Greek Comedian Nick Giannopoulos Pushes the Envelope

The Greek Australian comedian Nick Giannopoulos satirized Frankston MP during a sketch at a Liberal Party fundraiser hosted by Victorian Premier Denis Napthine. The function was held on November 8 and was attended by many MP’s.
Giannopoulos says his cleaning lady character, Petroula, called embattled politician Geoff Shaw a “poofter bastard” whereas MP has laughed off the comedian’s routine. He said that “sounds quite funny,” adding that “he should come to Frankston and do some fundraising with me.”

Moreover, Giannopoulos told the Herald Sun today: “It was a satirical sketch and I was in character. I was performing as Petroula the Greek cleaning lady dressed in a wig, blue dress, lipstick, earrings and holding a mop and bucket. She spoke about her husband, whom she referred to as a poofter bastard. It got really good laughs.”

He also explained that Petroula is a character created in 1987, inspired from his mother. “My mother was a cleaning lady and when she was angry with someone, she would mangle the English language and say things she didn’t understand. My mother would call somebody a ‘poofter bastard’ without knowing what it meant.” He added “it is a comment by a 60-something Greek cleaning lady who doesn’t understand what she’s saying.”

Giannopoulos mentioned “It’s the nature of satire and some people don’t find Chris Lilley or Barry Humphries funny. You either get it or you don’t.”

An the same time, 300 people who attended the fundraiser reacted positively to the jokes. The famous comedian for his “Wogs Out of Work” sketches, also poked fun at Premier Denis Napthine, jokingly calling him Geoff Shaw, then Ted Baillieu, before settling on Denis.

Premier Denis Napthine didn’t point the finger at the comment saying, “what comedians do at these shows is up to the comedians; they write their script, we don’t write their script.”