Sixty years of entertainment, theatre, cabaret, cinema and television: ladies and gentlemen, here is Aurelio “Cochi” Ponzoni. The other half of the duo with Renato Pozzetto is a guest at 6.45pm today at the Controra di Musicultura where in the meeting hosted by John Vignola they will present the book “La versione di Cochi” (Baldini + Castoldi, 240 pages, 19 euros).
Ponzoni, what pushed you to tell your story in front of a blank sheet of paper?
“The desire – explains Cochi, this nickname was given to him by his mother – to leave a diary of my life, a story to the four daughters who know me 70% as much as I do, to the people I have met. Then I accepted the proposal to Paolo Crespi who asked me for a detailed interview in which I told about my theatrical, cinematographic and cabaret activities”.
And this book was born.
“Crespi, without my knowledge, spoke about it with Elisabetta Sgarbi who was interested in turning my story into a book, a structured story.”
In this flow of memories, what was the most touching moment?
“I am not easily moved, I have always had a spirit refractory to whining or melancholy memories, I have always looked forward, I have always preferred to think more about joy than melancholy”.
And the funniest one?
“There are so many especially during the period at Derby with Lauzi, Jannacci, Renato, Andreasi”.
At a certain moment “Cochi and Renato” had become one word. How did you manage to ensure that one didn’t take over the other?
“We are different but compatible people, the result is that mixing me and Renato together produced a comical effect. Well, our diversity was the driving force of the comedy.”
Then Cochi and Renato were a guarantee, but was it difficult to establish yourself?
“We were lucky enough to be supported even when we didn’t do this job except for fun in the taverns. We could count on the support of great intellectuals, I remember that we spent the evenings with Lucio Fontana, Dino Buzzati, Luciano Bianciardi, Dario Fo, Franca Rame. In short, we had the support of this Milanese intelligentsia of those years who pushed us to take that path.”
