Angelo Tsarouchas () is a Greek-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 is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
to Greek immigrant parents. Tsarouchas' father was from
Sparta
Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...
, while his mother was from
Mytilene
Mytilene (; ) is the capital city, capital of the Greece, 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 of the Aegean. It was fo ...
. 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 from
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
to
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, 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 pres ...
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...
, 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 (), are the communities of Greeks living outside of Greece and Cyprus.
Such places historically (dating to the ancient period) include, Greeks in Albania, Albania, Greeks in North Macedonia, North Maced ...
, and he is known for his distinctive style of
observational humor Observational comedy is a form of humor based on the commonplace aspects of everyday life. It is one of the main types of humor in stand-up comedy. In an observational comedy act, the comedian makes an observation about something which is common eno ...
. 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 Nickelode ...
from 1996 to 1999.
He starred as Vinnie D'Angelo in the 2011 comedy film ''Fred and Vinnie'' opposite
Fred Stoller
Fred Stoller (born March 19, 1958) is an American actor, stand-up comedian and author. He is best known for portraying Gerard on ''Everybody Loves Raymond''.
Early life
Stoller was born in New York City and grew up in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. ...
. He won "Best Actor Award" for the role at the
London Greek Film Festival
The London Greek Film Festival is an international film festival
A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theater, cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some f ...
, 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
Dafni (, also Δάφνιο - ''Dafnio'') is a small town of Laconia in the Municipalities of Greece, municipality of Evrotas (municipality), Evrotas, and to the Krokees municipality before the 2011 Kallikratis reform. In the 2021 census its populat ...
to celebrate the Dafnian diaspora abroad. He also starred in 2017 along his fellow comedian
Russell Peters
Russell Dominic Peters (born 29 September 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'' Forbes Celebrity 100, list o ...
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 has a daughter.