by Renato Franco
The comedian tells his story in the group, from a difficult childhood as an emigrant to great success
What did her parents teach her?
Nothing at all
Antonio Teocoli called him Nino as a child, then he eventually became Teo. He grew up on the outskirts of Milan but got to know the rich and famous who lived in Saint-Tropez in the ’60s and ’70s. He was engaged to Brigitte Bardot’s secretary and “she didn’t understand why I was always there, she looks at me and says: how come everyone’s there and you’re here? Teò, loser ». A great dancer (“If I had been twenty in America, I would have done Saturday Night Fever. I was Tony Manero”), he was not a model student (“I was always rejected. I did accounting, like Fantozzi”).
In Saint-Tropez he shows up with a 50 meter motorboat, the GA, Gianni Agnelli.
«Teo, are you Greek? No Italian. where do you live In Niguarda. But do you ski in these parts? No, but from Cusano Milanino you can see the mountains. We took him to dinner at the most expensive restaurant in Saint-Tropez, food cost around 500, I simulated a refined and elegant loss of appetite. I was scared of the bill, but I was naive: when Agnelli is at the table, you don’t get odds.
Before Saint-Tropez there is Taranto, where he was born 77 years ago, then immediately in Reggio Calabria: when he arrived in Milan you were the southerner …
«At that time they didn’t even know where Reggio Calabria was, it took two days to get there on the Freccia del Sud, which also stopped at the gas station. They were trains that would be luxurious today, with velvet, compartments, luggage nets: when I was little they put me to sleep, in Paola they rolled down the windows and finally I could breathe. In Reggio I spoke with my Milanese accent and sounded like a German; in Milan we lived a bitter life, we lived in a basement, a kind of garage, I had nothing. My father was out looking for work or something else; my mother worked as a seamstress and she was treated pretty badly; People called me Africa, terùn, andalù. The sign “Do not rent to southerners” was visible from afar ».
Didn’t your parents teach you anything at all? Her mother?
“My mother was the daughter of Karussell, my grandfather and my grandmother, I only saw her once, I met her in two hours one afternoon, and then I never saw her again, I don’t even know if she’s dead are.”
His father?
“My dad only taught me how to parry because he was a bit abusive. Back then the slaps flew, not like today; Baby food eventually arrived. Once on the tram he gave me a smack on the coppino so hard that the air froze, all silent until the terminus in Niguarda. He was a sailor and I think the war ruined him: he was too angry, he didn’t want to work under the boss, but he didn’t even have fifth grade, what should he do? Nobody could help me, we lived behind the Ospedale Maggiore, between very clear lawns and irrigation canals where we took a bath ».
When did you realize you could make people laugh?
«Since my childhood I have always had great artistic élan, I made people laugh, I always wanted to be the protagonist, I did everything to be a fool, a clown. And then I sang well: at school in the courtyard I sang Neapolitan songs, I was cute when I combed my hair and everyone listened to me, it was a moment of great glory and small revenge » .
At the end of the sixties he was the protagonist of «Hair», there were also Renato Zero and Loredana Bertè.
“Loredana was already angry when I asked her her name, she immediately made it clear: it will be my cock. I didn’t think she would be famous because she was in tune, but she didn’t have a specific voice. Renatino, on the other hand, was already writing ten songs a day, you had to lock him in the dressing room to silence him so he could play them alone. At the time I was already friends with Adriano Celentano and it was he who made me do hair because he turned to me everything they offered him, he always said: let Teo do them. I also ended up at the Neapolitan Song Festival at his apartment, where I now sang Carulina parte cchiù, a song that sucks more than I’ve ever heard in my life. I took 15 votes, Modugno won with 9,000 votes ».
How did you get into cabaret?
«I went to Santa Tecla where they played jazz and dance, there was a pianist named Enzo Jannacci, he said something I couldn’t understand, you couldn’t understand anything he said because he was mumbling. It was he who introduced me to the Derby and wanted me for his first show, Saltimbanchi si muore, where Cochi and Renato, Lino Toffolo, were also present. On the day of my debut – it was Sunday afternoon – I didn’t give up going to Milan; I arrived with the radio in hand, scarf and AC Milan hat. I went on stage like that and people laughed because they thought it was a gag ».
