Don’t be afraid to make fun of yourself and self-deprecate. It makes you more relatable to the audience and thus a more pleasurable experience for them.
As a part of our series called “Five Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became A Professional Comedian”, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Marco DelVecchio.
Model, comedian, podcast host, actor, and newly minted reality star Marco DelVecchio has made waves as the newest breakout heartthrob on Season 3 of hit dating competition show FBOY ISLAND on the CW.
Marco attended Brown University and was cast in the school’s production of “Legally Blonde” where he fell in love with acting. He moved to LA shortly after and began booking acting and modeling gigs — including a speaking role in Camila Cabello’s music video “Havana” which has over 1 BILLION views on YouTube, making it one of the most watched music videos ever. In addition to his modeling and acting work, Marco has been making a name for himself as a comedian on the comedy club circuit, and hosts the comedy podcast “UNTIL THE LAST DROP”, an unfiltered, no-holds-barred podcast which he records at the legendary Barney’s Beanery.
In his free time, Marco enjoys ordering food daily from Sweet Green (ask him his order, he will ask you yours), working out and playing basketball and football, getting out and being social with friends, any and all dogs, and supporting nonprofit work for Alzheimer’s Disease.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
I grew up in a full Italian family in Providence, Rhode Island, and played football my entire life, earning All-American accolades. After playing the role of the “UPS Guy” in Legally Blonde the Musical in prep school, I decided to hang up the cleats and pursue a career in acting. I was then accepted into California Institute of the Arts but dropped out after one semester to start working in the industry.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path as a comedian?
I’ve always been one of the funniest people amongst my friends (or at least I’d like to think), but I was always too nervous to go on stage. My good friend CJ Marrinan, who opens up for comedian Caroline Rhea on the road, put me on my first comedy show a little over a year ago and I haven’t looked back.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
The most interesting story is probably how I randomly came across an audition for the lead male role in Camila Cabello‘s music video for “Havana” and I self-submitted for it, without any agency representation, and booked it. That music video now has 1.3 billion views on YouTube.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
Yes, I wouldn’t be where I am today without my good friend Jim Rine. He was the executive producer of a found footage horror film I was cast in when I first moved to LA called “The Kaos Brief.” He helped me with a part-time job which I could make my own hours working at, so I could fully focus on acting and my creative career in my free time. I would not be where I am today if it wasn’t for him.
You have been blessed with great success in a career path that can be challenging. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?
Specifically, in the entertainment industry, you have to get comfortable with failure. You have to get comfortable with hearing the word no. But at the end of the day, you can’t get comfortable with where you’re at because all that matters is your next job, your next booking, your next creative endeavor. So my advice to anyone that wants to embark on this career path, is keep trucking forward, and as long as you believe in yourself, it doesn’t matter what any other people think. If you don’t believe in yourself, how do you expect others to?
What do you do to get material to write your jokes? What is that creative process like?
All of my jokes honestly just come from life experience. I am blessed to live a very fun and spontaneous life, so whenever something comedic happens to me throughout the day, I take time to write it down and reflect on it and see if it can possibly be made into a joke.
Here is our main question. What are your “Five Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became A Professional Comedian” and why?
1. You’re not going to be good when you first start.
2. Just because one crowd doesn’t think it’s funny, doesn’t mean it’s not funny. Keep working at it and believe in your sense of humor.
3. Don’t try to please everyone. Trust your material.
4. If you’re relaxed on stage, it oozes confidence and the audience will be more apt to laugh.
5. Don’t be afraid to make fun of yourself and self-deprecate. It makes you more relatable to the audience and thus a more pleasurable experience for them.
You are also currently starring on FBOY Island and you have your own podcast. Tell us how you got started on both and your experience so far.
I was contacted on Instagram to audition for Fboy Island and the Casting Director said I would be perfect for it (which I don’t necessarily know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing ha ha). After a two month casting process, I got the good news that I was going on the island and it was one of the best experiences I’ve ever been a part of. I soon after started my podcast “Smoochie Town” where I interview my famous friends of all different fields; comedians, actors, musicians, reality tv stars, and at the end of the day they’re all my friends first so it’s just an honest and comfortable conversation for the general public to see inside of their lives.
You have such impressive work. What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? Where do you see yourself heading from here?
My big focus right now is growing my podcast as much as I can because my absolute favorite thing to do in the world is talk to people and converse about life in a comedic way. I’d love to go on another reality show, not necessarily dating, but my ultimate goal is to be a talk show host in the likes of Jimmy Fallon/Jimmy Kimmel. I just want to make people smile at the end of the day.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Work hard, and don’t be an asshole. Simple as that. When you work hard good things end up happening to you, and it takes too much energy not to be nice to people.
You are a person of huge influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
I feel like I want to start a movement (no pun intended) for physical education and the importance of exercise. One, because everyone for the most part is able to get up and exercise every day, whether that’s with their bodies or minds. Getting a daily sweat on makes the rest of my life better. I think clearer, I feel better, and everything else just seems to fall in place when I take care of my body.
Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have lunch with, and why? Maybe we can tag them and see what happens!
I would love to grab lunch and maybe a beer (or 3) with Ryan Reynolds. I respect his hustle and his business mindset so much and one day I only hope to aspire to be at his level. He’s also one of the funniest people on the planet to me.
Are you on social media? How can our readers follow you online?
Yes! You can find me @marcodelvec on Instagram and my podcast is @smoochietown on Instagram and TikTok.
This was so informative, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!
Thanks for having me, I really appreciate it 🙂
Marco DelVecchio: Five Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became A Professional Comedian was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.