Dionysis Atzarakis on creating ‘Bad Ideas’: Greek comedy with a bold twist

For respective years, Dionysis Atzarakis had been fixated connected a very “bad” idea. “I had successful caput that astatine some constituent I would want to marque a drama the way I would want to watch it – a drama with existent jokes and the anticipation that the assemblage would really laugh, not conscionable bask it passively. Over time, I besides added an constituent of action, due to the fact that enactment drama has ever been 1 of my favourite genres,” the 38-year-old comedian, actor, writer and manager recalls.

He admits that “the information that thing similar this had been done successful Greece earlier besides had its downsides. It made the bid a task that could consciousness a small intimidating astatine times successful terms of however we would propulsion it off.” Sharing the thought with Thomas Zabras, stand-up comedian, writer and performer, they decided to take connected the situation together, aiming to make a comic bid they themselves would bask watching.

The archetypal two episodes person already aired connected Cosmote TV, with 4 much to follow. Atzarakis stars arsenic Dionysis, an bureau worker who despises his bureau occupation and finds himself entangled with organized transgression when a mobster demands repayment of a household debt.

The creators look to person succeeded successful their goal. “Bad Ideas” (“Kakes Idees”) is simply a drama that genuinely provokes spontaneous laughter done clever jokes, humorous situations, satire, and occasional parodies of modern Greek beingness and the television manufacture itself. I can’t retrieve the past clip I laughed 8 times successful 20 minutes while watching a series.

How did they execute that? “Thomas, Giorgos Papanikolaou, Andreas Paspatis and I would spell implicit the scripts, and I’d usually say, ‘Guys, we request much jokes – funnier jokes, stronger jokes.’ We each believed that the precedence successful drama is for it to really beryllium funny, to marque radical laughter with cautiously placed written jokes. We didn’t trust solely connected the information that we had comic actors oregon a pleasant story.”

At the aforesaid time, the bid sprinkles successful commentary – sometimes humorous, sometimes much superior – connected modern regular life. “Comedy has the powerfulness to code superior issues and tin pass them much efficaciously than a superior approach. But I don’t think it’s comedy’s work to bash so. That’s why, while there are moments satirizing superior aspects of Greek reality, our main precedence was to entertain, to fto the assemblage flight and bask themselves, not to present a sermon.”

“Bad Ideas” is present portion of what we telephone “Greek storytelling,” and aft the archetypal occurrence aired, κοινωνικά media reactions suggest it will apt beryllium considered a success. “We are contributing a small portion toward the absorption we’d similar to spot Greek storytelling go,” says Atzarakis. “If I person 1 complaint, it’s that I don’t spot galore antithetic genres. We person drama, specific styles of drama – but adventure, fearfulness and phantasy are missing. With this series, we aimed to make something uncommon successful Greece: a drama with American-style jokes, not conscionable relying connected acting oregon situations, but besides incorporating action.”

“Bad Ideas” airs each Monday connected Cosmote TV.