Gialappa's Band (con Andrea Amato)
Mai dire noi

I should never have taken up with this book. Reading it, sure, of course, maybe discussing it with friends over a beer or two (“Those who don't drink are fuddy-duddies!”). Whatever you want, but actually reviewing it, whatever that means, definitely not. I grew up on bread and Gialappa’s Band, I've been following those boys (well, true, there are only two left!) since time immemorial, ever since they performed their antics on Radio Popolare, which isn't true because Radio Popolare's signal didn't reach here, in the Marche, and no one even knew what the internet was. Yes, those were barbaric times.

This high-density surreal blurb essentially serves to provide me with an excuse: I should never have taken on “Mai dire noi” (Mondadori, 2022) precisely because I am a die-hard fan of Gialappa’s Band. I could never make a single criticism against them, I could never state, for example, that Gialappa Show, which has been airing for a few years on La8, is a bit crap, that it's a program frequented by comedians who are excellent at not making people laugh. No, I will never write that, therefore I am the least suitable person to talk about the book that retraces the artistic life of the Gialappi: I wouldn't be balanced, partial, objective. It is a golden rule of literary criticism (if only I knew what literary criticism is and the meaning of golden): you are crazy about a writer, an author, an artist, a director and you want to write about them? Forget it, deal instead with topics you dislike, talk about something else, about people you don't understand, that you don't know, that you can't stand, you will see what a show! A golden rule that I couldn't care less about, which is why I would like to say something about “Mai dire noi” and recount, as much as possible, what is found inside.

Well, there's a lot of stuff inside. Essentially the autobiography (written with the help of Andrea Amato) of three guys who, in the 1980s of the last century, amused themselves by calling Radio Popolare live as soon as “Bar Sport” began, a sui generis sports program curated by the genius Sergio Ferrentino. Where, essentially, they joked around by mocking the sacred, untouchable world of soccer. Those three, who didn't know each other, were so brilliant and funny that Ferrentino started inviting them to the studio. The beginning, in short, was this, then Giorgio Gherarducci, Marco Santin, and Carlo Taranto would take other paths, eventually, after separating from Ferrentino, reaching television. As authors first, and then as protagonists of the small screen (always remaining off-screen), inventing formats and languages, becoming extremely popular, even managing to make a successful movie (“Tutti gli uomini del deficiente"), but without ever forgetting radio.

“Mai dire noi” doesn't represent a cold list of programs hosted and conceived by Gialappa’s: it is rather a treasure chest of secrets, descriptions of behind-the-scenes moments, recounting encounters more or less fortunate, without forgetting to narrate the less pleasant episodes, misunderstandings, the inevitable clashes. Did you think you knew everything about Mai dire Gol and the like? Just read this book to change your mind. For example: do you have any idea how the fight with Teo Teocoli went? In broad terms, we all know what happened, but, among the pages of the volume, everything is explained in minute detail. So much so that, in anticipation of the book's publication, they even interviewed Teo: they hadn't spoken since 1995! Call it an interview, but it's more of a chat between old friends who meet again after some (ahem) little misunderstanding. And the book is full of chats, interventions, anecdotes, among its pages you can even find certain self-censored jokes, some of which are really terrible.

Almost everyone joins the party: Aldo, Giovanni and Giacomo, Antonio Albanese, Claudio Bisio, Marcello Cesena, Mago Forest, just to mention the most famous names. All ready to testify that the three from Gialappa’s Band are not only good as authors and entertainers, but also (mainly?) at creating a light, extremely laid-back work environment. As Walter Veltroni explains in the introductory pages: “They are three genial buffoons.”