Daniele Luttazzi (born January 26, 1961), real name Daniele Fabbri, is an Italian comedian, writer, satirist, illustrator and singer/songwriter. His stage name is a homage to musician and actor Lelio Luttazzi.
In 1988, his monologue won an award in a comedy contest held at Rome's Teatro Sistina. He is now one of the most successful and influential comedians in Italy. His favourite topics are political satire, religion, sex and the body.
In 2002, he was banned from RAI, the Italian public broadcasting company, by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who was angry because Luttazzi, at that time host of Satyricon, a raunchy late night comedy show, interviewed Marco Travaglio, the author of a book that exposed Mr. Berlusconi's links with the Mafia. Now he can work only in theatres. He is often cited by the European press (i.e. The Economist, Le Monde, El Pais) as proof of Mr. Berlusconi's censorship of the opposition. In addition to writing and performing monologues and theatre works, he occasionally writes political and satirical essays for Micromega, a left-wing periodical.
Luttazzi is also interested in drawing, with a selection of his graphical works published as a book called Capolavori (Masterpieces). Daniele Luttazzi is also a musician: as of 2007, he released two CDs, named respectively Money for Dope and School is Boring, in which he sings in English.
He is also a script doctor for Comedy Central and HBO.Contents [hide] 1 Biography 2 Soundtracks 3 See also 4 References 5 External links
[edit] Biography
Luttazzi was born in Santarcangelo di Romagna, province of Rimini. He began his comic career performing satirical monologues in theatre shows. He became famous in 1994 doing funny characters in the popular comedy show Mai dire Gol (Never Say Goal), aired by Italia 1.
In 1998, he brought the late night show genre to Italy with his first one-man show, called Barracuda, patterned after the popular United States late night shows of David Letterman and Jay Leno. Luttazzi did monologues about recent news, interviews with famous showbiz and political personalities, and skits for adult audiences.
The same formula was then adopted for his next TV show, called Satyricon, aired by the public channel Rai Due.
During the March 14, 2001 broadcast, just two months before the Italian general elections, Luttazzi hosted journalist Marco Travaglio in order to talk about his brand-new book, L'odore dei soldi (The Smell of Money), dedicated to a critical reconstruction of Silvio Berlusconi's first years as entrepreneur and his links with the mob. Luttazzi and the RAI came immediately under attack by Fininvest, Berlusconi's main business company. Lawsuits were filed against Luttazzi by Berlusconi, his companies Mediaset and Fininvest, and his political party, Forza Italia. Luttazzi won all the trials. The judges said all the facts told in the interview were true.
After the 2001 success at the general election and his appointment as Prime Minister of Italy, during an official visit in Sofia, Bulgaria, Berlusconi commented about the criminal use of television by showman Luttazzi and popular journalists Enzo Biagi and Michele Santoro, suggesting that the new right-wing-dominated RAI management should not permit it any longer.
Over the next few months, Luttazzi, Biagi and Santoro were gradually dismissed by the public broadcasting service. After Berlusconi's defeat in the 2006 national elections, both Biagi and Santoro returned to the air on the public channels of RAI; Luttazzi, however, has not had the same opportunity. Marco Travaglio, the journalist whose interview marked Luttazzi's fate for the last five years, has been invited on many programs (on both public and private channels) and is a regular guest on Santoro's program, Annozero (Year Zero).
After his exclusion from television, Luttazzi concentrated on theatre shows and bookwriting. The title of one of his performances in the show, Adenoidi (Adenoids), is Bin Laden può andare in televisione e io no (Bin Laden can Appear on TV and I Can't). In 2007, he made a TV comeback as a guest on Enzo Biagi's news magazine RT - Rotocalco Televisivo on Raitre. In July 2007, it was announced that he will host a TV show on La7 and scheduled to start in October. Recently Luttazzi returned to air with the new programme "Decameron: Politica, Sesso, Religione e Morte" (Decameron: Politics, Sex, Religion and Death) on the private channel La7. He's been suspended again from December 8, 2007 by the private channel La7. Antonio Campo Dall'Orto, the director of La7, one of the top four Italian private TV channels, although confirming his personal appreciation of Daniele Luttazzi as a satire star, decided to cancel the show and released the following comment: "we have granted total liberty to the showman, but one has to use its liberty with responsibility and this is certainly not the case".
The official reason for stopping the show is due to the following joke:
How can you stand the fact that Berlusconi is now saying that he was against the war on Iraq? Well, I have my own method. I think of Giuliano Ferrara in a bathtub, with Berlusconi and Dell'Utri pissing on him, Previti shitting in his mouth and Mrs Santanchè whipping them dressed up in an S&M outfit. {short pause} It already feels better, doesn't it?
Video of official announcement by La7 Director "LA7 - Eventi". Retrieved on 2007-07-12.[1]
Luttazzi claims though that the real reason behind the cancellation of Decameron is the network intention to prevent him from air the following episode of the show, which was going to focus on the pope. Earlier that year, comedian Maurizio Crozza, whose show Crozza Italia was aired by La7, was already forced to quit his parody of the pope following protests among the public opinion and catholic politicians.
[edit] Soundtracks
Luttazzi selects the soundtracks for his own shows, and his choices have often been repeated by other programs. Sesso Con Luttazzi (Sex with Luttazzi) S.O.S. (ABBA). S.O.S., portraying a need for help and advice about sex, answered by Dr. Luttazzi. Va' Dovè ti Porta il Clito (Go Where the Clit Takes You) I've Got a Heart (Tom Jones, 1965, from the album, It's Not Unusual) When You're Smiling (written by Fisher, Goodwin and Shay in 1947, made famous by Frank Sinatra in the album, Sing And Dance With Frank Sinatra 1950) Come Dance with Me (written by Sammy Cahn, Jimmy Van Heusen and performed by Frank Sinatra on his LP, Come Dance with Me! 1959) Il Tempo di Morire, (The Time to Die) Lucio Battisti Tabloid Bama Lama Bama Loo (Tom Jones, 1965, from the album, What's New, Pussycat?) La Freccia Nera (The Black Arrow), theme song of the TV series, "La freccia nera" (1968), proposed in Tabloid as a replacement for the Italian national anthem, Inno di Mameli. Bollito Misto con Mostarda (Boiled Meats with Mustard), proposed in Satyricon in the Adenoidi 2003 theatre as the anthem of the Girotondi, a left-wing political movement. Barracuda The Stripper (David Rose) Satyricon (late night talk show) Upside Down (Diana Ross, 1980s). Waterloo (Abba) You Keep Me Hanging On, musical introduction of interview with Minister of Justice Piero Fassino on Adriano Sofri Satyricon a teatro La freccia nera (The Black Arrow) Adenoidi 2003 That's the Way I Like It (KC and the Sunshine Band), in reference to the free way in which Luttazzi likes to address important topics. So What (Miles Davis, from the album, Kind of Blue, 1959) Bollito misto con mostarda (Boiled Meats With Mustard) Mi Ritorni in Mente, (You Back In My Mind) Lucio Battisti Others Kool & the Gang
Grassetto
[edit] See also Lenny Bruce and Woody Allen Editto Bulgaro
