Yannis Pappas' THE HALF HOUR to Premiere 6/20 on Comedy Central

The world premiere of comedian Yannis Pappas' first half-hour stand-up special, The Half Hour is set for Friday night, June 20 at 12:30am on Comedy Central.

Pappas taped The Half Hour in Boston this spring, the result of a diverse comedy career that includes various creative avenues for the young comedian.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Pappas is one of New York's favorite native sons. A multi-talented comedian, joke writer, and performer. He's the rare mix of dynamite stand-up comic who is just as talented performing sketch, or appearing in front of a camera. He's a national headliner loved by his peers, earning the praises from the likes of Bill Burr, Jim Gaffigan, and many others.

In October 2013, Pappas was called to Miami to co-host the new television show Fusion Live as part of the launch of the brand new ABC/Disney and Univision TV venture, Fusion. Fusion Live is an edgy, funny hour show, where Pappas and his co-hosts report compelling stories, host live musical performances, and interview influencers. It's the most popular show on the burgeoning network.

Four years ago, Pappas and a director Jesse Scaturro co-founded Ditch Films to supplement nights of stand-up through afternoons of freelance video work, it was here Pappas created his most memorable web characters. "Mr. Panos," a Greek restaurateur who has both a Nationalistic and gloriously narrow-minded view of the world; and "Maurica Rodriquez," a Lower East Side, Transgendered Latina who is looking for love, and a man to move her to Westchester.

Pappas's characters were an instant hit, generating millions of views online, sparking a cult-like fandom not only in New York, but also amongst Greek and Latin audiences on an international level. Papas was stopped in the streets by adoring fans, celebs like Jennifer Lopez, Nia Vardalos, Rosario Dawson, and Mark Anthony would relay back to him that they were fans and quote his material. Through sheer talent and word of mouth, Pappas sold out 20,000 tickets to various stand-up shows around NYC, Miami, Chicago, and LA over the course of a few years, selling out weekends at Carolines, Gotham, Levity Live, and other venues in the NY area multiple times.

Other TV credits for Pappas include Comedy Central, AXS TV, VH1's Best Week Ever, Good Morning America, and CBS. He was formerly the co-host of the hit MSG show, The Bracket that he hosted with Chris Distefano (Guy Code). Pappas has performed stand-up on TV in Canada on the Comedy Now network and in Denmark on Casper & Lars Presents. He was also the subject of the PBS Digital Studios web series, Modern Comedian where he discusses the time he was shot in a traumatic Botched armed robbery attempt.