Jannacci?
“He was a genius, he did everything and nothing. I always blamed myself for not singing one of his songs, I should have interpreted The Straight, which was dedicated to me, thinking of me, party at the parish hall at 3 said: that’s where I lived. But he gave it to Milva. I should have asked him to write a few songs for me like he had done with Cochi and Renato, La vita l’è bela is a heart opening masterpiece ».
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Celentano?
“I was waiting for him at his house when I was 14, I thought his name was Cedentano with a d, he was already successful, the resemblance was in the southern face we both had.”
do you still feel
«For 20 years we have always celebrated his birthday on January 6 with songs, jokes, taking off all colors. I also had a romantic getaway with the two of them, him and Claudia Mori, and then there was me and Miki Del Prete: we stayed a month in a hotel in Madonna di Campiglio. I don’t know what we have to do with this, but he broke up alone with no friends. We haven’t heard from each other for two years, they are even afraid of a mosquito, they are hypochondriacs, afraid, they don’t take the plane, the ship, not even the elevator ».
Al Bano did not greet them.
“I put up a poster of him with a g in the middle of the name and it read Al Bagno, he didn’t take it well.”
Boldi?
“Our show, which I didn’t know but I know, in 1982 on Antenne 3 Lombardia was a total triumph, everyone saw it. Boldi was the intended victim, I don’t know what hair he had, but when I slapped his face, his hair stood up. But I made myself laugh a lot more, I did more numbers, with dancing, with parodies, with makeup, I was more energetic ».
Gialappa?
«From the shoulder I became the protagonist, I earned 3 million per episode on Mai dire gol, there was also Gene Gnocchi, who then didn’t want to be there the following year and I never understood why. With Caccamo, Peo Pericoli and Vettorello, I’ve covered almost all of sporting Italy ».
How was Caccamo born?
«The clothes were inspired by Necco, the 90 Minutes journalist. The speech came to me from my uncles during those year and a half in Naples, I had taken the mood of the city, the Gaga talked like that, you could hear them say: Nothing ever happens here, I’m leaving this city. And where are you going? In Capri… I saw this blue jacket, it was perfect but very tight. That was fun too. The director then made a mistake and pierced his tie, it was a brilliant mistake ».
Galliani?
“I didn’t know him, but I saw his eyes and said: Those could also be my eyes.”
He began to imitate him: with the inevitable raincoat and the inseparable yellow tie.
“He was happy, but he made people laugh all by himself when he cheered with a crooked mouth…”.
He has done two Sanremo Festivals with Fazio.
“Little is said about it because we embarrassed him with these two editions, people just waited for me to come out in my underwear to imitate Mayor Albertini, to sing like Ray Charles, to speak like Maldini: it became one Variety show, no more a celebration of the song. Pavarotti liked Albertini very much in his underwear, he was enjoying himself like crazy. One evening a guest was missing, the teacher was there and listened: I’ll do it. The following evening Bono from U2 arrived … At the end of the festival he gave me a Cartier alarm clock ».
Then Fazio broke up with Rai…
“And I made the biggest mistake of my life: the deal with Mediaset. The mistake was not going to Canale 5, but signing without having written things properly. I had to do Italians with Bonolis and Laurenti but they had already recorded the title track without me. I didn’t know what to do, I guest-starred for two episodes and then left.”
Pass off as someone in a bad mood.
“Everyone says that. I used to get angry very often. I think I’m the king of details and that’s why I immediately shout instead of thinking ».
Who did he fight with?
“I was very angry with Fatma Ruffini when she cut my sketches: But we’re crazy, you don’t touch the things I do, what can you do better? I got angry with Gialappa because they kept naming left-wing artists: too many. Even with Boldi, but he got scared and didn’t react. Gino and Michele tell me that one moment you would kill me and the next you adore me. The change in personality and attitude is something my father may have left me.”
What are you doing at the moment?
«There is very little work, this season I went three evenings, but after 60 years I can also rest. But an artist without a job is nothing, what else can he do? I’ve always devoted myself only to art, everything I’ve learned I’ve done while I was alive, as Mogol says ».
Retirement?
“I will die on stage.”
April 23, 2022 (Modification April 23, 2022 | 07:04)
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