Comedian Steen Raskopoulos has capped a hugely successful Melbourne International Comedy Festival with a nomination for the prestigious Barry Award.
The 27-year-old is one of six acts to be nominated, and one of three Australians to be selected.
Lawrence Mooney, Sam Simmons, Damien Power, the UK’s Luisa Omielan and John Kearns join Raskopoulos in the line up.
In his third year at the Comedy Festival, Steen wowed audiences with his sketch show Character Assassin.
Known for his expert use of audience participation, Steen created a lot of humour and heart with his skits. A few of his famous characters made a comeback, including the hilarious Greek Orthodox Priest Yianni Kostopopoulos, who reviewed Disney’s Frozen, all in hymn.
Raskopoulos is no stranger to top nods despite his recent foray into comedy. He won the Sydney Comedy Festival’s best newcomer award in 2013 and was nominated for both the Melbourne Comedy Festival’s and Edinburgh Fringe Festival’s best newcomer.
The Greek community might recognise the Raskopoulos name. Steen’s father is former Socceroo Peter Raskopoulos and his brother Jordan is a member of comedy trio Axis of Awesome. The Barry Award winners will be announced on Saturday night at Melbourne’s Hi Fi Bar.