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Below we have listed some great Italian comic actors of all time, and included links to other pages where you can watch some of their video clips. We have also included Italian-Canadian stand up comedians such as Joe Avati (YouTube video clip below) and Pasquale Parmiggiano, who have reached great success all around the world recounting their funny stories and observations of growing up second generation Italian. Their routines are performed in a mixture of both English and Italian.Scroll down for various comedy video clips! (In English) 'Italian Wedding' - Joe Avati
A brief history of Italian Comedy..... The traditions of Commedia dell'Arte and Greek theatre are still continued in Italian comedy today. Commedia dell'Arte (literally translated as 'Artistic Comedy'), dates back to the 16th century. It can be described as a comical theatre presentation performed by professional actors who travelled around Italy. The travelling acting groups performed mostly in city streets, and sometimes in court venues. The more famous troupes such as the Fedeli and Confidenti, even performed in palaces and reached international acclaim. The Commedia dell'Arte's style of comedy used types of music, dance and witty dialogue, and it's style spread throughout Europe and still lives on today in present day theatre. learn more... In the past, ongoing themes in Italian comedy films were that of sickness, poverty, hunger, and old age, the idea being to highlight the ironic absurdities in tragic situations. A classic example to illustrate this is Roberto Benigni's Life is Beautiful (La vita e` bella). The film is set in the second world war in a nazi concentration camp, but somehow through the tragedy, Benigni still makes us laugh. Modern comedies today still laugh at the absurdities of modern life, although the themes of the past of sickness, old age etc aren't that common. Italians also appreciate jokes about life in general, and also enjoy jokes about politics e.g. there is a comic tradition of political cartoons called vignetta that can be found on the front page of Corriere della Sera, and in Naples there is a cartoon character of a chicken called 'Gino' who makes mini cartoon clips and songs about politics and pokes fun at political situations in the world today. Some great comic actors... Roberto Benigni Benigni (left)
was born in Arezzo, Tuscany in
1952, and started acting in the theatre, at
the age of 20 in Rome. He
(In English) Clip from the romantic comedy 'Tiger and the Snow'
Visit Rai.it to learn about more Italian comic actors.
Toto`
Toto` (born Antonio de Curtis, see photo left) was a comedy genius and the icon of Italian comedy. He was a very talented actor and comic (appearing in 108 films), a film writer, (writing 5 of them), a music composer, (composing music for 4 of them), and a poet. Toto` was the master in making people laugh, not only with his words, but also with his facial expressions and physical actions. One of the his greatest and funniest films is Miseria e noblita`,(see below poster) also starring Sophia Loren. (see photo right) It tells the story of two Neapolitan families, who are both very poor and starving living in post-war Naples. They then come across an opportunity to pretend they are nobilty, and manage for a short time to live a life of luxury. However their luck doesn' t last for long..... see photos from this film
YouTube clip from the famous Miseria e' Nobilta (Spaghetti Scene-you don't need to understand Italian for this one!)
Antonio de Curtis website (in Italian)
Massimo Troisi (1954-1994) Born in San
Giorgio a Cremano, Naples, this great comic
actor of all time will probably
be remembered mostly for
Il
Eduardo de Filippo (1900-1984) Born in Naples, de Filippo (photo below left) was the son of Scarpetta a famous playwright, of Misera e Nobilta` fame (starring Toto` see below) He was a theatrical and comical legend, and (like other works of this time),much of his work focused on the lives of the Neapolitan people and their hardships, their dubious cunning nourished by centuries of hunger, their fantasies and their love of life. visit his website...
2nd generation Italian comedians Check out these websites of the following comedians who tell stories of how it is to grow up 2nd generation Italian in Canada (Pasquale Parmiggiano) and Australia (Joe Avati). They tell stories in a mixture of Italian and English.
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then
moved onto writing and directing films
as well as acting, and some of his best known
and most successful are
Non ci
resta che piangere in which he
appeared with Troisi.
Benigni also directed
The Monster
(Il Mostro), Il piccolo diavolo
(with Walter Matthau) and
Johnny
Stecchino. His most successful film of
all time and what many will know him for is
Postino
He
started acting in the theatre at the age of
5. As he got older he also became a
playwright, screenwriter, author and poet,
and in 1932 formed a theater company with
his brother 
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