Angelo Tsarouchas () is a Canadian comedian, actor, and writer living in Los Angeles. He is known for incorporating Greek culture into his stand-up comedy routines, and has been called the "King of Greek Ethnic Comedy." He organized World Dafni Day, a celebration of Greek diaspora from Dafni, his father's birthplace.

Career

Angelo Tsarouchas was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

to Greek immigrant parents. Tsarouchas' father was from

Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...

, while his mother was from

Mytilene Mytilene (; el, Μυτιλήνη, Mytilíni ; tr, Midilli) is the capital of the Greek island of Lesbos, and its port. It is also the capital and administrative center of the North Aegean Region, and hosts the headquarters of the University o ...

. Tsarouchas learned Greek at an early age as a result of his mother's struggles with learning English. During high school, Tsarouchas performed comedy acts in variety shows. Tsarouchas temporarily gave up his dreams of becoming a comedian when he married his first wife, because she did not believe in pursuing a career in comedy. He founded several small businesses including a restaurant, a travel agency and a bowling alley. After his first marriage ended, Tsarouchas' business dissolved and he was left with only $900 to his name. He decided to drive to from Ottawa to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, where he began pursuing a career in comedy. During his early years as a comedian, he performed in small comedy clubs like

Yuk Yuk's Yuk Yuk's is a national comedy club chain in Canada, founded by former stand-up comedian Mark Breslin and established in 1976 by Breslin and long-time friend Joel Axler. The company is currently run by Breslin and his long-time partner and presi ...

. His stand-up comedy began to gain critical praise in the early 2000s, when Tsarouchas toured Canada and the United States. Tsarouchas has performed at various comedy tours and festivals, including the Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days and 30 Nights – Hollywood to the Heartland, the Russell Peters World Tour, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and the Just for Laughs festival. He starred in the comedy specials ''Still Hungry'', ''It's All Greek to Me'' and ''Bigger is Better''. Much of his stand-up routines center on his experiences as a part of the

Greek diaspora The Greek diaspora, also known as Omogenia ( el, Ομογένεια, Omogéneia), are the communities of Greeks living outside of Greece and Cyprus (excluding Northern Cyprus). Such places historically include Albania, North Macedonia, parts of ...

, and he is known for his distinctive style of observational humor. He played Detective Muldoon the children's mystery show

The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo ''The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo'' is a children's mystery television series that ran on Nickelodeon between 1996 and 1999. A total of 41 episodes of 30 minutes each were produced. Episodes from the first three seasons were taped at Nickelodeon ...

from 1996 to 1999. He starred as Vinnie D'Angelo in the 2011 comedy film ''Fred and Vinnie'' opposite Fred Stoller. He won "Best Actor Award" for the role at the London Greek Film Festival, and was nominated for "Best Actor" at the 14th Canadian Comedy Awards. Tsarouchas produced the documentary ''Back to Sparta'', about his experiences returning to Sparta, where his father's family originated. In 2016, Tsarouchas had the idea of organizing a festival in Dafni, Laconia to celebrate the Dafnian diaspora abroad. He also starred in 2017 along his fellow comedian

Russell Peters Russell Dominic Peters (born September 29, 1970) is a Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, and producer. He began performing in Toronto in 1989 and won a Gemini Award in 2008. In 2013, he was number three on ''Forbes'' list of the world's highe ...

in small role in

The Indian Detective ''The Indian Detective'' is a Canadian crime comedy-drama series which debuted on CTV and Netflix in 2017.

Personal life

Tsarouchas became engaged to Armenian-American businesswoman Alina Basil in 2009. The couple married and have a daughter.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tsarouchas, Angelo 1964 births Living people 20th-century Canadian comedians 20th-century Canadian male actors 21st-century Canadian comedians 21st-century Canadian male actors Canadian stand-up comedians Canadian male comedians Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Canadian people of Greek descent Ethnic humour