Nick Giannopoulos


Nicholas Giannopoulos is an Australian stand-up comedian, film and TV actor and film director of Greek descent. He is best known for his comedy stage show Wogs Out of Work alongside George Kapiniaris, the television sitcom Acropolis Now and the film The Wog Boy and has been described as "Australia's leading exponent of "wog" humour".

Early life

Giannopoulos was born in Melbourne, Australia, the first-born son of Greek immigrant parents. He grew up in the inner Melbourne suburbs of Fitzroy and Richmond and attended Abbotsford Primary School and Richmond High School. In 1981 he was accepted into the Drama course at Rusden State College where he also was a student in Media Studies. He left Rusden halfway through his course when he auditioned and was accepted into the Drama School at the Victorian College of the Arts, from where he eventually graduated.

Career

Comedy

Giannopoulos co-created and starred in the ground breaking stage show Wogs Out of Work which remains one of the highest grossing Australian created live shows of all time. He has followed up Wogs Out of Work with the Wog Boys, Wog-A-Rama and Wog Story stage shows. Giannopoulos has also made appearances at the Melbourne Comedy Festival, as well as co-authored books In 1990-1991, he toured Australia to full house audiences for eight months as the star of the stage production of Acropolis Now Live Onstage, which he co-produced. In 1993-1995, he toured Australia with his ethnic comedy stage show Wog-A-Rama. In the 90s, he toured Australia with his ethnic comedy stage show Wogboys.

Television

Giannopoulos was one of the creators and stars of the television sitcom Acropolis Now. It was a popular TV show based on Greek-Australians maintaining a Greek café in Melbourne. It consisted of 5 seasons with 3 main characters throughout the shows series. The show aired from 1989 until 1992, on Channel Seven. Acropolis Now had higher ratings than 60 Minutes and A Current Affair.
In 2004, Giannopoulos hosted and produced the TV special Greece Is The Word on the Seven Network and repeated before the Athens Olympics Opening Ceremony. In 2005, he developed a new comedy series Get Nicked that was commissioned by the Seven Network but was cancelled just before going into production.

Acting

In 1990, Giannopoulos was the director and star of the play The Heartbreak Kid with which he toured Australia. In 1991 he played Danny Zuko in the David Atkins production of the musical Grease at the Footbridge Theatre in Sydney.

Film

Giannopoulos' film credits include The Wog Boy, which is the 20th highest grossing Australian movie of all time. He also stars in , The Wannabes and a cameo in Fat Pizza vs. Housos.

Awards

Giannopoulos has won numerous awards including two Mo Awards for Best Comedy performer of the year in 1998/99, and the Comedy Star of The Year award.