Canada has many talented actors, writers, producers, and other content creators. To help our industry grow, we would like to introduce you to some talented folks who have managed to capture that magic on screen.
This week we spoke with Vancouver actor and stand-up comedian Peter Kelamis.
Peter has too many professional film and TV credits to list but some of those include Glow, Stargate Universe, The Man in the High Castle, Life or Something Like It, American Dreamer, 50/50, Happy Gilmore, Dragon Ball Z, Smallville…etc.
HNMAG: Did you grow up in Vancouver?
Peter Kelamis: I grew up in Vancouver via Greek parents who moved from Greece to Australia. I was born in Australia then they went back to Greece and left me with my grandparents for three years while they set up a life in Vancouver. They brought me over when I was four years old. When I met my parents, I didn’t know they were my parents. I thought I was being dropped off with strangers.
HNMAG: You still have memories of growing up in Greece with your grandparents?
Peter Kelamis: Very much so. Those are my earliest memories. I worshiped my grandfather. I was named after him. When I had to go to Canada, my grandfather was too devastated to say goodbye to me. I would run into Trafalgar Park screaming his name.
HNMAG: Was Greek your first language?
Peter Kelamis: It was. I don’t remember the switchover. I was a savage as a kid. I was a complete savage child. I had to go through an etiquette school.
HNMAG: When did you first become interested in comedy?
Peter Kelamis: When I was in grade three, I remember watching Carol Burnett with my father. I was fascinated with how Tim Conway would make my dad crack up. It was incredible to me how you can make someone so happy by being silly or telling a joke. That set the trajectory for the rest of my life. I would also record Monty Python’s Flying Circus from the TV on a cassette recorder. I would listen to it over and over until I could imitate all the voices. Making people laugh was the best thing in the world.
HNMAG: When did you start performing?
Peter Kelamis: My first set was in grade four. It was the last day of school in front of the graduating class. I imitated my teacher and she was dying. She had a fun, Transylvanian accent, and these long nails. I also imitated other kids at school and I killed! I was on top of the world. The first time I had experienced winning over a crowd. It was different than just making my parents laugh.
HNMAG: How long after that did you perform in a club or a proper comedy setting?
Peter Kelamis: When I was at the University of British Columbia (UBC) they had this joke off in the Student Union Building (SUB) every other Wednesday. A comic from Punchlines comedy club in Gastown would do twenty minutes of stand-up. They would invite students up to tell a joke and you could win twenty, ten, or five dollars. When I finally got the courage to come up and tell a joke, I won second prize, $10. The next time I prepared some material. I started doing bits, I did three or four minutes of material. I ended up winning and the comedian suggested I come down to the club to amateur night because he said it was really good. I was eighteen at the time and you were not admitted to Punchlines until you were nineteen, so I had to wait down the stairs until I was called up on stage because I was allowed to perform.
HNMAG: How did that go?
Peter Kelamis: I build up enough, about ten minutes of solid material, that gave me a good base to start out. I ended up headlining within a year. Back then, it was a comedy explosion. There was a higher demand for comedians than the comedy clubs could fill.
HNMAG: In 1995 you taught a Comedy Gym and one of your students was a young Seth Rogan. How was he as a student?
Peter Kelamis: I used to talk to his parents, Mark and Sandy at length. I would tell them how funny their kid was. His knowledge of the construction of jokes and punchlines is years beyond his age and where he is physically. I would pick him up and drop him off because he was just fifteen and he had green hair at the time. He died his hair green, he was a skateboarding kid (laughing) but oh my god, he was hysterical. For his first Freaks and Geeks audition, I gave him some suggestions about how he should do it.
HNMAG: That was a self-tape?
Peter Kelamis: Yeah exactly. After that he was up and running and the rest is history.
HNMAG: Did you read with him?
Peter Kelamis: No, they told me what they wanted and I walked it through with him. They wanted a bedroom audition talking about his likes and dislikes, so I made a bunch of suggestions. More vaguely directing him or a suggested direction.
HNMAG: It was more of a monologue.
Peter Kelamis: Yeah yeah, exactly. We stayed in touch and we still do. I run into his parents now and then. I ran into him at Comic-Con in San Diego when he was there with Jonah Hill. He’s done well, I’m very proud of him. He’s one of the biggest stars in the world.
HNMAG: Many years ago, when you were studying acting with Shea Hampton, you submitted hilarious scenes for class that you wrote.
