Dini Dimakos
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Dini Dimakos is a
Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical acts. These performances are typically composed of rehear ...
.


Early life

Dimakos was born in
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 ...
of Greek descent and was raised in the rural town of
Shelburne, Ontario Shelburne (2021 population 8,994) is a town in Dufferin County, Ontario, Canada, is located at the intersection of Ontario Highway 10, Highway 10 and Ontario Highway 89, Highway 89. Shelburne hosts the Annual Canadian Championship Old Time Fiddli ...
, an hour north of
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 ...
. Her family ran a restaurant in the nearby town of Primrose, Ontario. She began working at the restaurant as a seating hostess, dishwasher and garlic bread cook at the age of 6, during the 1980s. Her family later sold the restaurant to relatives and opened another restaurant down the street in 1991. Dimakos later attended Centre Dufferin District High School and starred in productions of ''
Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical theater, musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Run ...
'' and ''
Bye, Bye Birdie ''Bye Bye Birdie'' is a stage musical with music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams, based upon a book by Michael Stewart. Originally titled ''Let's Go Steady'', ''Bye Bye Birdie'' is set in 1958. The play's book was influenced by Elvi ...
''. She graduated with honours and continued on with a partial scholarship to
York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...
.


Performing career


Radio

In the late 1990s Dimakos began interning at a
Brampton, Ontario Brampton is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario, and the regional seat of the Regional Municipality of Peel. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#L ...
radio station called Hot 103.5 FM, which would later be known as Hits 103.5 FM, and currently ''Z 103.5'' ( CIDC), (Evanov Group LTD). The station specialized in dance music and Top 40 hits. Within a month of interning, Dimakos was hired on as a Promotions Assistant. While at a concert, Dini performed an impromptu live on-air cut in. This led to weekend stints as an on-air personality, broadcasting live on location. Eventually she was filling in on the morning show as a co-host while radio personality Elvira Caria was on maternity leave. Her experience as a morning show co-host was further enhanced by working along with the host of the show Darrin "Big D" Laidman.


Television production

After her time in radio, Dimakos began to take interest in television broadcasting. She volunteered her time at ''2001 Canadian Comedy Awards'', which led to a chance meeting with television personality and comedian Mista Mo, who co-starred in the television show ''Buzz'' and on
The Comedy Network CTV Comedy Channel (often shortened to CTV Comedy) is a Canadian English-language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. subsidiary Bell Media which focuses primarily on comedy programming and operates two time-shifted feeds, runni ...
. Having a keen interest in Canadian television and how a comedy show was produced, Dimakos was soon hired as a Production Assistant on Buzz by MTR Entertainment. She worked on the show from seasons 3 to 6. She was later promoted to the Senior Production Coordinator on seasons 5 and 6.


Improvisation and stand-up beginnings

During this time, Dimakos was attending improv classes at
The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise. It is the oldest improvisational theater troupe to be continuously based in Chicago, with training programs and live theaters in Toronto and New York. Since its debut in 1959, it has b ...
in Toronto and began writing stand-up material. She partook in a week long stand-up comedy workshop at
Humber College The Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, rebranded as Humber Polytechnic since 2024, is a public Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, college in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1967, Humber has three mai ...
in 2003 under the guidance of veteran comedians Larry Horowitz and
Mike MacDonald Michael Macdonald (born June 26, 1987) is an American professional American football, football coach who is the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the defensive coordinator for the B ...
. This was a life-altering time for Dini as she found a love for writing and performing stand-up comedy. She quickly signed up for amateur nights at the
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 ...
Comedy Club in Toronto, Ontario. She also began performing on the
open mike An open mic or open mike (shortened from "open microphone") is a live show at a venue such as a coffeehouse, nightclub, comedy club, strip club, or pub, often taking place at night (an open mic night), in which audience members may perform on ...
circuit in the Toronto area.


MuchMusic ''Video on Trial''

Dimakos may be best known for her work, from 2006 to 2013, on
MuchMusic Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...
. She was a series regular for network's hit show, ''
Video on Trial ''Video on Trial'' is a Canadian comedy television program that airs on Canadian television network MuchMusic. The show consists of a panel of musicians, comedians, and entertainment columnists critiquing five different music videos in a courtroo ...
'', featuring on over 20 episodes along with the likes of Canadian comedians
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 ...
,
Debra DiGiovanni Debra DiGiovanni (born March 21, 1972) is a Canadian stand-up comedian originally from Tillsonburg, Ontario. She is a frequent guest on the CBC Radio program '' The Debaters'', for which she earned a Canadian Comedy Award nomination for writi ...
and
Trevor Boris Trevor Boris (born September 10, 1980) is a Canadian comedian, writer and television producer. Television work Boris is one of the stars of MuchMusic's '' Video on Trial'', and is also a star of '' Stars Gone Wild''. He has appeared on many oth ...
.


