Rome and Away: You’ve Gotta Laugh…
Rome and Away with Michael Monkhouse.
This week ‘comedy’ actor Leonardo Pieracconi opined that we can beat the recession with a sense of humour. I said Great Leo, next time I can’t pay the rent I’ll tell the landlord a joke, see what happens…
I’d love to say that like Michael Jackson, Signor P isn’t as black as he’s painted. Unfortunately I can’t. His gags make Les Dennis look like Bill Hicks and his feminist ethics make Barbara Windsor look like Germaine Greer. So let’s talk about a proper comedy festival instead, like Zoomarine.
Part of the ‘Roman Summer’, which occurs every Summer in Rome, said event kicked off last 30 June in Zoomarine, which is actually a water park. This unique venue covers 40,000 square metres just off beachy Torvajanica, a packed tourist (but not touristy) resort on the coast of Lazio, a few kilometers from Rome itself. It’s been open till after dusk, which is technically after my bed-time, and means you get laughs and dolphins in one – what more could you wish for, except perhaps Cameron Diaz and a shower attachment?
The shows take place in the Parrots’ House, so if you don’t find them amusing you get a wide variety of domestic fowl to look at. Tickets are the bargainous price of around a tenner, including an ale, and you’ll find them on the door, at ticket office and all over the bloody Internet.
Anyway, first up was very experienced, very bizarre, very Roman Maurizio Battista, pub-owner, writer and stand-up, fresh from a stint in those God-awful never-ending Sunday shows ‘Happy Sunday’, ‘Sunday In’, ‘Sunday Out…’ Thankfully he’s back treading the boards, and pretty damn funny he is too.
Other acts include Lando Fiorini, equally Roman, equally amusing, equally a pub-owner. Must be something they put in the beer. For the last decade his ‘Puff’ (tee hee) in the heart of Trastevere has been one of the few venues in the Eternal City to offer good old-fashioned open mike along with booze and clumsy pick-up lines. And let’s not forget Alessandro di Carlo, man (I checked) of theatre, telly and stand-up, whose notorious ‘Essence of my city’ routine is to Rome what shower attachments are to Ms Diaz. Plus Antonio Giuliani, one of the hardest working mammals in comedy, mingling Zoomarine with Sky TV’s ‘All In A Curve’, the aforecovered ‘Shadow Of The Colosseum’ and God knows what else besides.
As everyone buggers off for a holiday – sorry, vacation – I’m thankful to Zoomarine for a combination of laughter, alcohol and aquatic beasts.
