GIANMARCO SORESI

GIANMARCO SORESI

GIANMARCO SORESI
ACTOR
STAND-UP COMEDIAN
WRITER
Website: http://www.gianmarcosoresi.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/gianmarcosoresi
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gianmarcosoresi/

Gianmarco Soresi is part of a new breed of comedians who are, to quote Zoolander, “Really, really, really, ridiculously good looking.” Let’s just get that out of the way before we get ahead of ourselves. He is both Jewish and Italian which makes his particular brand of neurotic comedy refreshingly unorthodox because he is both vulgar and offensive (the Italian) and also good with generating money (the Jewish). He has headlined Caroline’s on Broadway in New York, The Bier Baron, and appeared at Gotham City, New York Comedy Club, Broadway Comedy Club and numerous other venues. Gianmarco has authored a book and his commitment to philanthropic activism has led him to invent “Dick Pickr.” “Dick Pickr” is an App that cares about women with extremely small vagina’s and lets them know that not all guys are hung like a horse; there still are some guys out there with microscopic penises. He writes his own material, has produced the sketch series, “Matza Pizza” and is a contributor of “Soresi & Sass”. He can sing and dance and does a wonderful choreographed Fosse rendition of Liza Minelli’s, “Bye-Bye Blackbird.” He would like to have sex with Liza Minelli and I don’t know if he knows that so would so many gay guys, but he is pretty adamant that this is proof of his heterosexuality.

We raise our glasses of milk to toast Gianmarco Soresi and welcome him to Pizazz News

Q
Thank-you for joining us at Pizazz Gianmarco. You currently landed a role on “The Last O.G” with Tracy Morgan, what was your audition like for your part? And what is Tracy Morgan like to work with?

A
The audition was fairly brief, as was the role, but making eye contact with Tracy Morgan was an honor. We rehearsed the shot with a stand-in so what you see in the episode is in fact the first time I actually saw Tracy Morgan in three dimensions, which made it hard to put on a disdain my character was supposed to feel.

 

Gianmarco Soresi and Tracy Morgan

The Last O.G
“An ex-felon is shocked to see just how much the world has changed when he is released from prison for good behavior after a 15-year stint and returns to his newly gentrified Brooklyn neighborhood.”

Synopsis – IMDb

Q
You have written a book titled “SISYPHUS & SAM”, what is your book about?

A
It’s about two boys taking very different artistic paths in life, essentially Sisyphus was a perfectionist and Sam didn’t give a damn. Sisyphus never completes his projects, always seeking perfection, while Sam barrels forward, releasing all sorts of garbage but ultimately emerges with an artistic masterpiece. In the end…well, hopefully it will be published soon and people can find out for themselves.

 

To Purchase:
http://www.mindtheartentertainment.com/new-products/sisyphusbook

 

Q
“She died with a smile on her face and just, a little bit of cum.” Gianmarco referencing the last act of kindness he extended towards his dying grandmother. (I laughed imagining you wiping her face.)
Does any of your family attend your shows or is your material a contentious issue that is a forbidden topic around the family dining room table?

A
My family has never taken much interest in my work so I try not to mind them (aside from my siblings who are wonderfully supportive and always down for a late night “is this funny?” phone call). But regardless there were never any taboo topics growing up. What I’m more wary of is any particular autobiographical details. I once used my Mom’s maiden name in a bit and that resulted in a very long phone call…but aside from identifying information I think my life should be on limits.

 

INFINITE BRIS | MUSICAL THEATER SLEEPAWAY CAMP

Q
Stumping the Rabbi, Gianmarco Soresi | Yum’s The Word
You’re Italian/Jewish – your mother being Jewish, your father Italian. In this routine, you go on the “Birthright Trip,” a free 2 week trip paid for by Jews for Jews to fly to Israel. You finally got your Bar Mitsvah in Israel at the age of 25 at the Western Wall. On the last day, where you had a Shabat dinner and then played “Stump the Rabbi,” did you really ask the Rabbi about Jewish views towards homosexuality and why women can’t be Rabbi’s? If not, what did you ask? And do you have any photo’s you can share with us with you on the trip to Israel?