Peter Kelamis: That’s very kind of you. I don’t even know if I still have those scenes. I loved her and I loved the system. It was very natural. It was as basic as listen and respond. The most difficult part was letting go, allowing your mind to just do it.
HNMAG: You have a strong background in improv. As Shea Hampton has often said, her approach is like improvisation with dialogue.
Peter Kelamis: That’s exactly it. Your mind wants to know. You’re literally battling your own instinct of not wanting to look stupid and knowing in advance of what you are going to say. You want to know what they’re going to say to you so you will know how to respond. Everyday life doesn’t work that way. When someone on the street comes up to you and starts a conversation, you don’t know what’s coming, so it’s real. That’s what acting is supposed to resemble, is a real conversation. authenticity. That’s the challenge.
HNMAG: Was it hard to get into improv after performing as a stand-up?
Peter Kelamis: Yes because in improv you are not supposed to say no or block, you’re supposed to roll with it. In stand-up, you rehearse your set over and over again till it’s word perfect. The timing and the punchlines are perfect. Improv is the antithesis of that. You don’t know what you are going to say, you don’t know what the scene is, you don’t know what you’re going to do… and go! I was doing stand-up at Punchlines and they threw me in with professional improvisers, the No Name Players. I just tried to keep up. It was terrifying.
HNMAG: Was that your first experience with improv?
Peter Kelamis: Yeah and later I did stuff with Theatresports. It helped at first to have stage time with stand-up but improv really helped my stand-up because I could riff with the crowd much better because I could roll with it.
HNMAG: The death of an improv scene is trying to be funny.
Peter Kelamis: In stand-up, you’re taught to hit the punchline. That’s not what you’re doing in improv. You are being truthful to the scene and you trust that the comedy will come. They’re conflicting but they somehow complement each other.
HNMAG: Did improv lead to film and TV parts?
Peter Kelamis: The comedy scene was booming in Vancouver in the 90’s. A lot of films were coming in and the casting directors would come down to Punchlines. I got my start in commercials. Improv night was a popular, funny evening. That led to comedic auditions. I landed up with a good and lucrative commercial run. Film and TV casting directors got wind of that and asked me to audition for roles in TV series which led to other bigger parts. That was my pathway in.
HNMAG: What was one of your favourite moments on set?
Peter Kelamis: I worked with some big name celebrities before they even broke like Brad Pitt and some who were already breaking like Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson…etc. The most personally exciting shoot for me, because I’m a huge hockey fan was for a commercial with the great Bobby Orr.
HNMAG: Sure, number 4, Bobby Orr.
Peter Kelamis: I blew up the famous shot of Bobby Orr scoring the championship goal against the Blues, and pushed my way past some kid to get him to sign it. We spent the day hearing old hockey stories with him and it was unbelievable, like an amazing Christmas. Another actor in the commercial, Jay Brown asked Bobby Orr as a joke, when the Canucks owner stopped by set, if he was taking us to the game. At the end of the day, Bobby Orr told us to let the box office know how many tickets we needed as he put our names on the list. I can’t even tell you who the opponent was because I just remember us saying over and over again, “Can you believe that we’re here because of Bobby Orr?” Being a Canadian Kid, it was the best day on set to be with a legend like that. I don’t know if it gets better than this.
Peter Kelamis: Another incredible experience was when Robin Williams was filming Jumanji. He would drop by Punchlines Comedy Club and do unannounced sets. He would also perform improv with The No Name Players. The first time I was going on at that time with them, people mentioned he was in town and I said “It’s not like he’s going to show up” I turned around and there he was saying “Oh hello.” I was so nervous performing improv with him, I was disappointed in myself that night. He came back the next week and my nerves had settled. We had a number of one one-on-one scenes where I jumped in and we had some huge laughs together. After the show, he pulled me aside and said “Oh you’re very funny.” It’s definitely a moment where you pinch yourself.
HNMAG: Are you working on anything right now?
Peter Kelamis: I have a number of animated projects that are coming out. I just did a movie with Peter Dinklage and Shirley MacLean called American Dreamer. I’m also in a movie that is shooting in Vancouver right now.
Peter Kelamis started doing stand-up comedy as a teenager and immediately found success in Vancouver. He’s very funny, smart and talented. He was able to transition to comedy improvisation, then commercials, then film and TV roles. He has worked consistently for the past thirty years and is a very well respected actor and voice-over artist. We wish Peter all the best with continued success.