In the spring of 1993 Costaki was doing graduate work at the University of Georgia. He spent most of his time hammering out a thesis on the influence of political satire on our feelings about government. His off time was spent honing his stand-up skills in pizza joints and bars around town. When he had to turn down a couple of gigs to work on the paper, it made his stomach hurt. He hung in there, finished the thesis, got his master’s degree, and within a year was a full-time comic on the road. He has been creating funniness for audiences all over the country 40+ weeks a year ever since.
His humor has been described as smart, pointed, hip, sharp, insightful, socially relevant, and gut-laugh funny. A fellow comic once referred to Costaki as a “casually brilliant joke philosopher.” His take on such heavy subjects as the war on terrorism, religion, and gun control will leave you thinking and laughing. And his light swagger, playful squint, and wry smile tell you that perhaps there’s more to this multi-layered joke than you first recognized.
“Picture the MasterCard logo.” Costaki has said. “Imagine that red represents truly good funny and yellow is crowd-pleasing, accessible funny. I’m aiming for that little orange slice where they cross. I want two brothers to laugh hard, but I want the smart one to laugh and say, ‘Wow.’”
Costaki began to make some noise in the business by reaching the finals of the Seattle Comedy Competition, where he was discovered and invited to the prestigious Montreal Comedy Festival. He was just one of ten finalists in Comedy Central's Laugh Riots national talent search. Over the years, Costaki has performed in 46 states, covering the country’s best clubs, dozens of colleges and private shows, and some of the worst bars in America. With incredible range, Costaki moves easily from a show with teenage Mormons in Utah to a rowdy late show with rednecks in Pensacola.
They say it takes ten years to make an overnight success, and Costaki’s time has come. He recently taped Comedy Spotlight, and was such a hit on The Bob and Tom Show nationally syndicated radio show that they put him on their new CD. After one hard laugh Tom Griswold belted, “Costaki Economopoulos is Greek for funny!”
He performed at the prestigious Montreal Just for Laughs Festival, where he rocked a 2,000+ seat theatre at one of the festival’s crown jewel Galas. The set will be featured on Canada’s Comedy Channel until the end of time.
Also a talented writer, Costaki’s jokes have appeared on The Tonight Show and BET, where he was staffed on two of their hit shows. He wrote jokes for Bette Midler's Kiss My Brass tour. Costaki spent Spring Break in Cancun writing on the MTV show Parental Approval. He also writes daily for The Complete Sheet, a DJ prep service that goes out to almost 500 stations worldwide. He has a few irons in the fire so keep an eye out for this long name in the credits of your favorite show.
After a recent performance with Jake Johannsen, Costaki’s mother said, “You were better than that other guy.” And really, is there anything more to say after that?
