By PAUL MILLAR
GEORGE Kapiniaris, the comedian who took the sting out of being called a wog with his stories about growing up with a Greek background, is coming back to Geelong with a new show.
The veteran entertainer said he would use Geelong as the litmus test for the show, drawing on his life experiences.
Instead of his younger years, which earned him celebrity status in Wogs out of Work, he now re-tells tales of family and married life from dating to anniversaries.
“It’s very different, there’s lots of music and, of course, comedy. I can guarantee we’ll leave you with your stomach aching,’’ Kapiniaris said told the Independent.
He recounted special memories of travelling down the highway from Melbourne to St Leonards during holidays.
“It was an annual pilgrimage, lots of barbecues and lots of soccer,” the funnyman reminisced.
But not all trips went according to plan, with a total fire-ban declared at St Leonards’ caravan park one Christmas Day.
“We were all worried we might have to eat sandwiches and then my uncles put a barbie in the dinghy and took it out on the water and did the cooking there,” Kapiniaris laughed.
“You should have seen all the other people looking at us.”
After almost 30 years in the business Kapiniaris still works on the same formula in his shows, drawing on life’s experiences – good and bad but always funny, whatever the ethnicity. “We’re testing the waters in Geelong with this show – it’s a fresh approach,” he said.
Kapiniaris and friends will present Zorba the Freak at North Geelong’s Sphinx Entertainment Centre on 25 October.
