By: Shannon E Johnson
Known as New Jersey’s Bad Boy of Comedy, Mike Marino is an authentic New Jersey Italian with a North Jersey accent and a hilarious stand-up routine that has him headlining around the world, from the Los Angeles’ Laugh Factory and The Comedy Store to Vegas, NY, Canada and beyond.
Much of Marino’s comedy comes from tales of growing up in an Italian family and the lessons that come from being a kid in Jersey City, New Jersey. While a lot of the language in his stand-up is adult-oriented, Mike is family friendly when he is on television and radio. He says one of his biggest fans is a seven year old boy that lives in Guadalajara as he imitates Marino’s gestures and nuances. He found that to be as endearing as another 12 year old who dressed up as Mike Marino for Halloween.
During one of his many television appearances, Marino hit hard on Comics Unleashed, his comedic sketch of having an “Italian President from Jersey” went viral. The phone started ringing for big time theatres and millions started following him around the globe, which is where he is planning on taking a tour called Marino Mania in 2015.
Marino’s style of comedy as a wise-cracking wise guy was timed well with pop culture as America became obsessed with another group of funny Italian Americans: the cast of the “Jersey Shore.” Both play into the stereotypes of Italian Americans as being tough-talking, fighting meatheads with a plenty of body hair to show for it. Marino has a bit in his stand-up routines imagining an Italian-American U.S. President. He says that if this person were President, war in Afghanistan would be “Ovah! You wouldn’t know how… but it would be ovah!” The only catch is that no one would want to ask why the war was over because they probably wouldn’t get a straight answer from the President — only a “don’t worry about it – you just go and enjoy the cheaper gas prices.”
While the accent is certainly real, sometimes the viewer wonders how much of Marino’s persona feeds his comedy or is a true representation of his personality. As a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and a frequent actor in movies and television shows, Marino is clearly as talented at playing someone else as he is himself. In fact, he jokes in his comedy shows that he always wanted to play a mob boss in a mob movie, but that he somehow always ends up getting cast as the Irish-American cop that gets “whacked” in the movie’s opening scene.
Marino has received offers to produce a television series that he calls Reconstructing Jersey, whereby the series is based on the Italian family growing up in America. He is a rising star — one of the funniest and most popular stand-up comedians out there today. In 2008, the New Jersey Comedy Hall of Fame inducted him into their ranks. He also headlines and hosts comedy festivals and award shows. He will also be appearing on November 28th of 2014 at the Borgata in Atlantic City. Tickets are on sale at www.theborgata.com. In December, DVDs of Live at the Borgata will be on sale in stores and on his website. You can follow Marino’s calendar on his website at www.mikemarino.net