A
I did. I just didn’t think there should be some hunky-dory Q&A given things like this and I mean…he asked us to stump him! I asked those questions, although it played out a little less dramatically.

This is me at the wall attempting to feel any sort of religiosity and wearing a shirt that should be burned.

Gianmarco Soresi at the Western Wall

 

Stumping the Rabbi, Gianmarco Soresi | Yum’s The Word
“Yom’s the Word, A Night of Jewish Story-telling.”

Q
“It’s hard to be an American.” – So sorry Trump is your President.
You were in Australia last year, my beautiful country; how did you find Sydney, and what other places did you visit?

A
Sorry to admit but that part is a lie. That incident actually happened in Paris with an Australian tour guide, and it was regarding George Bush Jr. Shhhhh. I would give anything to go to Australia (besides the amount of money it takes to get to Australia) and have some old friends there I’d be delighted to see

.

Australia is amazing and the U.S does do great TV shows and movies, agreed. 

Gianmarco Soresi – Comedy – 6/13/2017 – Paste Studios, New York, NY

Q
Trump and angry straight white American Nazi men in Charlottesville, yes exactly, why can’t men just hang out? How do you define masculinity?

A
Ohhhh, I guess I would define it as most things I am not. There’s positive aspects to the stereotype of masculinity (like the ability to install an air conditioner or pick up a successful mousetrap, both of which I cannot do) but I think too often traditional masculinity means expressing vulnerability through anger.

 

American Nazis? Caroline’s 2017

Q
Your performance at Caroline’s; “KY, sex and masturbation” – has anyone in your real life worried about having sex with you in case you use intimate details for laughs?

A
That’s why no one’s having sex with me! It all makes sense now.
No one’s expressed any concern yet but we’ll see. Whenever something even mildly unusually happens though, non-comic friends will say something like “I bet this’ll give you some new material.” And 99% of the time it will not.

Oh my goodness, well that can’t be true!

 

Caroline’s 2015, Gianmarco Soresi

Q
Gianmarco Soresi, Gotham Comedy Club, 2015.
Kama Sutra, simultaneous orgasms and performance anxiety – are you still figuring this out and do guys ask you for sexual advice? For the record, I think you are wonderfully brave for taking on all these noble subjects most men would shy away from, and I can’t help but wonder what of this is true?

A
Hahahahahahaha, do people ask me for advice? No. Never. The only person that would find my advice useful is me at 18 and I wanted to tell that story because, going with the masculinity question from before, the kinds of insecurities I felt were never talked about in family education class.

Gianmarco Soresi | Gotham Comedy Club | 2015

Q
The going down on a lady with her periods, grabbing condoms at a 7 Eleven, and realising you haven’t washed your face – powerful imagery there Gianmarco. How hilarious would this be if it actually happened? Loved it.

A
It did happen and was only hilarious in retrospect! I have never returned to that 7/11 but fortunately there’s more 7/11’s in the city.

I was not expecting this at all!! Christ on the cross (or what the Jewish equivalent is) how did you not realise this? I am beginning to think that perhaps when Gianmarco Soresi tells his audience that people are falsely assuming his sexual prowess, maybe he is telling the truth after all. The jokes on us!

GIANMARCO SORESI | LAUGHTER PARTY | 2016

Q
What did you have to do in the audition for American Express?

A
Pretty much just say that script for the initial audition, then they brought me back to do the exact same thing again and figured I’d be able to do it a third time the day of. Day of the shoot, I posted a picture with my co-star (prop wedding rings on) and wrote SHE SAID YES! I proceeded to receive a dozen phone calls from confused friends and family so had to take it down.

That’s so adorable!!

Gianmarco Soresi’s American Express Commercial!

Q
This is one of my favourites; “DickPicr: The Dating App That Cuts Through the Junk.”
You really do have a remarkable sense of observation with regards to what brings people together. Did you have any concerns about how your audience would view this production? What did your parents say to you when they saw it? And will you be filming a “Twatshotr?”

