Exploring Athens’ Flourishing English Comedy Scene

It’s Saturday evening within the gritty Votanikos industrial district. The doorway to the small Eliart Theater, nestled between underground golf equipment, condo buildings and warehouses, is alive with pleasure. The group is a colourful mixture of younger expats, college students, retirees and curious vacationers desperate to discover Athens’ winter nightlife from a special approach. Standing in clusters on the brink, chatting and laughing, they share the acquainted camaraderie of a secretive but welcoming membership gathering for a cherished ritual.

Most of them weren’t born or raised in Athens; their paths to Greece are as various as their private tales. However tonight, they’ve all include the identical purpose: to chuckle.

Because the theater doorways swing open, the gang pours inside, settling into their seats beneath the delicate, intimate glow of the stage lights. A spherical of enthusiastic applause greets the evening’s first comic. One other present by the Athens English Comedy Membership is about to start.

Athina Kefalopoulos, a dynamic younger actress with boundless vitality, steps as much as greet the viewers. Again in 2019, she had an formidable imaginative and prescient: to create an English-language stand-up present in Athens. On the time, choices for non-Greek audio system looking for comedy had been virtually nonexistent. When she shared her concept with a few of Greece’s prime comedians, their enthusiastic response gave her the push she wanted: “Go for it, and we’ll carry out.”

“That is how we’ve made it to our sixth season,” Kefalopoulos says, her face lighting up with a proud smile moments after she steps off stage, having handed the microphone to the subsequent performer. “This place has grow to be a house away from dwelling for a lot of non-Greeks dwelling in Athens. Right here, they really feel protected. They could see somebody from their very own nation or hear a joke in a language they perceive,” she explains.

Her voice softens as she remembers a touching reminiscence from the earlier 12 months. An aged couple from England who attended the New Yr’s Eve present. “Some folks, like that couple, can’t return to their dwelling international locations for the vacations. I’ll always remember them. They lived in Crete and had come to Athens for Christmas. They arrived on the present dressed of their best. You can see the emotion on their faces – as in the event that they’d discovered one thing acquainted, one thing that made them really feel like they belonged.”

Kefalopoulos herself isn’t any stranger to dwelling between cultures. She grew up in Russia, Scotland, Norway, and Sweden. “For breakfast, I eat snow,” she joked throughout her set earlier, poking enjoyable at her nomadic upbringing. After ending her research in Scotland – the place her sociology diploma cleverly masked her true ardour for performing – she returned to Greece and started collaborating with native comedians, producing exhibits in Athens.

Again then, she by no means imagined she’d be on the middle of a rising worldwide community of English-language comedy golf equipment sooner or later, pitching performers and internet hosting comedians from throughout Europe. “Comedy golf equipment are like a pack of Dalmatians,” she says with fun. “We’re all related, a part of a tight-knit, supportive community that helps artists and opens doorways for them.”

Each two weeks, the Athens English Comedy Membership transforms Eliart Theater into a spot for laughter, drawing a full home of keen comedy followers. Performances come from a vibrant mixture of seasoned worldwide touring comedians, bilingual performers and well-known names from Greece’s stand-up scene, eager to check their materials in one other language. The membership additionally hosts open mic nights, inviting anybody daring sufficient to seize the microphone and check out their hand at comedy. The stand-up viewers in Athens has, in line with Kefalopoulos, grown considerably lately. A big portion of the viewers consists of diplomats and different transient professionals, and there’s a gradual turnover as every group of nomads finally strikes on.

“After the pandemic, folks began watching extra stand-up on-line and on Netflix,” Kefalopoulos says. Whereas headliners similar to John Cleese and Daniel Sloss have drawn large crowds to main venues such because the Odeon of Herodes Atticus and the Christmas Theater, native audiences additionally present enthusiasm for rising English-speaking comedians.

“English is a extra concise language in comparison with Greek,” Kefalopoulos notes. “I solely want 15 phrases in English to ship a joke that may take 23 phrases in Greek. The rhythm flows faster, and that makes it simpler for the viewers to observe or benefit from the humor.”

Unfiltered Humor

Tonight, the viewers has gathered to see Australian comic Elena Gabrielle. She takes the stage to heat applause, following a hilarious set by Kynthia, the night’s second performer, who had the gang in stitches along with her tackle the quirks of a basic Greek grandmother. The relatability of on a regular basis Greek life gives limitless fodder for humor, and the distinctive life-style of Greeks usually serves as excellent icebreaker materials for overseas comedians beginning their units.

“It’s 10 o’clock – that is my bedtime. Is that this regular for you?” Gabrielle quips, instantly drawing laughter as she launches right into a string of absurd but hilarious anecdotes from her life. Her materials boldly confronts these awkward truths we often sweep below the rug or whisper about to shut mates. From tales of awkward sexual encounters, disastrous on-line dates and catastrophic one-night stands to commentary tackling detrimental stereotypes about varied nationalities, her humor is fearless. She additionally takes purpose at boomers navigating expertise for the primary time and explores the peculiar issues folks do after they’re dwelling alone.

For an hour, Gabrielle masterfully pokes enjoyable at delicate up to date points, wrapping them in sharp, nuanced humor that feels distinctly contemporary within the English language.

“I’ve carried out in 67 international locations,” she tells me after the present, as soon as she’s greeted followers keen to talk along with her. “I like Athens. I like performing right here. Everyone seems to be so loud and having a lot enjoyable. It’s a distinct fashion of comedy – a distinct sort of vibe – in comparison with locations like Germany. In Greece, folks chuckle extra once I’m extra animated and act issues out. In every single place I’m going, folks chuckle at various things, and I like that.

That is my third time right here – I did exhibits in 2018 – however I’ve positively seen how a lot English stand-up has grown in Athens since COVID.”

I ask the comic if she ever filters her materials relying on the cultural sensitivities of the locations she performs.

“Faith is an enormous factor, and I don’t actually speak about it,” she admits. “Clearly, on this present, I did just a few jokes. I grew up Catholic, so I really feel like I could make enjoyable of it – Catholics are the best for me to joke about. In India, although, you’ll be able to’t make jokes about politics or faith; in Hong Kong, you’ll be able to’t say something about China – that’s tremendous dangerous for the membership. So, I stick extra to courting or household stuff.”

Greek tradition is one thing she’s been conversant in all her life, albeit by way of the lens of rising up in Melbourne. I ask her which facet of it gives probably the most materials for a comic.

“I feel it’s the Greek males,” she laughs. “I grew up with loads of Greek-Australian males, so I get their vibe, and I discover it fascinating. But additionally, the tradition and the vibe in Athens – the laid-back way of life – is wonderful. I like that about Mediterranean tradition, and I see it in Cyprus as effectively.”

Because the present wraps up, Kefalopoulos bids farewell to the viewers. Many within the crowd linger, chatting animatedly concerning the jokes that hit dwelling. Individuals introduce themselves to one another, and a few select proceed their Saturday evening collectively in one other nook of Athens. Most will return right here in two weeks; some may even seize the mic themselves and take a activate the stage.

“We’ve had folks from 36 completely different international locations in our viewers,” Kefalopoulos tells me proudly as the gang drifts out. “You should discover a approach to make everybody chuckle. My aim is to see folks from each nation on this planet cross by way of right here.”