Giulia Rozzi is a life enhancer, a provider of smiles. She’s also a New York based comedian, actress and writer with a career that is progressing rapidly. What do you need to know about the Boston native? She has a killer monthly show at UCB in NYC called “Bad Bride” that is a must see. She wrote for MTV’s “Girl Code” and “Silent Library,” along with publications like Glamour, XOJane, Gawker, The Huffington Post, Playgirl, I could go on and on. You might recognize her from VH1’s “The Greatest,” Playboy TV’s “Foursome: Walk of Shame,” “The Artie Lange Show” and MTV, amongst others. She runs Fauxshionista, has one of the best Instagrams around and is truly just one of the best up and coming comedians in the game. Now that you’re pretty much caught up on some general Giulia goodness, it should be safe for you to read on and enjoy a raw, unedited Gchat interview (Ginterview?) with the hilarious comedian. Enjoy a peek behind the curtain and getting to know Giulia better, it will enhance (throwback) your life! If you hate typos, run, run now. If you love smiles, stay, stay forever!

Photo by Laina Karavani

Giulia:  hi!

SO:  hi hi! i’m watching some of your stand up AT THIS VERY MOMENT! You’re so great.

Giulia:  Oh thank you!

You’re good at multi-tasking.

SO:  totally. oh and by the way, we’ve already started! this is it. raw. and no correcting typos, no editing. AND people will probably judge you on any emoticon you use! :0

wait what is that emoticon?

that’s blow job emoticon i think?

Giulia:  I wouldn’t know YOU PERV

Oh hey everyone, judge away!

SO:  yeah that was creepy, my bad!

okay so are you in nyc right now?

Giulia:  No worries I can handle creepy.

I am in in NYC, Brooklyn to be exact.

Address is….

SO:  can you tell us a bit about your surroundings? what’s the vibe? in a coffee shop? (hope not) at home? under a bridge?

Giulia:  Why do you hope I’m not in a coffee shop?

Too cliche?

SO:  just a bit. but i work from coffee shops often, so it’s pot calling the kettle kind of thing?

Giulia:  I am often in coffee shops as well, today I’m home. Sitting in my kitchen next to a can of Raid because I saw a monster roach last night.

So I am at home working in fear.

#whitepeopleproblems?

Although I’m more tan than white.

SO:  i’ll pray for you. so i know this question is not the most fun because you’ve probably had to answer it a bunch, for people that will be reading this and initially meeting you for the first time, can you tell us three things about yourself that’s interesting? pressure!

Giulia:  Oh man, ummmmmmmmm

SO:  bad start

Giulia:  1) I used to be addicted to the words “um” and “like” and one of my biggest accomplishments this past year was reducing my usage of them especially on stage.

That is 100% true.

Shocker

SO:  how?

I seriously have that same problem, with um totally.

and “totally”

Giulia:  2) When I was 7 I could eat a whole pizza pie, drink a glass of 7up mixed with wine (I called it pink 7up) and still polish off a pack of Starbursts and a small plate of marinated artichokes, mushrooms and olives before watching Benny Hill with my parents.

How did I quit like & um?

I still have relapses

But a fellow comic Becky Donahue

(Hi Becky!)

Told me back in like (see I used it!) 2008 or 2009

that my likes and ums are just filler for quiet, and to be okay with the quiet.

SO:  that can be so hard

Giulia:  And that likes and um’s can make you seem less smart than you really are.

It’s a comfort thing.

I still use “like” a lot when writing funny essays or on my silly fake-ish fashion blog Fauxshionista.tumblr.com (PLUG!) but it’s more of a character choice where I am making fun of myself.

Ok one more fact, eh?

SO:  i remember my grandfather used to tell me, “if you don’t have anything to say, don’t say anything. embrace the silence.” which i guess was his take on the golden rule?

no you nailed the facts. love it. okay moving on

Giulia:  BUT I ONLY GAVE YOU TWO FACTS!

(emoticon judgement commence!)

SO:  i felt bad for putting you on the spot!

no!

Giulia:  I love parenthesis when chatting or texting or tweeting

maybe that’s my 3rd fact?

Why would you feel bad for asking a comedian to talk about herself?

I can fun fact it up all day.

And not so fun facts too.

SO:  yes, that’s perfect. that’s true, i for sure should have learned by now to let comedians just go. so at what age did you even consider comedy as a real career? was there a point of, “I might just be able to do this!”