A
I wrote this sketch with Megan Sass for spoiled NYC and she wrote the app’s tagline. I wasn’t worried about this one, people send dickpics, this was just commentary on that – although filming it was another thing. We were lucky enough to have a Bean employee let us film for free and not ask questions when our actor whipped a hotdog out of their pants over and over again. I doubt my parents saw it and if they did no mention was made. My Dad once questioned what I was putting out there when I posted P90X4, but I think that’s only because it was about Dads. No plans to film Twatshotr unless someone in Silicon Valley actually makes it, in which case we’ll happily co-write their commercials.

Endlessly hilarious Gianmarco and Megan! 

Pizazz News’ favourite lines
in
DickPicr: The Dating App That Cuts Through the Junk

“As a man with a more average sized penis “DickPicr” let me be up-front, spared me that look of disappoint before the first time we made love.”

“And as a woman with a medical condition where I have a very small vagina, it was just so helpful to know just how tiny Steve’s penis was going to be before we met.”

“You like Coldplay? Show me your dick.”

“DickPicr: The Dating App That Cuts Through the Junk.”
Produced by Soresi and Sass.

 

 

Q
“Kickstarter for Rent” is just brilliant. I will put aside any judgement about your lips and go along with you needing to Google how to blow another man. Shocking what this world has come to and I had no idea Richie Cunningham’s mum, Marion, was also your mum, what a small world it is. Will you be doing more Matza Pizza?

A
I had no idea the Mom was someone! I think I just googled old-fashioned mom and then had to turn the safe search on to find appropriate results. I’m not sure if I’ll be doing any more Matza Pizza specifically but I still create sketches with Matza Pizza producer Lindsay-Elizabeth Hand of Edge of Motion Productions and I write with my sketch team Uncle Function, who performs regularly at The PIT. Matza Pizza came about because of some insanely lucky commercial gigs but that money is gone forever. It did result in us getting to produce a Funny or Die Original though!

Kickstarter for Rent

 

Q
OUR DRUNK KITCHEN, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Waffles?”
When couples get drunk together that’s when they relax and truly let their feelings loose. Your character reveals his disappointment that he wasn’t made Head of the History Department. Your father-in-law is truly the devil when we discover that he had the authority, the academic pull, to have made you Head of the History Department. You’re sex starved, married to a drunk suburban house-wife who makes waffles for dinner, and all you want to do is be held. It’s all too real Gianmarco. How do you know this is what it is? Do you get these ideas from your parents, from your own life experiences, or have you been observing how it is in suburban marriages?

A
The details were inspired/stolen by Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? But coming from twice divorced parents I do have a perspective on wealthy misery, where the sheets are nice but you still can’t fall asleep at night. I was also lucky enough to have Eleanore Pienta playing opposite me and she improvised the shit out of it. I was also drinking wine the whole shoot, which loosened up my inner demons.

OUR DRUNK KITCHEN, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Waffles?”

 

P90X4
“How many times can I jerk someone into doing a friggin push-up?”
“But Tony, if I do do the workout, do you promise not to have sex with my dad?”

You’re response to this:

“Well, you’re not doing the workout so what’s the point in answering the question?”

Q
I loved it. You turned the P90X4 into a make-shift bed and I noticed the Italian in you when you covered it in rose petals and got some Vaseline out to lube the father. That’s the spirit! So was the P90X4 infomercial all just a ploy to have sex with someone’s dad?

A.
I found it funny that they kept coming out with new P90X’s when the first one really did the trick. Obviously there was more money to be made but P90X2 was all about insanely cumbersome equipment that cost too much money and P90X3 was about making the workouts easier so I just took things to their logical conclusion. It is all a ploy though to one day meet Tony Horton.

You really did take things to their logical conclusion, and Tony Horton, if you are reading this, you know what’s motivated Gianmarco Soresi to make the P90X4 ‘infomercial,’  so cover yourself (and your butt).