MuchMusic ''Stars Gone Wild''

MuchMusic Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...
launched a new show in September 2007, '' Stars Gone Wild''. The show blasted current celebrities by a menagerie of colorful characters. Dini appeared on several episodes respectively as ''Posy Perennial'', ''Matthew the Emo Girl'', ''Dr. Pat McGroin'', ''Belinda Belissima'', ''Chandelier W. Bush'' (girlfriend of Boomer Phillips' character Lance Sherbourne), ''Rhonda the Housewife'' and most popularly as the daring nun, ''Sister Siobhan O'Shepardspie''. The series was one of the highest rated shows on the network.


''Much on Demand''

In October 2007, Dini was interviewed live on '' Much on Demand'' by VJs
Leah Miller Leah Miller (born July 20, 1981) is a Canadian television host and former MuchMusic VJ from Toronto, who was the host for the three seasons (2008–2011) of ''So You Think You Can Dance Canada''. She was also a correspondent for the entertainme ...
and Matte Babel. She was asked about her career in stand-up comedy as well as her character work on ''Stars Gone Wild''. Dini noted her earliest influences as
Mike Myers Michael John Myers, (born May 25, 1963) is a Canadian actor, comedian, and filmmaker. His accolades include seven MTV Movie & TV Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2002, he was awarded a star on the Hollywood W ...
,
Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. Primarily a comedic leading actor in films, List of awards and nominations received by Adam Sandler, his accolades include an Independent Sp ...
and
Eddie Murphy Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He had his breakthrough as a standup comic before gaining stardom for his film roles; he is widely recognized as one of the greatest comedians of all time. H ...
.


Stand-up

In February 2007, Dini was chosen as the opening act for veteran comedian Angelo Tsarouchas on the ''It's All Greek To Me Tour'' in
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
and
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. The tour was spearheaded by Clayton Peters of Clayton Peters International Management. Clayton Peters is most widely known in the industry as manager and brother to Russell Peters. Later that year Dini performed in
Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
at a local club. She then went to
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, England, in July 2007 to perform at Jongleurs, a popular London Comedy chain. Dini was well received by international audiences and continued to earn attention on an international level thanks to her live performances and material on
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
. In the summer of 2007, she was the first comedian ever to perform live on the Toronto show ''Bitch Salad''. Bitch Salad is helmed by fellow Canadian comedian Andrew Johnston. He hosts a popular blog of the same name. That same year, Dimakos performed on the annual ''Accent on Toronto (6) - The Laughs Are On Us'' alongside Jean Paul and Frank Spadone. ''Accent on Toronto'' is nationally aired on
CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...
One, 99.1 FM.


Film

In October 2007, Dimakos won the role of Grace on the short film ''Speed Dating''. Grace is a jilted, closeted lesbian who is secretly in love with her best girlfriend.


Later career

, Dimakos' personal
LinkedIn LinkedIn () is an American business and employment-oriented Social networking service, social network. It was launched on May 5, 2003 by Reid Hoffman and Eric Ly. Since December 2016, LinkedIn has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft. ...
page shows that, following a career in entertainment from 1998 (as a fill-in radio host) to 2019, followed by schooling and training from 2019 to 2021, she is now Dini Dimakos Shevchenko, and is a Registered Social Service Worker (RSSW) with the Hills of Headwaters Collaborative Ontario Health Team, specifically part of the team located in
Caledon, Ontario Caledon (; 2021 Canadian census, 2021 population 76,581) is a town (Ontario), town in the Regional Municipality of Peel in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. The name comes from a shortened form of Caledonia, the Roman name for what is ...
, providing support and caregiving to healthcare workers and their families throughout
Dufferin County Dufferin County is a county and census division located in Central Ontario, Canada. The county seat is Orangeville, and the current Warden is Janet Horner. The current chief administrative officer is Sonya Pritchard. Dufferin covers an area of ...
.


Press

In November 2007 Dimakos was featured in the ''
Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...
'' twice in the same day. An article by Michele Henry focused on Dini's life as a Toronto comedian including where she performs, shops and resides in the city. The second feature was a humorous quip by the young comedian on the commercialism of Toronto and was used to promote CBC Radio One's production of ''Accent on Toronto 6 - The Laughs Are On Us''.


References


External links

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Dini Dimakos at Accent on Toronto 2007
Standup routine via CBC.ca {{DEFAULTSORT:Dimakos, Dini Canadian women comedians Canadian people of Greek descent Comedians from Toronto Living people People from Dufferin County Seneca College alumni York University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)