Tzimis Panousis

Tzimis Panousis (Δημήτρης "Τζίμης" Πανούσης; 12 February 1954 – 13 January 2018) was a Greek musician, stand up comedian and occasional film and theater actor born in Athens, where he spent most of his life. He is often seen as the modern day Aristophanes. His fans usually refer to him as “Tzimakos” (little Jim). His first wife was Lili Achladioti with whom he had a son, Aris. He later married Athina Aidini and they had a daughter, Fotini.

Dimitrios Panousis was born on 12 February 1954 in Athens to refugees from Asia Minor, Theodoros and Foteini, and grew up in Cholargos. He made his first appearance in the mid 1970s, performing in various pubs, with his band "Mousikes Taxiarhies" (Musical Brigades, Μουσικές Ταξιαρχίες). Panousis was the vocalist and main composer of the group. Their first (unofficial) album was Disco Tsoutsouni (Disco Willy) released in 1980. It was a bootleg tape, many songs of which were later rerecorded for the band's official debut, their eponymous album in 1982. The band went under the alias "Alamana's Bridge" to make a guest appearance with two songs in the compilation album Made in Greece. In 1986, Mousikes Taxiarhies was disbanded and Panousis went solo. His subsequent successful career showed that he could be a band on his own.

Since his debut, Panousis had introduced a controversial style of rock music with humorous and sarcastic lyrics. His songs included caustic remarks on the political and social reality of Greece. His varied musical style included mostly rock, but also reggae and rembetiko. In his live performances, Panousis delivered sarcastic comments about current events and Greek musicians and personalities. He often interacted with his audience, in a unique type of stand up comedy, and was also notorious for his on stage phone pranks.

Panousis had several run ins with the Greek authorities. His second album, Musical Brigades (Μουσικές Ταξιαρχίες in Greek), was briefly withdrawn from circulation in 1982 because of the ostensibly blasphemous lyrics of a love ballad. In 1984, censors placed beeps over some of the lyrics in Mousikes Taxiarhies's third album, An I Giagia Mou Ihe Rouleman (If My Grandma Had Wheel Bearings). In 1997, a court battle with well known Greek singer George Dalaras began. Panousis had frequently been making fun of Dalaras in his live shows, showing money coming out of his mouth whenever he sang. The court ruled that Panousis would be charged with a one million Drachmas fine (approximately $3,000) every time he mentioned Dalaras by name on stage. Panousis's response to that, was to call him "the unmentionable" in his shows from then on, and use his famous on stage quip, "Ladies and gentlemen, I have 3 million drachmas to spare: Dalaras, Dalaras, Dalaras!" All this has contributed to the depiction of Panousis as a highly controversial artist. Some regarded him as a modern day Aristophanes while many considered that his pranks and commentaries were of bad taste. Panousis often used offensive language, while the advertising posters of his depicted provocative images. In one instance, he replaced the cross of the Greek flag with a communist hammer and sickle, for which he was charged with a four month probation. In another instance, he appeared dressed as a priest with a medallion hanging around his neck which depicted the head of a chicken instead of Mary. This elicited the angry reaction of Archbishop Christodoulos, the late head of the Church of Greece.

Panousis was accused by the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece of expressing antisemitic views, not seldom in connection with his standpoint in the Israel Palestine conflict. During an episode of his satirical show Δούρειος Ήχος ("Trojan Sound") at the radio channel City 99,5 in 2009, he used expressions such as "Jews Pigs Murderers [ ] may you die a horrible death" and "[ ] the jews control all the banks in the American empire, they control all of the show biz [ ]", while also referring to the conflict in Gaza. In 2013, Greek Jewish organisations were appalled by the use of a symbol consisting of the David star entwined with a swastika (the symbol itself is used by the Raelites) for the posters of his show "Troika Club". In relation to this symbol, Panousis has been using the term "nazi Jews" ("εβραιοναζί" in Greek) when describing current Israeli politics.

Panousis had hosted various radio shows for more than 15 years. He was also the author of six books (a peculiar type of sarcastic essays). Moreover, he had appeared in four movies: the most notable is The Dracula of Exarcheia (1981, directed by Nicos Zervos), where Panousis was the protagonist. From September 2008 to June 2009, he hosted a 30 minute radio show, called Dourios Ihos (Trojan Sound) at the radio station "City 99,5". The show was later hosted in "Radio Thema 98,9".

Panousis died on 13 January 2018 after suffering a heart attack at his home in Athens. He had previously been hospitalized after collapsing on stage in December 2017.