Yannis Pappas

Yannis Pappas (born 1975) is an American comedian from Park Slope, Brooklyn, New York.

Yannis Pappas
Yannis Pappas in March 2017
BornBrooklyn, New York
MediumStand-up, television
Alma materAmerican University
Years active2000–2002, 2004–present
GenresObservational comedy, blue comedy, surreal humor, satire
Subject(s)American culture, human interaction, human behavior, self-deprecation
Websiteyannispappascomedy.com

Early life

Pappas was born in Brooklyn, New York to Chris Pappas, an American criminal lawyer and Army officer, and Anna Pappas née Mamalakis, a Greek lawyer originally from Rethymo, Crete.[1][2] He was raised in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Park Slope with his two older brothers, Peter and Nikos. The former is a lawyer who worked for the Clinton and Obama administrations.[3] Through his mother, he is the great nephew of Emmanouil Tsouderos, a former Prime Minister of Greece.[2] He is of Greek ethnicity.[4]

Pappas attended college at the American University in Washington, D.C. where he studied American Studies and History.[3]

Career

Pappas began his comedy career in 2000. After two years, he stopped performing, in large part, due to the effects of being shot outside of a New York nightclub at the time.[5][6] He returned to stand-up at the end of 2004. Pappas began pursuing comedy full-time in 2008.[7]

Pappas has been featured doing stand up on AXS TV, TruTV's How To Be a Grown Up, VH1's Best Week Ever, Fox Business, and Good Morning America. He was the first comedian to ever do stand-up comedy on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon; it was a test show and did not air.[3]

Alongside his stand-up comedy, Pappas had previously partnered up with lifelong friend and director Jesse Scaturro to create the production company Ditch Films in the mid 2000s.[3] The comedy production team produced live and filmed comedy. With Ditch Film, Pappas created his popular internet characters Maurica and Mr. Panos, which premiered online in 2010 and 2009, respectively.[8][9]

Beginning in June 2013, Pappas co-hosted the MSG Network show The Bracket with Chris Distefano.[10] Later in 2013, he began co-anchoring the live primetime news show Fusion Live alongside journalists, Marianna Antonio and Pedro Andrade. Focusing on current events, pop culture and satire, the show was one of the first for the then-new Fusion network. The show was canceled in December 2014. Beginning in Spring 2015, Pappas hosted the AOL Original Series, 2 Point Lead, a sports comedy show.[11]

Pappas' first special, part of Comedy Central's The Half Hour series, aired in June 2014. In 2016, he released his comedy album Let Me Be Yannis, which was recorded live in Madison, Wisconsin.[12] The album was awarded Album of the Year for 2016 by SiriusXM Comedy.[13]

Since February 2018, Pappas has co-hosted the weekly podcast History Hyenas via the Riotcast network with frequent collaborator Chris Distefano.[14]

In 2019, Yannis released his first hour-long special Blowing the Light on YouTube. It was produced by comedian Andrew Schulz.[12]

Personal life

Earlier in his career, Pappas worked in the social work field; his work included participating in 9/11 disaster relief for two and a half years and working with the mentally ill and people dealing with homelessness for three years with Lutheran Social Services.[15]

Pappas has lived in Park Slope on-and-off for much of his life. He moved to Miami in 2013 for the show Fusion Live. More recently, he lived in Bay Ridge.[16]

References
  1. "Why You Should Love Yannis Pappas". Worldwide Greeks. August 20, 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
  2. "Miss Anna E. Mamalakis, a Law Student, Engaged to Chris Pappas, Former Officer". The New York Times. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  3. "Who is Ditch". Ditch Films. Retrieved September 23, 2012. He has also been featured on the award winning podcast "You Made It Weird" with Pete Holmes
  4. "Exclusive Interview with Comedian Yannis Pappas a.k.a. Mr. Panos | Hollywood.GreekReporter.com". Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  5. Procida, Billy (July 2, 2014). "Yannis Pappas talks Maurica, Mr. Panos and his journey back to comedy (Laughspin Interview)". Laughspin. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  6. Yannis Pappas – I Was Shot | Modern Comedian – Episode 15, retrieved January 31, 2020
  7. Stamato, Philip (June 17, 2014). "Yannis Pappas on Why He Did Standup for 14 Years Before Doing a Half-Hour Special". Vulture. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  8. Love Match: Maurica I, retrieved January 31, 2020
  9. Mr. Panos' Vlog, retrieved January 31, 2020
  10. "MSG Network Presents 'The Bracket' – The Madison Square Garden Company". themadisonsquaregardencompany.com. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  11. "Yannis Pappas is your host of a new new AOL sports series, 2 Point Lead". The Laugh Button. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  12. "Yannis Pappas Comedy". Yannis Pappas. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  13. "Yannis Pappas – Comedian – Tickets". New York Comedy Club. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  14. "History Hyenas with Chris Distefano and Yannis Pappas | Podbay". podbay.fm. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  15. Santana, Scarlett. "Yannis Pappas". The Southern Boruca. Retrieved September 23, 2012.
  16. Cohen, Joyce (January 7, 2016). "A Bachelor Pad for a Brooklyn Comedian". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
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