Yianni Agisilaou (born 5 April 1978) is an Australian-born comedian based in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. His comedy normally takes the form of an illustrated lecture on a single central theme. He is a frequent performer at both the

Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

and the

Melbourne Comedy Festival The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is the largest stand-alone comedy festival and the second-largest international comedy festival in the world. Established in 1987, it takes place annually in Melbourne over four weeks, typicall ...

. He has appeared on television shows such as Take The Mike (ITV) and

Raw Comedy Raw Comedy is an Australian annual competition for emerging stand-up comedians held by Melbourne International Comedy Festival. It was established in 1996 and is supported by national youth radio station Triple J. In 2011, there were 1,100 conte ...

(

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

Life

He was born on 5 April 1978 in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

into a family of Greek-Cypriot descent. His secondary education was at

Scotch College, Melbourne (For God, for Country, and for Learning) , established = , type = Independent, day and boarding , gender = Boys , denomination = Presbyterian , slogan = , ...

. He then studied Law and Finance at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

graduating

LLB Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the China, People's Republic ...

BCom A Bachelor of Commerce (abbreviated BComm or BCom; also, ''baccalaureates commercii'') is an undergraduate degree in business, usually awarded in Canada, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana, South Africa, Myanma ...

(

Hons Honours degree has various meanings in the context of different degrees and education systems. Most commonly it refers to a variant of the undergraduate bachelor's degree containing a larger volume of material or a higher standard of study, or ...

) and began working in the legal firm of

Baker & McKenzie Baker McKenzie is an international law firm located in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded in 1949, originally named Baker & McKenzie. It now has 77 offices in 46 countries. It employs 4,809 attorneys total, and approximately 13,000 employees tot ...

. However, he abandoned his legal career in favour of a life on the comedy circuits. He began stand-up in 2000 in Australia whilst still at university and found fairly success as Best New Act of 2001. He then appeared in the TV show Raw Comedy, reaching the final in

Melbourne Town Hall Melbourne Town Hall is the central city town hall of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and is a historic building in the state of Victoria since 1867. Located in the central business district on the northeast corner of the intersection between S ...

in front of a live audience of 1,500. In 2002 he performed acts in both the United States and Great Britain during a 6-month break from the legal world. He moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in August 2004. One of his largest shows was the 1200 capacity

Edinburgh International Conference Centre The Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) is the principal convention and conference centre in Edinburgh, Scotland. Location The centre is part of the masterplanned Exchange District in the west end of the city, and was designed by t ...

during the 2013

Think Big tour. He was also one of the performers at a 4000 crowd in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. He regularly comperes and/or performs at music festivals and comedy festivals. He has entertained British troops in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

and the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouzet ...

. His 2017 show "Pockets of Equality" is part of the

Australian Broadcasting Company The Australian Broadcasting Company Pty. Ltd. was a company founded in Melbourne in 1924 with a capital of £A 100,000 by a consortium of entertainment interests, notably Farmer & Company, J. C. Williamson Limited and J. & N. Tait to fou ...

's "Comedy Next Gen" series beginning in November 2017.

Performances

*Raw Prawns (2002) new Australian talent at the

*The World Stands Up (2005) (contributor) *Yianni's Head

Free Fringe The Free Fringe (also known as PBH's Free Fringe, after its founder, Peter Buckley Hill) is an organisation that promotes free shows during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival, every August. Unlike most event pro ...

, Edinburgh Festival (2006) *Maybe You'd Like To Teach The Class Free Fringe, Edinburgh Festival (2007) *MP3some Free Fringe, Edinburgh Festival (2009) *The Universe: A User's Guide Free Fringe, Edinburgh Festival (2010) *They @#@~ You Up, Greek Parents Free Fringe, Edinburgh Festival (2010) *Things That Make You Go Ooooh Free Fringe, Edinburgh Festival (2011) *Numb and Number Free Fringe, Edinburgh Festival (2012) *Think Big Free Fringe, Edinburgh Festiva] (2013) *Why Did The Chicken Cross The Line? Free Fringe, Edinburgh Festival (2015) *Comedians Against Humanity Free Fringe, Edinburgh Festival (2015–2017) *

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...

Taught Me Everything I Know, Free Fringe, Edinburgh Festival (2016) *The Un-Pinchable Pink Pen,

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

Fringe, Australia (2017) *Pockets of Equality, Free Fringe, Edinburgh Festival (2017) *I, Human,

2018

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agisilaou, Yanni 1978 births Living people Australian male comedians Australian expatriates in England Australian people of Greek Cypriot descent Comedians from Melbourne