P90X4

Q
“Compliment to Completion”
It took you 31 seconds of compliments to get to ejaculation. I timed it. I thought it was wonderfully executed, and I admire your consideration for audiences and their attention spans. When was the moment when you just knew that you had to manifest this vision?

A
A new record! This came from the post-show experience (mostly in my theatre days), where it feels like a burden to receive all the thank you’s post-show but, without them, you feel like you are absolute garbage. My first stage door experience was with Idina Menzel after Wicked and it did not go down like this sketch.

I like that story.

“Compliment to Completion.”

 

Q
“Hasidic Fiddler on the Roof.”
It’s the first day of rehearsals for “Fiddler on the Roof” and your character is the Artistic Director of a Brooklyn community theatre. “I never thought in a million years someone would donate all that money.” SAVED by a Rabi Hasidic Jew! The $5 Facebook Kickstarter didn’t go as you planned and you made sure your cast knew about it. And just when everyone was going to quit on the show, you brought them back in, as the awesome leader you are, with the promise of a “stipend.” But it was the part at the end, when you took off with the Burritos and let everyone know that they’re not getting any footage for their reels that struck me. Have you come across this situation IRL (in real life)?

A
No one’s ever denied me footage out of spite but I did do two fairly high budget web series where the creators got divorced in once case and broke up in another and I guess no one can agree who gets the footage, which is total bullshit.

I genuinely feel terrible for these people who are going through these relationship problems, must be awful, and hopefully they can give you your footage. I would love to see both of these web series and include it in Pizazz News. 

“Hasidic Fiddler on the Roof.”

Q
“The Last Millennials: Milk.” I’ve always said that milk is a massive turn-on! Would have loved to see you both having a Cleopatra bath together but it was the end of the world and I guess there would be a milk shortage so it made sense to me why you guys did shots instead. How much fun was it working together, and with milk?

A
This was actually a nightmare to film. It was quite cold but Megan, Andy Zou (the director/dp) and I knew we had to go for it. I enjoy drinking milk but not this much and every article of clothing smelled godawful by the time I finally got home and into the shower.

“The Last Millennials: Milk.”

Gianmarco Soresi and Megan Sass in their end of the world erotic milk shenanigans. 

Q
“The Last Millennials: Pilot.” It’s the end of the word and you spend three hours a day masturbating instead of repopulating the world. What would your mother advise you if she was in “The Last Millennials”?

A
Just to mention this was entirely written by Megan Sass and was part of the NBC Diversity showcase. I think her script would have been made into a series were it not for Last Man on Earth but c’est la vie. My Mom would advise me to get a real job, as I’m sure my penchant for comedy would be even less desirable in a post-apocalyptic world.

Megan Sass is wonderful and hopefully she is working on something else because she is amazing. Your mom, I am still picturing Marion Cunningham and giggling.

“The Last Millennials: Pilot.”

 

Q
Your web series, “An Actor Unprepared” Episode 1 – To what degree is this series based on your real-life experience as a Comedian/Actor?
Do many venues currently place the onus on Stand-Up performers to bring people with them as standard practice?

A
This is all pretty true to life. If there’s anything I’d love to revisit it’s this show but there’s a preponderance of ‘showbiz’ shows, particularly from white men, so it would need to have a new angle to be viable. There’s plenty of places that do bringer shows, it’s not inherently evil, it’s not easy filling these shows up sometimes, and oftentimes those shows can lead to non-bringer even paid gigs. However, many places do so many that it feels like it’s exploiting newer comics by getting their friends to pay an exorbitant amount of money for nothing more than five minutes onstage. It’s tricky, because as a producer it makes complete sense and, again, I’ve worked on bringer shows where the producer made sure the booker was at the club, or they gave meaningful feedback, or they booked you on other shows, but there’s also a lot of bullshit

A “bringer show” is when a comic brings his own crowd to a venue and it essentially means the comic is permitted to perform at the venue. It is also known as “pay to play.”  Gianmarco discusses this complex system and further even, Casting Directors, Managers and Agents and their “workshops” in a wonderful Podcast. Worth listening to, titled “The Acting Income Podcast” with the effervescent Ben Hauck.

http://www.gianmarcosoresi.com/podcasts/

 

“AN ACTOR UNPREPARED (Ep. 1).”

