Greg Cooper

Shortland St actor, Master of Ceremonies, and theatresports actor.

Greg started his professional performance career 17 years ago at The Court Theatre in Christchurch as a member of the improvised corporate entertainment company The Court Jesters. He went on to represent Christchurch in two national improvised comedy competitions and New Zealand in festivals in London, Berlin, Montreal, Orlando, Amsterdam, and the World Championships in Los Angeles, where he was a member of the winning team in 1995. He was integral in establishing the school holiday children’s productions at the theatre and has performed in and written eight children’s plays that have been produced at The Court and Downstage Theatre in Wellington. He also co-wrote and performed in The Complete History of New Zealand (Abridged) with Mark Hadlow which toured the country and had a successful season at The Herald Theatre in Auckland. Greg moved to Auckland seven years ago and has kept busy with performing, directing, voice-over work and writing. He has entertained at hundreds of corporate events in New Zealand and Australia as a freelance performer and also through corporate event companies such as Conartists (formerly Auckland Theatresports), Ovation Business Theatre, Madant, The Improvisors (Wellington) and The Outwits (Christchurch). With his background in improvised entertainment Greg’s ability to deal with any unexpected situation makes him an invaluable asset as an MC for any event. He has the ability to keep the audience entertained during a Powerpoint malfunction and has been known to become the Powerpoint slides himself if the malfunction proves permanent. As a professional actor Greg also offers the extra option of having a ‘character’ MC your event or conference. The character can be developed to complement the theme or focus of your event creating a unique and memorable personality to keep the day or night on track. Some recent characters have been a Russian Gymnastics Coach for an Olympics themed conference, an inept I.T consultant and a Belgian Train Conductor for a Stella Artois event. He can also provide short bursts of interactive audience entertainment to maintain the focus and energy levels between presentations and speeches. Greg strongly believes in providing a specifically tailored service for your event rather than just the standard MC in a suit. Other highlights of his time in Auckland have been playing a pot smoking motorcyclist on Shortland Street and Heroic Fawn Number One in the Disney film 'The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe'. Both these characters are available for corporate events although Greg hasn’t had any takers to date.

Presentations:

Topics:
• Master of Ceremonies – straight or in character
• After Dinner Entertainment
• Improv