Snob Reviews presents :
Snob Talk by Gianni Fiasche
Giuseppe Meleca, or as some of you may know him; Giuseppe The MC, has made quite the name for himself. Having toured all over England, Australia and North America, the Torontonian is just getting started with big projects lined-up, while never losing sight of his roots. I had the chance to speak with Giuseppe who will be performing at the Italian Bad Boyz of Comedy: Toronto Invasion this weekend and here’s a bit of what we spoke about:
GF: Why do you love performing in Montreal?
GTMC: For me, Montreal is the most Italian city in the world. This will be my sixth time performing in the city and I love it more and more each time I come back. I have a lot of friends here that make me feel at home. It’s an absolute honor to be performing at the Italian Bad Boyz show because it’s not a fly-by-night comedy show; Ralph (Buttino) has put together an insane show with big names over the years, and I can’t wait to share the stage with comics I can call friends.
GF: How did you get your start in comedy?
GTMC: The whole comedy thing started over 25 years ago when I was in high school. I became the president of my student council which required me to be on-stage a lot and become the emcee of certain events. As the emcee I became very comedic and after high school I went on to do other various events and performed comedy bits for a few minutes.
GF: What comics inspire you?
GTMC: As Italian comics, I love Joe Avati and Frank Spadone. I realized soon after watching them on-stage that there can be a living made off of telling people stories and making them laugh. Shortly after I rented out a theatre to put a show on for friends and family, and I sold 800 tickets, and I only needed to sell 100 tickets to pay my expenses. After that show I quit my job and I haven’t looked back since.
GF: What is your ultimate goal?
GTMC: The ultimate goal would be to have my own show and become a game show host. I actually host a game show on my Instagram Live every Tuesday night, and I’m also working on a talk show/podcast interviewing influential people from all over the world. I’ve also ventured into the fashion world and I’ve got a new t-shirt line, so you see there’s a lot of things going on that I thought would never happen to me and I’m very grateful.
GF: What 3 items would you bring to a desert island?
GTMC: Ha-ha! A cellphone with a limitless battery supply, an “ombrelloni” (umbrella), and a “zipangulu” (watermelon).
GF: What’s your favorite movie?
GTMC: My favorite movie of all time is “The Princess Bride”, I love it.
GF: What song would you have played at your funeral?
GTMC: That’s a great question; I’ll go with “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen.
GF: Before we go I’ve got to ask; what’s with your hair?
GTMC: My dad’s an electrician and I got zapped one day ha-ha! Seriously now, a few years ago I saw this guy with the sides of his head shaved off with a little coif at the top. Now, I’ve always had the clean cut hair, but after I saw that guy I said to myself “I want that”, so I went home and shaved the sides of my head. It was an instant shock value to everyone around me, but when I would go out people would comment that they loved my hairstyle. I kept shaving the sides but I would never touch the top of my head, but that hair had to go somewhere and it could only go up ha-ha. When I would do shows, people would refer to me as “the guy with the hair”, so I kept making it taller and taller and now it’s just my thing, it’s a part of who I am.
You can catch Giuseppe The MC sharing the stage with comics Frank Spadone, Lu Sicilianu Raggiatu, Joe Cacchione and host Cousin Vinny from The Beat 92.5 at Plaza Centre-Ville this Saturday, November 10th at the Italian Bad Boyz of Comedy: Toronto Invasion. A few tickets still remain and can be purchased through Ralph Buttino at 514-707-9836. You don’t want to miss this evening of great food and non-stop hilarity!