Now the English stand-up in English also works in Italy

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“Every time we try. Furthermore, we are wrong by default,” says Gianmario Longoni, artistic director of the show agency Show Bees and the Arcimboldi Milan theater, the largest theater in Italy. However, It refers to the organization of the stand-up comedy events of foreign artists such as the American Jeff Arcuri. Moreover, who filled a thousand-seater theater in May like the Milan Carcano, and according to Longoni he could have done a second evening safely.

The Stand-Up Comedy-it is called this because comedians usually make their monologues standing on stage. Nevertheless, alone-is a typically Anglo-Saxon form of comedy. However, Until a few years ago in Italy it was followed by a small niche. However, also due to the difficulties of understanding the language. Additionally, However, But then Netflix began to invest a lot. Furthermore, because the shows are cheap to produce now english stand-up english also or buy and very profitable, and the public has grown quickly all over the world. Meanwhile, At the turn of the pandemic. In addition, the Italian comedians who are inspired by that world, such as Saverio Raimondo, Edoardo Ferrario and Francesco De Carlo, began to have some success. Nevertheless, But more recently those who organize these events are verifying that in Italy the public also exists for American. Similarly, British comedians. Those who until a few years ago, when they did European tours, never passed in Italy.

Next February will make two shows at the Arcimboldi Louis CK Theater. a comedian of American stand up among the most famous ever, already passed in Italy in recent years. Arcimboldi has 2,346 seats, Louis CK will make two dates: both are sold out. The same goes for the show scheduled for July 19. always at the Arcimboldi, by Bill Burr, among the now english stand-up english also most famous comedians of these years thanks to the successes on Netflix and participation in various films and series.

Tickets were even sold out to see Ricky Gervais on July 24. creator of the original British version of The Officeof the appreciated Afterlife and among the most cited and important comedians of the last decades. “Even” because Gervais’ show is not scheduled in a theater. but at the Unipol Forum in Assago, one of the largest buildings in Italy: it has about 15 thousand places.

To date in Italy they are now also comic with a much more recent popularity and linked to social networks. In October he sold out at the Teatro Dal Verme Matt Rife, who comes from Ohio and has 19.5 million followers on Tiktok. and Natalie Cuomo and Dan Lamorte, wife and husband, and the South African Masood Boomgaard also performed in Milan. In October, a now english stand-up english also show by the Finnish Ismo is also scheduled, very popular on Instagram and YouTube.

It must be said that, more than doing “in Italy”, in most cases foreign comedians give Milan. The shows organized in Rome are much rarer – in February 2026 Louis CK will also make a date there. equally sold out – and in smaller cities even less.

The stand-up likes because it manages to intercept “a slightly higher. cerebral taste” than other types of comic shows, says Filippo Cecconi, the artistic director of Santeria, who is one of the first clubs in Milan to have organized stand-up evenings, on the intuition of Matteo Segale, Jacopo Cirillo and Giulio D’Antona. His programming had started around 2015 in the original headquarters with the shows of Italian comedians who later became famous. such as Luca Ravenna, Michela Giraud or Valerio Lanini: he then continued in the new one, wider, now english stand-up english also where several foreign comedians also performed since 2019, such as the Scottish Daniel Sloss and the American Judah Friedlander.

In the same year in Milan, Louis Ck had also performed, which Longoni calls “the head of the stand-up”. Known for the comic series Louiehe was the first world -successful US comedian to arrive in Italy: despite the controversies related to the accusations of sexual harassment that had been addressed to him. all the tickets for the first date announced in Milan were sold in a few hours, a second and a few months was added a third in Rome.

Show Bees had organized the date of Louis CK “a little as an experiment”. a little to overcome the diffidence of the operators of the sector themselves compared to shows that were considered difficult to access to the Italian public, for the language and for the not very familiar format. Longoni, now english stand-up english also however, claims that English is not a limit, especially in a city like Milan.

Cecconi also says that at the beginning there was a lot of uncertainty. because the stand-up comedy is full of improvisation and impossible to be subtitled, and therefore potentially responsive to the public. According to him. however, gestures and live body language help to follow the show and allow you to have fun the same, even if you do not understand everything-all.

If before the Pandemia from Coronavirus. the public of Santeria was mostly of Italian people, now instead it includes tourists, workers and foreign students: on the other hand the love is in front of Bocconi University, where there are thousands of them. For foreign comedians. however, Italy is interesting not so much from an economic point of view, but more from the cultural one, explains Longoni, because they are interested in seeing the reaction now english stand-up english also of their jokes in different places in the world.

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The success of the Anglo-Saxon stand-up comedy in Italy. in any case, is part of a wider expansion of the genre globally, in particular thanks to YouTube, to social media and above all to Netflix, which in its catalog has dozens of shows, from those of emerging comedians to the most established ones, such as Sarah Silverman, Anthony Jeselk, Dave Chappelle, Ali Wong and Trevor and Trevor and Trevor. Noah. According to Cecconi. Netflix counts a lot not only because the Italian public has grown, which approached this type of comedy and learned to follow it thanks to the subtitles, but also because it has allowed to present the Italian scene abroad, thanks to the production of the shows of De Carlo, Ferrario, Raimondo, Alessandro Cattelan and Michela Giraud.

But for the comedians who now english stand-up english also speak English. the most recent thrust due to Instagram and Tiktok, where the short sections of the comic shows are one of the most popular contents, was also fundamental. Those comedians who make the so -called “crowdwork” have benefited in particular. that is, they interact and involve the public by improvising questions and answers. The social networks also increased the public in certain niches. such as the LGBTQ+community, where for example the Italian-American Matteo Lane and Gianmarco Soresi are highly appreciated, in turn among the artists of stand-up comedy successful recently passed in Italy.

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