"I had contacted my 8 year old self who was told that he would be moving to a new country (Australia) from Italy by his parents. I kept exploring this little voice inside of me as I believe it contained the seed for the show. "
NO STRANGER TO THEATRE WORKS, FABIO MOTTA AND HIS ONE-MAN-SHOW "SPOT" RETURN THIS MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL!
Q: Can you please introduce yourself and how you got into comedy?
A: My name is Fabio Motta. I am an actor, clown and teaching artist. My pronouns are he/him. When I was 2 years old, my parents took me to the town square in a small country town in Italy (where I grew up). There was a concert with live music that evening. I wriggled out of my mother’s arms, propped myself up onto a chair and started wiggling my tosh side to side and bouncing on my legs. A group of people gathered to watch me, I got many laughs that day. That’s how I got into comedy, I guess. I knew that if I had great pleasure in what I was doing, people might also enjoy watching me and sometimes laugh. Since then, comedy has always been something I felt drawn to and deeply curious about. In high school, I wasn’t the class clown, but when it came to drama I let loose. I created a sketch troop and managed be in the MICF Class Clown finals 2 years in a row. We didn’t win, but we got to perform on a big stage, eat free snacks and meet Ross Noble. That was fun! Once I graduated from high school, I went back to Italy to study Commedia Dell’Arte and it was there that my love for physical comedy really blossomed! From there my curiosity for comedy lead me to work with many other wonderful teachers and perform and devise theatre in 3 continents.
Q: What do you most enjoy about creating and performing your own work?
A: It’s complete freedom. It’s also a very vulnerable experience. It’s getting up and trying things, falling flat on your face and getting up again for more. What I enjoy most is the ability to do the work that excites me.
Q: What did you want to explore with ‘SPOT’?
A: I wanted to create a solo show, but I had no idea what to explore. One day, as I was doing a voice warm up (quiet out of the blue), I heard myself say: ‘Why did you take me away?’. I quickly realized that that sentence came out of my mouth and an outburst of tears began to run down my cheeks. I had contacted my 8 year old self who was told that he would be moving to a new country (Australia) from Italy by his parents. I kept exploring this little voice inside of me as I believe it contained the seed for the show. The work is very physical and I feel when I work physically it allows the subconscious mind to begin to do the writing, and then a personal story can hopefully become universal through the poetic body.
Q: Can you tell us a bit about how you developed the physical comedy and clowning aspect behind this show?
A: The show touches on many forms like; Bouffon, Clown and Commedia Dell’Arte. I would say it’s a milkshake of all these forms served with a cherry on top! I chose these forms for the show because I feel they offer a platform to explore difficult themes through humour, parody and satire. I also have a lot of fun playing in these forms.
Q: Funniest comedian of all-time?
A: Roberto Benigni
Q: A world without laughter would be…
A: Boring and a little bit fascist.
