Steen Raskopoulos
Steen Raskopoulos (born 3 July 1987) is an Australian comedian, actor and improviser. He is best known for his live character solo sketch shows,[1] playing John Mahogany in BBC Three's Top Coppers[2] and as one half of the award-winning improvisation duo, The Bear Pack.[3]
Early life
Steen was born in Sydney. His father is former Australian association footballer Peter Raskopoulos. He studied at Sydney University where he first started improvising and performed Theatresports at Manning Bar.
Live Comedy Career
Raskopoulos debuted his first solo sketch show Bruce springSTEEN LIVE IN CONCERT at the 2013 Melbourne International Comedy Festival.[4] He was nominated for Best Newcomer, and won the same award at the Sydney Comedy Festival later that year.[5] In 2014, he returned with a new show, 'I'm Wearing Two Suits Because I Mean Business'.[6] He sold out his seasons in Melbourne, Sydney, London and Edinburgh and was nominated for the Fosters Comedy Awards Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.[7] His latest show 'Character Assassin' earned him a Barry Award nomination for best show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.[8] Steen is also the youngest ever Theatresports National Champion of Australia, winning the title in 2008 with Simon Greiner and two members from The Axis of Awesome, Jordan Raskopoulos & Lee Naimo.
The Time He Threw Nine Hundred Basketballs Into The Orca Tank At SeaWorld
Largely considered - although not confirmed - to be the reason for Raskopoulos' life-time ban from the theme park. SeaWorld officials described the incident as:
"All together far too many basketballs to go into an orca tank. Frankly, one is too many, but nine hundred? This is the sort of thing that keeps management up at night. The orcas were fine, we have to stress that, but getting them out of the tank took weeks - we had to use a giant scoop. [Raskopoulos] is no friend of SeaWorld and no friend of the sea, either."
Raskopoulos is also banned from Warner Brother's Movie World for 'repeatedly burning down the Batman ride'.
TV career
Raskopoulos has starred on the sketch show This is Littleton (ABC), SlideShow (Channel 7), Legally Brown (SBS), It's a Date (ABC), The Code (ABC), Utopia (Australian TV series) (ABC) and is the lead in the BBC Three sitcom, Top Coppers.[9]
Awards & Nominations
- 2008 National Theatresports Champion
- 2013 Best Newcomer Sydney Comedy Festival
- 2013 Best Newcomer Nomination Melbourne International Comedy Festival
- 2014 Best Newcomer Nomination Edinburgh Fringe Festival
- 2014 Sydney Fringe Laughs Award (The Bear Pack)
- 2014 Australian Writers Guild Comedy - Sketch or Light Entertainment This Is Littleton (2014)[10]
- 2015 Best Newcomer Nomination Chortle Awards
- 2015 Best Character/Sketch Nomination Chortle Awards[1]
- 2015 Barry Award Nomination[11] Melbourne International Comedy Festival
References
- 1 2 "TWO CHORTLE AWARD NOMINATIONS FOR STEEN RASKOPOULOS". comedy.com.au.
- ↑ "BBC - Filming gets under way for BBC Three comedy Top Coppers - Media Centre". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
- ↑ Elissa Blake. "The Bear Pack and the art of improvisation". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
- ↑ Craig Platt. "Steen Raskopoulos - Melbourne International Comedy Festival". The Age. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
- ↑ Sydney Comedy Festival#Awards 2
- ↑ "Steen Raskopoulos – I’m Wearing Two Suits Because I Mean Business review". Time Out London. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
- ↑ "Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Awards". Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Awards.
- ↑ http://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/comedy-festival/melbourne-international-comedy-festival-2015-barry-award-nominees-announced/story-fni0fdi2-1227304505189
- ↑ "Barry Award 2015 WINNERS announced!!". comedyfestival.com.au.
- ↑ http://www.highwirefilms.com.au/littleton-nominated-awards/
- ↑ Annabel Ross. "Melbourne International Comedy Festival: 2015 Barry Award nominees announced". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 August 2015.