*SNIP* Off came the green shoot from my Mum’s Datura plant. She tossed it roughly aside. “Why did you cut that bit off Mum?” I enquired. “It’s a sucker” “What’s a sucker?” “It’s one of these bits” (points to green shoot) Her hawk eyes spot another interloper. “Oh there’s another one.” *SNIP* I was still unclear. “Yeah, [...]

Yesterday was my birthday. Today is my first of 364 concurrent unbirthdays (to borrow a bloody awesome concept from Lewis Carroll) At the time of writing (9am Australian April 6th which means that it’s just ticked over midnight on my birthday in the UK) I have 64 wishes of Happy Birthday on my Facebook wall. [...]

They say you should spend your birthday doing things you enjoy. Read what you want into the fact that I’m spending part of my birthday writing this. My birthday almost always falls during the Comedy Festival, whose dates are (I think) determined in relation to Easter (the second weekend is always Easter?). This has [...]

Well, it finally happened. On the sixth night of the festival I performed my first show. How did it go? Well, let me tell you ‘bout it…stud! (apologies to Olivia Newton John) I spent the majority of the day rehearsing in front of the mirror in my parent’s front room. It’s a massive [...]

You would think that April Fools day would be like Christmas Day for comedians: socially sanctioned practical jokes, an opportunity to flex our mirth muscles on vulnerable and ill-prepared victims. And this utopia would of course be real if it weren’t for one insignificant but oh-so-significant oversight. For some reason unknown to me, the management of the [...]

Yesterday I was out at Federation Square enjoying the radiant sunshine of Melbourne, something that this last English winter had imbued with a kind of mythical status like some sort of meteorological Jabberwocky. As is my wont, I was indulging in my favourite activity: peoplewatching. I find the activity improves my abilities in both of my [...]

Yesterday I was booked to perform two gigs at the Antipodes festival, an annual Greek cultural festival held in Lonsdale Street to celebrate Greek Independence day. This was a relatively last minute booking, borne of a flurry of frantic Facebook messages around Wednesday this week. Allow me to paint a picture. The Antipodes festival [...]

Hello. Yianni here again. On Thursday night I performed at ET’s pub in Windsor. It was my first gig since arriving home. It was fun, although I had to literally run straight on which I never like doing. But this blog isn’t about that. This gig is about the man who [...]

I know that this blog appears under the name “Yianni Agisilaou” and hopefully, if yesterday’s Chortle microsite system kinks have been ironed out there will be a picture of me rather than Tommy Dassolo next to it. But I have to tell you. This isn’t Yianni. I mean, I feel like Yianni. I [...]

To those of you who read my first blog, welcome back. To those who didn’t, welcome. 2005 was the first year that I performed at the MICF post-moving to London permanently. Well, I tell a lie. I didn’t actually perform at the MICF that year. Which is to say that I still [...]