This Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Francesco De Carlo will guide you on a hysterical journey through politics, love, sex, food, laziness and other Italian specialities. Whatever you think about Italians, he will make you change your mind… Italians Do It Later.
“The show answers this question: why would an Italian comedian, after a year of hard work, decide to spend the summer in Scotland, instead of drinking Caipirinha on the seaside in Sardinia? I have an overwhelming need to tell people about what’s happening in my country and how many things we have in common. I think it could be interesting for an international audience to listen to an Italian point of view about politics, sex, religion and the other hard stuff you can experience in Italy. If not, I’m pretty sure that your Scottish beer will help me forget about Caipirinha.”
Although you have performed in the UK before, this is your first full English language show. Have you visited Edinburgh before?
“Yes, I’ve been to Edinburgh three times, always during the Fringe Festival. For me it’s like a miracle to see such an explosion of creativity and artists coming from all over the world with different backgrounds. It’s amazing. And the city is one of the nicest I’ve ever seen.”
How do UK and Italian stand up scenes differ?
“I can talk about it for ages! There are huge differences particularly in terms of content and venues. In the capital, Rome, we don’t have comedy clubs with regular scheduling. We don’t have the habit of going to a comedy club to see comedians. It’s hard to find venues to test our routines and express ourselves freely. We have gigs in restaurants or local festivals, but the people are distracted because they are there not for the comedians. It is nothing like the comedy clubs in London or Edinburgh where I have done stand-up.
“When it comes to content, Italian comedy is mostly characterised by social clichés and regional humour.It’s very rare to see a comedian going on stage with a personal point of view about what they’re speaking about. I belong to a group of comedians trying to bring stand-up comedy into Italy and we are achieving very good results in television, radio and live shows.”
Do you consider yourself to be political?
“Everything is political in Italy – unless you are a politician.”
If you were curating a stand up show for television, who would be your guests?
“I would introduce to you the very best of the Italian Comedy scene: Andy Luotto, Gegia e Nino Terzo. You would like them.”
