The talented 29-year-old will perform Don’t Call Me A Wog! (An E̶t̶h̶n̶i̶c̶ Comedy Story) at North Melbourne’s Club Voltaire from April 10 to 24.
The show explores Locascio’s complex connection to his heritage and dissects his love-hate relationship with “wog comedy”.
Locascio was born and raised in Sydney among two cultures: Italian on his father’s side and Greek on his mother’s.
His paternal grandparents migrated to Australia from the Sicilian village of Camporeale in the 1950s.
“We weren’t a super ethnic family within our household, but then we’d go and have big lunches at nonna’s house and Greek barbecues with family friends,” he said.
“We’d swap panettone at Christmas and do all of those things associated with being super ‘ethnic’.”
While growing up caught in a collision of two incredibly rich cultures and histories certainly had its advantages, it also came with its challenges.
For much of his early life, Locascio felt trapped in a prison of stereotypes.
“I went to a predominately ‘white, Aussie’ school, so whether I was Italian or Greek, it didn’t really matter to them; they just thought I was Lebanese,” he laughed.
“Then when I went to university, I found myself gravitating towards the ‘wog’ societies but they were a little bit too hardcore for me, so I reverted back to my ‘whiter’ persona.
“There’s always been an element of belonging and not belonging in my life.”
Locascio explores this theme in his show, demonstrating how a person’s relationship with their ethnicity in Australia is a deeply personal one.
“The show’s broadly about going on a rollercoaster of pride and shame for your ethnicity, which I think is something that everybody with a little bit of flavour and culture in this country goes through in their lives,” Locascio said.
“I want it to be relatably unrelatable because I think that coming to terms with your supplementary ethnicity – no matter what it is – is really unique to you; you don’t go through it as a tribe, you do it on your own.”
The 60-minute gig pays homage to a typical “ethnic” comedy show, while also revolting against its very essence.
“When I started out, I didn’t want to be pigeonholed as an ethnic comedian, but by virtue of doing a few jokes around some of the ‘whiter’ comedians, I was,” Locascio said.
“On the other hand, the more traditional ‘wog’ comedians considered me mainstream.
“I was kind of caught between two worlds, which is something I’ve experienced my whole life.”
Don’t Call Me A Wog! (An E̶t̶h̶n̶i̶c̶ Comedy Story) is an audiovisual storytelling show, comprising musical, lighting and video components.
The use of multimedia marks a new phase in Locascio’s career.
“Traditionally, my comedy has been me, a microphone and opinions,” he said.
“After doing a show last year, I thought to myself: ‘What separates me from every other person standing on a stage with a microphone and opinions?’
“I wanted this show to be as entertaining and varied an experience as possible.
“I hope my audiences walk away feeling as though they haven’t seen anything like it before.”
This determination to continually refine his unique storytelling style has been the key to Locascio’s success so far.
The young talent began to forge his path in stand-up in 2017.
His passion for comedy was sparked much earlier, in his teens, when he would devour hours of performances by Eddie Murphy and local comics such as Carl Barron.
But like many children of migrants, Locascio was encouraged to pursue a career in the corporate world.
“After university, I ended up going into corporate consultancy, bankruptcy and liquidation,” he said.
“It completely sucked the life out of me; one day, I decided to chase the dream that I’d always had and put everything into comedy.”
After a year of performing alongside his day job, Locascio wrote an hour-long show, hired a theatre and invited 400 friends and acquaintances to enjoy the free gig.
The show was filmed and posted to social media, allowing Locascio to establish a loyal fan base and build his online presence.
Locascio has written, produced and performed a solo hour of stand-up comedy every year since, featuring in major events such as the Sydney Comedy Festival and selling out prestigious venues including the Sydney Comedy Store.
He is a two-time NSW RAW Comedy state finalist and has performed with some of the best comedians Australia has to offer, including Dave Hughes and Joe Avati, who described him as “the new generation of funny”.
After two years of cancelled events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Locascio is looking forward to bringing his brand new show to Melbourne as part of his first ever national tour that includes legs in Newcastle, Adelaide, Perth and Sydney.
“This tour will really be telling,” he concluded.
“I’m taking a bit of a risk in going to cities I’ve never performed in before but I hope it’ll pay off...”
For more information on the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, visit the website.
To find out more about Anthony Locascio, follow him on Instagram.
