Mike Marino, Paul Varghese and Elon Gold also join this year’s ethnic show troop. Be sure to attend if you would like to laugh your ass off.
Just For Laughs’ The Ethnic Show: Ethnical Difficulties plays at Metropolis on July 17-19 at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. and July 20, 22, 23 at 7 p.m. $59/62
