Four of Australia’s funniest and most loved comedians are back, this time with a new show Straight Outta Compo headed to Bunbury on Friday, May 19.
The comedic dream team features award-winning producer Joe Avati, George Kapiniaris and stars of the hit TV show Here Come The Habibs Tahir Bilgic and Rob Shehadie.
In his chat with The Mail, self-proclaimed show off and successful stage performer George Kapiniaris said audiences can expect physical pain from the laughter the four actors will provoke.
“People can expect lots of laughs, lots and lots of sore tummies from the audience from laughing too much,” Kapiniaris said.
“And aching cheeks.”
The group promise, despite the title, they talk about more than just the theme of dodgy compensation.
“We haven’t got ‘wog’ in the title this time because we wanted to name it something different and Tahir came up with the idea of doing ‘Straight Outta Compo’ off of the idea ‘Straight Outta Compton’ because it just has a dodgy feel to it,” Kapiniaris said.
“We have a number of sketches and videos and animation that has fun with that topic (compensation), but the stand-up routines that the four of us do we talk about all sorts of topical things.
“It’s a comedy show that just brings all the nationalities together, so instead of being racist, it’s actually anti-racist. It actually creates harmony rather than singling people out.”
Not only do the lovable larrikins get along on stage, but they are also very close outside of the spotlight as well.
Kapiniaris said the team are like a band of brothers, supporting each other’s skills and helping each other on their flaws or weaknesses.
“We’re a bit of an ensemble, like a monte python, four musketeers, we’re working wogs,” he laughed.
“We have a lot of fun on stage and are a great team of friends as well as performers – you can add that to the value of the show.
“My work is my joy. I don’t have a social life with mates or anything like that, I just go to work and have a great time with co-stars and my ensemble.”
And the Greek funny man said they can’t wait to be back in the South West when they bring the show to Bunbury this week.
“We’ve been to Bunbury a few times with all sorts of shows,” he said.
“The Bunbury crowd is always good and they’re up with their multiculturalism.
“But this show has something for everyone, whether you’re a wog or a bogan or even a snob. Wogs, snobs and bogans will all rejoice in this show.”
Speaking about the ethnic backgrounds of the performers, Kapiniaris acknowledged that the multicultural experiences of the cast contribute to the themes behind the shows they produce.
“My parents were from Greece but I grew up in Richmond – born and bred. Then we moved out to the suburbs to Doncaster, very ethnic,” he said.
“Tahir is Turkish and he came out from Turkey when he was about four, just a young fellow. So even though he is very Australian, he has a very multicultural background too and similarly with Rob who was born in Australia and he played rugby for the Junior Australian squad. Even though he is Lebanese, he is very Australian, he’s very assimilated.
“We’ve met them all over the years and I’ve had all experiences from everywhere which adds to my portfolio of ideas and we talk about all those angles in the show.”
And despite sometimes sparking controversy for their cultural comedy, Kapiniaris said that’s not what they’re about and they won’t be backing down any time soon.
“We really do bring all the cultures together and we achieve that because of who we are. There’s a Turk, a Lebanese guy, a Greek guy and an Italian guy all working together like we’re one common denominator,” he said.
“It’s a good message for all people out there that this is what Australia is about – we’re all from somewhere else and have different backgrounds but we are still a unified Australian front.
“We’re not going to stop talking about our backgrounds if snobs don’t like it or feel we’re being somehow racist, we don’t care.”
Straight Outta Compo will play at the Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre on Friday, May 19. For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit bunburyentertainment.com.