Antonio Albanese  born 10 October 1964 in Olginate, Province of Lecco, is an Italian comedian, actor, director and writer.

Antonio Albanese (not related to our 368 Billion Dollar Prime Minister) born 10 October 1964 in Olginate, Province of Lecco, is an Italian comedian, actor, director and writer.

Born in Lombardy to Sicilian parents, he studied at the Civic Drama School in Milan, then opted to pursue an acting career. His first experiences as a comedian date back to 1992, when he made his debut at the Zelig Theatre in Milan. He showcased his acts on the popular Maurizio Costanzo talk show and collaborated with actor-comedian Paolo Rossi. His popularity increased after he joined the Italia 1 show Mai dire Gol. He recently appears on the show Che tempo che fa, presented by Fabio Fazio and aired on Rai 3.

From the late 1990s, Albanese also pursued a movie career, working both as an actor, under the direction of Carlo Mazzacurati and Pupi Avati, and also as a director in his own right.

Many Characters

• Cetto La Qualunque: A corrupt, perverted Calabrian with organized crime connections, right-wing Senator, running as a candidate with a platform based mainly on “abundance of attractive women” (cchiù pilu pi tutti, which is also the title of a book released by Albanese using the character’s name). The character was featured first on Albanese’s own TV show Non-c’è problema (There’s no problem), aired on Rai Tre in 2003, but achieved more success when proposed at Mai dire domenica on Italia 1. It is currently staged by Albanese on a weekly basis on the program Che tempo che fa aired on Rai 3. In 2011 was released Qualunquemente, a feature-length movie about him, and in 2012, the sequel movie, Tutto tutto niente niente followed in 2019 by another sequel Cetto c’è, senzadubbiamente.

• Mino Martinelli: An arrogant coke-sniffing philosopher.
• Alex Drastico: An aggressive Sicilian male, known especially for his comical “curses”.
• Frengo: A bizarre Apulian football commentator, and fan of Foggia and Zdenek Zeman, characterized by his strange dance-like steps.
• Ivo Perego: A small-time Lombard entrepreneur.
• The Minister of Fear: A recent disturbing character, portrayed first on stage in a live show called “Psicoparty” (Psychoparty) and then again on television on 4 October 2008 in the program Che tempo che fa. The Minister is always accompanied by the Under-Secretary for Anxiety and consumes quantities of narcotics and mind-altering drugs.