Giulia:  I love how you asked that, usually the question is -when did you star doing comedy.

And I started a while back but didn’t really take it seriously 100% until about 2008.

I feel like I’ve had 2 maybe 3 comedy careers at this point

And my career since 2008 has been the most focused and enjoyable.

But every year it feels more and more real.

If that makes sense.

SO:  absolutely.

Giulia:  (dammit I said star doing comedy instead of start)

SO:  first mistake. deal with it! trust me i’ll out typo you big time so people will think i’m the idiat.

see?

Giulia Rozzi at The Comedy Studio

SO:  your comedy “resume” or “bio” is seriously amazing. what was the first place you studied? did you start out in boston? oh and you’re from boston! we’ll get to more on that in a bit.

Giulia:  That was grat!

Giulia:  First time I ever told jokes on a stage was in a church basement for my high school theatre dept’s cabaret night, I am pretty sure I stole jokes from TV. There was one joke I did about Mr Brady ob The Brady Bunch not being a very good architect since he only had two bedrooms for six kids. I am 100% I did not write that joke and am still wondering where I got it from.

SO:  hahahaaaa that’s great

Giulia:  I did a few shows at little bars in Ithaca (I went to Ithaca College), but open mic at Nick’s Comedy Stop when I was 20 was my first show in a real club.

Then i didn’t do much till I accidentally moved to LA after graduating. The Comedy Store was my grad school.

Giulia:  It was a weird place to start as a stand-up because right away I was put on pro shows. It was good but also sorta out of my league at times. But I will always be grateful to Mitzi Shore for really believing in my so early on.

Fuck! Believing in ME not MY.

Strike two.

SO:  i’m always interested in the process, like to me, it would just be impossible to take that first step, like “don’t look down!” kind of thing. how many minutes did you start out with at The Comedy Store and did you ever like, almost have a panic attack or just just freak out before going on?

SO:  (double just, strike 5 for me)

Giulia:  I was oddly not super nervous because I was so new and not affected by the biz or industry or anything yet, I was just  so excited to be there. Spots at the Comedy Store were 15 minutes so I had at least that pretty quick.

I get more nervous when family or a friend who has never seen me comes to a show.

I don’t get too nervous by strangers.

SO:  in the green room or before going on, are you more social with the other comedians and being more loose, or do you have a routine you follow?

Giulia:  By? From? Help me grammar police!

SO:  we are both just effed at this point.

fuck it! ride or die!

(feeling very gangster today)

Giulia:  Aren’t we all?

Giulia:  Back then I was pretty quiet in the green room or I wouldn’t even hang in the green room because I was new, so that’s where more of my anxiety came in, with other comics. I ended up hanging with the female waitresses at The Comedy Store more so than a room full of dudes. It was just where I was comfortable in my early 20’s. Now I don’t have much of a routine. I’m not nervous around comics anymore, I’m pretty friendly and not concerned with others like I used to be.

Some comics can’t eat before shows, I can. Not sure if that’s another fun fact.

I like food if you couldn’t tell.

If I want a drink I can only have one maybe half of one before a show

depends on the show

if it’s a rowdy club crowd, I may have a solid drink so I can mess around with them on their tipsy level.

But I like to be pretty clear headed before shows.

Before my solo show though, I am really quiet and keep to myself.

That’s different because it’s not as loose as stand up can be, it’s a script and it’s not all funny so there’s a bit more prep I need with that.

Photo by Mindy Tucker

SO:  such an interesting answer. that’s the kind of stuff i feel like never gets asked, but for people (like myself) who just love comedy, it’s the shiz i feel like real fans want to know. the behind the curtains stuff. love it.

are you a huge new england sports fan?

Giulia:  I guess?

I mean, I love the color of the Celtics uniforms.

I wasn’t raised in a super sports focused house so I’m kinda indifferent.

But, I do have hometown pride. I love Boston.

SO:  what was your upbringing like?

Giulia:  My parents are both off the boat from Italy. I have one sister, Elena who is 4 years older than me and we were best friends growing up and still are, I think we talk or text or email 10x + a day. We have twin energy at times.

My family is super loud, obnoxious, paranoid, and really funny.

Everything is a joke.

Anything fucked up that has ever happen between us we all make fun of it eventually.

