"It's about all the weird ways hamsters die."Mount Pleasant—(February 17, 2025) On a crisp winter long weekend ("When's Joy Day?") night out, I gathered, amidst a jovial audience, to witness the energetic New York-based, Italian-Jewish-American stand-up comedian co-host a live edition of his semi-popular The Downside with Gianmarco Soresi podcast alongside fellow Uncle Function sketch group sidekick, Broadway performer Russell Daniels, on stage at the Biltmore Cabaret in the middle of the annual ten-day Just for Laughs Vancouver comedy festival.
Known for his viral crowd work segments on TikTok and vague resemblance to (his "cousin") suspected CEO killer Luigi Magione, Gianmarco Soresi, even in the more casual podcast format while also serving as his own opener, excels in thoughtfully sidesplitting observations relating taboo subjects to a generation of adults who grew up raised by divorced parents while afflicted with crippling anxiety. Daniels, as his affable Andy Richter (or actual Josh Gad fill-in) type, dutifully yes ands his recently ADHD-diagnosed podcasting partner in conversation alongside another fellow comedian guest.
For this live episode taping, the duo was later joined by America's Got Talent contestant (and self-described adult JonBenét Ramsey lookalike) Erica Rhodes to banter together comically while encouraged to commiserate, complain, unpack shared miseries, and debunk the positives of life by focusing on the "downsides" in an overall upbeat fashion. She told a relatively typical but cringe-inducing online dating story that concluded with an unhinged voicemail (played live for us) from a potential date that oddly explained his strange decision to cancel their pre-Valentine's Day date on the day of because he had just reconnected with an ex (yikes!).
Both Soresi and Daniels' sharp talent for twisting humorous premises into clever jokes delivered with a maximum amount of jubilant high energy together made for a casually appealing stage presence by the pair. While the latter appropriately subdues the former's manic sense of cynical enthusiasm, there was more than enough sustained amusement to the live show with ample and horrifying audience participation (think dead hamsters, cancer treatments, and clumsy alcoholic dads, oh my!)—capped off to a ridiculous green-faced musical send-off of "Suddenly, Seymour!"
JFL Vancouver 2025 runs until February 23rd, with comedians performing live shows at venues across the city.
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