In this episode, we’re speaking with Italian American comedian Mike Vecchione, who has appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central and more. We talk about how his family supported his journey to comedy and how this love and support helped him to become the man he is today.

Tweetables

• “You don’t realize how you’ve been raised until you go to college and you start seeing how other people are brought up.” – Mike Vecchione
• “If you believe in your parents, teachers, and coaches and you trust them, and you love them, then you do what you are told, and you don’t question authority.” – Mike Vecchione
• “I can’t get my head around how parents today walk on eggshells around their own kids.” – Mike Vecchione
• “Never leave anything unsaid, because if somebody dies tomorrow, they will know everything there was to know.” – Mike Vecchione
• “I don’t know what it is in our culture, but there is a lot of pressure around food and being at the table.” – Mike Vecchione
• “Life is short, and we have a very set amount of time on this planet, so you’ve got to tell people how you feel.” – Mike Vecchione
• “People think that there is always this type of godfather model type of men in the Italian culture, but I know so many Italian men that are so soft.” – Dolores Alfieri Taranto
• “Italians are such a tribal community at heart and it can be tough to balance the independence with being part of a huge family and the responsibilities and sacrifices it asks you to make, versus what you want to do.” – Dolores Alfieri Taranto
• “As the generations move on and you become Italian American, and now more American than Italian, there’s a struggle between the generations.” – Anthony Fasano
• “This is what life comes down to, all the love, all the arguing, everything, it comes down to just breathing over and over again. – Mike Vecchione
• “You have to work hard and take calculated risks in your life in order to make it happen.” – Mike Vecchione
• “Do something big, be bold and take some chances in your life.” – Mike Vecchione

About our Guest

Mike Vecchione was born in Youngstown, Ohio and graduated High School in Boca Raton, Florida.  He has appeared on Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham, Comedy Central’s Fresh Face Debates, and Russell Simmons Presents: Stand Up at the El Rey Theatre.

In 2010, Mike won the People’s Choice Award for the New York Comedy Festival, was a semi-finalist on NBC’s Last Comic Standing, and was selected to perform at the prestigious Montreal Comedy Festival (New Faces). Later that year, Mike went on to perform on the Tonight Show starring Jay Leno and shot his own Half Hour Special for Comedy Central.

In 2014, Mike appeared on Comedy Underground with Dave Attell on Comedy Central, was again a semi-finalist on NBC’s Last Comic Standing and Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen. He also released his first comedy album, Muscle Confusion. In addition, he has appeared on Conan on TBS and Inside Amy Schumer.

In 2018, Mike appeared on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon for a second time, did Montreal’s Just For Laughs for a third time and released his second comedy album, The Worst Kind of Thoughtful.

Episode Sponsor

Resources Mentioned

The New Neighborhood
The Italian American Podcast iTunes
IAP 75: POWER HOUR: A Power Hour History of the Italian American Experience, Part 2 of 4: Italians in America: 1890 – 1941
Mike Vecchione’s Website
The Worst Kind of Thoughtful
Mike’s Twitter Account
Mike Vecchione’s Intagram Account
No Disrespect
IAP 14: The things we share: respect, passion and other Italian-American traits. A conversation with The National Italian American Foundation

Grazie Mille,

Anthony Fasano and Dolores Alfieri Taranto
Co-Hosts, The Italian American Podcast[podcast src=”https://html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/7514816/height-orig/90/theme/custom/thumbnail/yes/direction/forward/height/90″ height=”90″ width=”100%” placement=”bottom” theme=”custom”]