Just for Laughs 2023: Gianmarco Soresi is doing it For the Culture

Selected as one of Just for Laughs’ New Faces in 2022, New York comic Gianmarco Soresi traffics in observational comedy with an edge. Trained as a dancer in his youth, Soresi hilariously mines his Jewish-Italian heritage while stalking the stage with the sort of in-your-face physical mannerisms that would land most other comics in physio.

Soresi returns to Montreal’s Just for Laughs festival as part of this year’s For the Culture showcase (previously known as The Ethnic Show), as well as his own solo show.

Hosted by JFL favourite Alonzo Bodden, For the Culture runs from July 18-26, 2023 at Club Soda and also features appearances from Zarna Garg, Joyelle Nicole Johnson, Judy Gold, Arthur Simeon, and Malik Elassal. Gianmarco Soresi also headlines Café Cleopatra on July 25 and the Claude-Léveillée room at Place-des-arts on July 28.

For tickets and the complete schedule, visit the official Just for Laughs site.

Bad Feeling Magazine: Is there anything that sticks with you from making your JFL debut last year?

Gianmarco Soresi: You know, I was always a theater kid, I went to college for musical theater. And I do a lot of clubs in New York, that’s where I kind of grew up as a comic. And you’re at these stages that are just a couple of bricks thrown together, you’re elevated half an inch off the stage, and being at JFL and being at one of these big massive theaters, suddenly, all those dance classes that I took and all those thousands of dollars that amounted to nothing in my acting career — suddenly, I said, oh, I finally have room to move. When I got on that stage at JFL I thought, oh, this is where I can shine. This is where I can’t be too much. And I plan to really test that theory this year.

For the Culture

You’re on the For the Culture show this year; given your Jewish-Italian heritage, which side are you representing?

Well, listen, I’ve yet to hear from JFL on which side they want me to talk up more, but I’ll do whatever they want. I probably have more Jewish material only because, right now, it’s a contentious time. I was in Houston, and I said “I’m Jewish,” —  this a true story — I said, “I’m Jewish,” and someone in the audience went “yuck.” But the joke’s on him because that’s Hebrew for “great job.” I think that’s probably the side that’s going to come out the most.

Working the Crowd

Watching a lot of your stand-up recently, you’re incorporating a lot of crowd work; was that always something that you enjoyed doing early on? Or is that something that came about working on the road or in New York?

I think originally, I leaned into it because you know, it’s a very weird time to be a comedian. You have to kind of have constant output, but you don’t necessarily want to put out all your material. And I think I saw one or two shows where I saw an audience member whisper a punch line to their friend. And I said, okay, that’s it. No more posting my current material online, I’m just leaving in the crowd work.

And it was hard at first because the reason I became a stand-up comedian was because in conversations, I like to be the only one talking. But I have found that it just keeps me in the moment. You know, I can get bored doing the same joke every time. When you’re talking to someone you feel alive. It could go south.

You know, I might say to someone, “Oh, your parents are divorced?” and they’ll go, “My dad killed my mom.” Then, I have to think, how do I make this funny? How do I stay on the edge? And that keeps you feeling alive. That keeps you feeling scared in a good way. So I really do enjoy mixing it in, when I feel I’m ready to take the risk.

Is there something that stands out over the years from your crowd work? Is there one wild story or interaction that sticks with you after years of interacting with various crowds?

I think one that I had recently that I felt really good about was I was talking about horses, because my dad’s a horse guy. I have a lot of theories about people who like horses a little too much. But this person ended up being — they’re kind of a civilian horse detective. So whenever there’s a missing person, they volunteer to do search and rescue with their horse. And ultimately, through talking to them, we found out that they have solved zero cases, and I’m pretty sure they just hamper any investigation. And it was fun, the excitement of finding out they’re a horse detective and then finding out they’re maybe the worst horse detective in the world, and maybe horse detectives aren’t really needed that much anymore.

The Worst Horse Detective in the World

And that was fun. You’re dealing with missing people, these are tragedies. But what’s so funny is you’re dealing with some dope on a horse, just walking around the field, finding nothing, and that’s where I think kind of the best humor can come from; it’s humanity’s stupidity, in the midst of intense tragedy. That’s where I think you could really find something to see.

The Downside Podcast

How did your podcast The Downside come about? I love the idea that you present a space where people can just come on and complain about their lives instead of having to be relentlessly optimistic.

It came about because someone said to me “What are the podcasts you can do when you’re in a bad mood?” When I’m in a bad mood, I love to complain, I love to talk about it. I love to ask, why did something bad happen at the airport? Why did I have a fight with my girlfriend? Why am I angry at my dad? And then I realized, Oh, I can create a podcast where I can let other people do that, too. And it’s been great because I love when people feel permission to be honest. I feel like with social media, and with promoting ourselves, we’re constantly asked to put on this very specific version of ourselves. And not to be too morbid, but then some person kills themselves, and it’s like, well, that’s because we live in a place where people are always putting on a face.

And the best episodes are when I can find someone to let it go and share the more negative aspects of their life. I think it can be very cathartic. I won’t say therapeutic, go to therapy. Don’t listen to a podcast as therapy. But it can be cathartic. And I think there are some people who come on and you can tell they go, “My brand is happy. I don’t want to complain.”  And those are tough. And my goal with those interviews is, how can I make you feel safe, that you’re not being ungrateful, but being honest about how you feel? And on the better episodes, I feel like I really get some stories that they wouldn’t tell on NPR.

For the Culture runs from July 18-26, 2023 at Club Soda. Gianmarco Soresi also headlines Café Cleopatra on July 25 and the Claude-Léveillée room at Place-des-arts on July 28. Tickets and the complete festival schedule are here.