Desperately Seeking Souvlaki: comedy show in English coming up

Two stand-up comedy shows are coming up this week and both are in English! Preparing to offer nights of laughter and connection is Costa Carastavrakis, who will visit Cyprus for the first time to present his comedy show Desperately Seeking Souvlaki to Nicosia and Limassol audiences.

A comedian, author, restaurant owner and marketing consultant, Costas’ life journey so far has been adventurous and eventful. Life as a gay South African Greek man has had its challenges that Costas transformed into opportunities.

“Denying and failing to accept himself and his unique place in society nearly killed him,” say organisers. “He developed coping mechanisms that included substance abuse which he wrote about in his book published in 2019: I Am Costa: From Meth To Marathons.

“As we all know,” they add, “the Greeks invented not only the concept of drama and dramatic arts but comedy. True to his Greek/Hellenic spirit, Costa wanted to take all the lessons in his life and healings therefrom and turn them into something creative and full of light. That is where his comedy career was born.”

The New York Gotham Comedy Club was his first stage appearance in 2014 where he trained under Stephen Rosenfeld of the American Comedy Institute. Since then, Costas has taken his comedy around Johannesburg, Cape Town, Athens and Malaysia.

Last year, he wrote his one-man show Desperately Seeking Souvlaki, which he will present to Cyprus audiences on Friday at Skali Aglantzias and Sunday at Sto Dromo. The show is a South African Hellenic stand-up comedy feast, directed by Cypriot South African Renos Spanoudes who is one of South Africa’s top theatre directors.

“From hilarious gags about his upbringing to his dating escapades, Costa gets vulnerable, showing not only the flaws in himself but in his community and South Africa. Such honesty, sharp wit and cheekiness mean no one is safe and many parallels can be drawn between all communities in South Africa and this Greek/Hellenic condition that Costa highlights.”

Desperately Seeking Souvlaki

Comedy show by Greek South African Costa Carastavrakis. March 8. Skali Aglantzias, Nicosia. March 10. Sto Dromo, Limassol. 8pm. In English. www.motioncomedy.com