The Comedian Who Changed My Life Is Donnell Rawlings

The Comedian Who Changed My Life is a series where comedians talk about, you guessed it, the comedian who changed their life. This week, Yannis Pappas talks about Donnell Rawlings.

My name is Yannis Pappas and the comedian that changed my life is Donnell Rawlings. A very funny comedian. You might know him as Ashy Larry on Chapelle’s Show. Donnell, he had a show once a week called Merion Square. Back then I wasn’t doing much comedy, I kind of quit for two years. And he always believed in me, and he invited me to his room every week—it was a popular room. And I would go up there and bomb for like a year straight. But I was only doing comedy once a week. But he got me back into it doing it once a week. At his room. And he took me on the Road with him and Charlie Murphy, Bill Burr, Christian Finnegan. I did some guest sets… And he really is the guy who got me back into comedy. So I always respect him and love him for that. So Donnell Rawlings.

Yannis Pappas is a comedian and writer.  He’s been featured on Comedy Central, AXS TV, VH1’s Best Week Ever and CBS, and tours the world doing stand up comedy. He’s also known for his immensely popular characters Mr. Panos and Maurica. Along with Director Jesse Scaturro, he is the co-founder of the comedy production company Ditch Films. Pappas will be appearing at Cobbs Comedy Club in San Francisco May 22- 25.  You can find more dates at YannisPappas.com and follow @yannispappas on twitter for more updates.  

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