Q
AN ACTOR UNPREPARED: An Actor Under The Bus (Ep. 2)
Totally brutal. How strict are venues on minutes?

A
I know of few places that would black you out but some can get pissed. Most understand if you need to wrap up a joke going over 15-30 seconds but if you go way over and you’re not a name you might not get asked back.

“AN ACTOR UNPREPARED: An Actor Under The Bus (Ep. 2).”

Q
AN ACTOR UNPREPARED: An Actor Undressed (Ep. 5).
What was the audition like for Blue Bloods? Is this episode based on your real life experiences? Getting footage together is fundamental for performers. In order to assemble show reels, how common is it for Acting students to undertake a Masters in order to obtain the time to achieve this wondrous feat?

A
The audition was pretty simple, I just pretended to yell a question at Tom Selleck, which he proceeded to not answer. I didn’t get a masters and ultimately think that in this brutal business where you’re too old the moment you leave the womb that spending too much time at school can be detrimental (I regret having gone to college) but if it’s a masters program that has a network that might employ you? Then sure. But there’s only so many of those.

Keep going Gianmarco and I want to know what the heck happens after Episode 5 to our hero who was left with his pants down and didn’t get his lines!!

AN ACTOR UNPREPARED: An Actor Undressed (Ep. 5)

Q
How do your parents feel about your career? And does it bother them when you reference them in your jokes?

A
I don’t think they give it much thought. I’m not sure how they really feel being referenced but, if they’re like me (or I’m like them), I imagine getting attention supersedes feeling embarrassed. My intent is not to smear their names, it’s to capture what my experience was growing up and I try to make sure I’m doing the latter.

Sounds like they are not really sure what you are up to and love you anyway!

Q
What are working on now and what is in store in 2018 for you?

A
My main focus is stand-up, writing new material, refining the old, and developing myself into a reliable comic folks think of to fill out a bill. I also have a stand-up play Less Than 50% opening this August at 59E59. And my sketch team Uncle Function. Those three things should keep me busy and single enough until the winter.

“Less Than 50%” @ NY Fringe

“Less Than 50%” is one of the most fresh and innovative romantic comedies I’ve seen in the past few years. It’s a work of uber meta-theatre as the lead actor is also the writer and using the space to recreate his relationship’s trajectory on stage…with his actual former girlfriend playing the stage version of herself. They stop and start the play to discuss the truth of some scenes, while going for the ‘theatrical truth of the moment’ at other times. Interspersed between the vignetted re-enactments are stand-up comedy routines, discussions about art, education, and what it means to say the word ‘love.’

Aurin Squire sixperfections.blogspot.com

Q
Who are your favourite comedians and who would you like to work with?

A
I think John Mulaney is one of the greatest comedians alive, then the classics Bill Burr, Dave Chappelle, Doug Stanhope, Chris Rock, Maria Bamford, Tig Notaro, I recently saw Judy Gold, Mehran Khaghani and Gina Yashere live, all of whom made me laugh aloud, which is rare due to being sad I guess.

Gianmarco Soresi, you are a delightfully endearing comedic talent. Thank-you so much for joining us and taking the risks that you do on stage to infect the world with your positive energy.

Comedy Reel

 

COMMERCIAL REEL

 

DRAMA REEL

 

“The MTA has an Existential Crisis.”

“MTA shames NYC”
“Courtesy is contagious and it begins with you.”

The Matza Pizza Trailer

SKETCH COMEDY from the Italian/Jewish, Passionately Neurotic Mind of GIANMARCO SORESI (That guy from all those General Electric commercials).

 

 

Matza Pizza
That moment when you’re alone on the Subway…SHOWTIME!