Steen Raskopoulos must be used to getting coffee cups with ‘Steve’ written on the side.

As a performer, you’d be fooled into thinking Steen was his stage name, but no, he came into this world as Steen.

“I think my father had a Danish football coach at one stage and he was a really nice man, considerate, kind and warm,” he tells Neos Kosmos.

“I think dad wanted to call me Steven but mum didn’t like it and they knew this man and they said hey, this sounds like a cool name.”

At 26, Steen has made quite an impression in the tough world of Australian comedy. Known for his amazing improvisation skills and his witty characters, no show is the same.

He burst onto the scene last year with a show called bruce springSTEEN LIVE IN CONCERT, that in fact had nothing to do with the American singer.
“The poster was just a pun,” he says with a laugh.

The show might have been filled with Bruce fans, but in the end they left as Steen fans. It was a mixture of 14 or 15 characters, all living in the same world and eventually all meeting up in the end.

One of the most popular characters, a Greek Orthodox priest who reviews movies while chanting, is set to return in his new show I’m wearing two suits because I mean business for the Melbourne International Comedy festival.

“Last year I did The Avengers, and this year I’m doing Gravity,” he says.

“If anyone’s been to a Greek wedding or a Greek funeral they’ll lap it up.”

And the priest isn’t the only Greek character in Steen’s repertoire.

Growing up in a half-Greek, half-Australian household, Steen remembers learning how to perform just by watching his dad and pappou talk.

“With any conversation that we watched as kids around the table, especially when they were speaking in Greek, you could see they were so energetic,” he says.

“They weren’t even arguing – ‘THIS MEAL IS AMAZING!’.”

You can’t know for sure if there’s a little bit of pappou Raskopoulos in his technology confused character Stedios.

Away from his comedy and improv shows, Raskopoulos dabbles in writing and acting. His show This is Littleton on the ABC includes a short skit with Stedios and his Greek friend Vasili.

The two meet on a bench and in broken English, discuss technology they don’t understand.

“The first episode is about Snapchat, the second is about the Cloud and we do Angry Birds and Trojan viruses,” he says.

The show fills the void left from successful Australian sketch shows like Full Frontal, The D-Generation and Big Bite while keeping things new and in touch with a changing multicultural society.

Thirteen relatively unknown comedians take up roles in the fictional town of Littleton, with Steen portraying the delusional mayor, among others, in the four episode series.

He was one of 600 to be picked and has been a staff writer for the show.

Steen’s brother Jordan is one third of the comedy group, The Axis of Awesome, and played a big role in pushing him into the industry.

Yet, despite the fame, Steen has never really been in the shadow of his brother. He’s carved a career with his own type of comedy.

Improv was his first love and it’s what made him a unique performer.

All his shows are different thanks to him being brave and really involving the audience.

“Improv is underrated,” Steen believes. “It’s a challenge. I try and put it in all my shows, to have that sort of intimacy in the show. So whatever I did that night belongs to the audience.”

He was thrust on stage at the age of 15 when he went to watch his brother perform at university.

Sydney University has seen the likes of the Chaser boys entertain crowds at the famous Manning bar, and when they came up a man short, Steen was thrust on stage in front of 300 intoxicated uni students.

“It was very scary at first,” he says.

“I’m still here to tell the tale so it must have been pretty good.”

Improv is one of the purest forms of comedy, and for an audience member, telling a friend what they saw on the night never really translates.

It’s one of those, ‘you had to be there’ performances and it’s a great way to describe what a Steen Raskopoulos solo show will entail.

The ability to think on your feet is what makes a good comedian, and Steen has taken that in his stride.

Last year he won Best Newcomer in the Sydney Comedy Festival and was also nominated for the same award in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival thanks to that quick wit and ‘no notes’ performances.

With friend Carlo Richie he is one part of the improv duo The Bear Pack, who entertained crowds for the first time at the Hellenic Museum last weekend.
It was the group’s first open air performance, and from just a location suggestion, the audience sat down for an hour long comedic journey that included priests, farmers and dragons and hands for feet.

Now taking his second show to the extremely judgmental Melbourne International Comedy Festival crowd, Steen is warming up with more improv while he puts the finishing touches to his new characters, waiting to shock and entertain audiences.

“There will be a bunch of new characters, new narratives,” he says, describing his new show.

“I’m really excited to do it, it feels like a different show and I’m excited because I haven’t performed it that much yet.”

No audience member is safe.

“Let’s say that the second sketch is really hands on, that’s all I’m going to say.”

Steen is performing I’m wearing two suits because I mean business at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival from March 27 till April 20. Tickets are from $15 and can be bought online at www.ticketmaster.com.au
For more information visit www.comedyfestival.com.au/ and www.facebook.com/pages/Steen-Raskopoulos/