Ciao a tutti, di nuovo!

I wanted to share with you some comedy sketches in Italian that I have enjoyed, for both Italian listening practice, and because they are funny!

Aldo, Giovanni and Giacomo are an Italian trio of comedians, actors and screenwriters. They have been active since 1982 and they are some of the most widely known and successful Italian comedians. They at times utilize “slapstick humor”, which is the use of exaggerated physical activity in plays and theater. This type of humor actually began in the 16th century in Italy, known as commedia dell’arte and is derived from the word battachio, slapstick, in Italian. Essentially the battachio was used to hit actors with minimal pain involved, yet producing a loud and humorous sound.

Another key attribute of their humor is their ability to create and develop outrageous characters and stories, and they quite often successfully mimic different Italian accents for those characters. Drawing on cultural differences between the South and North of Italy, their comedy routines are quite Italian-centric, so this is definitely advanced listening practice.

*You can put on the automatic Italian generated subtitles, or the automatic English translation while watching the video – but be warned, there will be mistakes.*

Il Conte Dracula e Nico il sardo

This comedy sketch is all about Il Conte Dracula, Count Dracula, who continues to bussare nella casa di Nico il sardo, to knock at the house of Nico the Sardinian… much to his sfortuna, misfortune.

Vocabolario:

Una casetta – small house

spigoloso – grouchy

spezzare le braccine – to break the little arms

spegnere le candele – to blow out the candles

stravagante – peculiar

un salice piangente – a weeping willow

le campane – the bells

indovinare – to guess

origliato – eavesdropped

sfamare – to feed

la malattia – the disease

un cucchiaino – a teaspoon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg1wY4lCoZI

Il Viaggio in Subaru Baracca

The next one is Il Viaggio in Subaru Baracca, the trip in a heap of a Subaru. I especially like this one because of their over-exaggerated gestures while “driving” and for the onomatopoeia.

Vocabolario:

sbrigati – hurry yourself

la portiera – car door

bestiale – amazing

il clacson – the horn

stufo – fed up

deficiente – imbecile

sfasato – confused

cretini – dimwits

piantala – drop it

imbestialire – to fly into a rage

insonorizzato – soundproof

la parabrezza – the windshield (“parabrizz”)

un troglodita – caveman

sazio – stuffed, full

una dalmata – a dalmatian

sterminare – exterminating

Che pensate dell’umorismo italiano? What do you think of Italian humor? Do you have any other Italian comedians that you like? Share them below!