Giulia:  When i was in college and studying sociology I was so dramatic and would think of my family in such a way of  “I can’ t believe we aren’t discussing my issues seriously!” and now I appreciate and love the attitude we developed as a family of “after we are done crying, let’s laugh about it!”

It’s amazing how with time and maturity you can really learn to love your family unconditionally.

At least I have anyways.

We grew up the suburbs, it was mostly white upper middle class (Belmont where Mitt Romney lived). But because my dad was a rugged blue collar guy and my parents had accents and yelled a lot I felt not like a white kid.

I actually own a book called “Are Italians White?”

Haven’t finished it yet so I don’t know the answer.

SO:  oh man, i so know what you mean. i’m actually very similar, one sister 5 years older, super close loud loving crazy family. no divorce or anything which is so odd these days. but i remember when i first moved to NYC (which was not long ago) i missed them SOOOOO much it was crazy hard. and i’d been living away from them for like 12 years but just not THAT far away.

Giulia:  Where do they live?

SO: love it, your fam sounds mega rad. in Oklahoma (don’t judge) which is where i grew up and went to college. but i lived in Vail, CO after college for 4 years and Dallas for 6, it was just something about NYC, and maybe getting older, i just like to see them as often as possible.

Giulia:  No divorce in mine either, except for my divorce. A lot of old school  immigrant parents would rather suffer than divorce.

SO:  OKAY no more about me. sorry. this about you!

Giulia:  I like to see mine as much as possible too. I try to go home once a month. I have two amazing nieces who are so cute and smart and funny and I want to be close with them as well as my parents and sister.

Yes, me, Me ME!

SO:  how do you feel your improv has helped your stand up, and vice versa?

i mean your improv is AMAZING. as is your stand up. so great.

but very much different approach right?

Giulia:  Well thank you!

Giulia:  Improv has helped me think quickly and helps greatly in acting auditions, so often they want an actor who can improvise as well. I used to do more improv years ago but never found my team. I sorta floated between teams and they’d fall apart so stand-up was easier to control because it’s just me. No one one else to coordinate with.

Stand-up is just you, so unlike a team that can rescue you if you fail, if you “fail” in stand-up it’s all on you. However, when you succeed in stand-up it’s all you too.

SO:  going into comedy, did you more want to end up on screen, or more writing? which you do both now. but what was the original dream?

Giulia:  My original dream was to be on a sitcom. But 80’s 90’s style sitcoms, I miss those. I know that type of sitcom doesn’t fly like it used to, but man, if I could have been on Three’s Company or Who’s The Boss…

I still want to be on TV. I love TV. I like movies too, but love TV.

SO:  what are some of your fav current sitcoms?

Giulia:  I like writing. But if I have it my way I will write for my own show.

There aren’t many sitcoms I watch now.

I really like New Girl.

Mindy Project is cool too. I see similarities with me the Mindy character.

However Julia Louis Dryfus’s character on New Adventures Of Old Christine is the most me character I have ever seen on TV.

(did I spell her last name wrong?)

I related to her so much.

SO:  drEyfus

Giulia:  Now I mostly watch Louie, Girls, Breaking Bad (RIP), Mad Men

DAMMIT

SO:  no parks and recreation?

Giulia:  Sometimes

I like it, I just am not an avid follower.

I don’t watch as much TV as I would like to.

SO:  everything you mentioned is the bust, if you had also mentioned Parks, i would have propposed.

pruh posed

fuck

so you were married?

Giulia:  the bust!

I was! That’s what my show Bad Bride is about.

(Next one is Thursday October 24 at UCB NY, 8pm)

(shameless plug #2!)

SO:  i will be at the next one! (out of town then) i just realized i’m sad i haven’t seen it yet. i really have heard great things though.

are you still writing for Girl Code?

Giulia:  No that gig only lasted a few weeks. Super fun though.

Photo by Elena Pellegrino

SO: so i quickly want to touch on “female” comedians. we will be at the all jane no dick fest in portland next weekend, which is amazing. but i’m so tired of “female” having to be put in describing a comedian. i usually have like a rotating “favorite comedians” each month, but most of the time they are women. so when people ask me, which is a lot, who or whom are my favorite comedians, they usually respond with, “so you like female comedy?” and I’m like “No I like comedy.”

is that whole thing do you thing starting to come to an end?

the lesbian cliche, sexism, etc?

Giulia:  I have no idea and don’t care anymore. I used to care but now I’m just like, I am a woman, I am a comedian, do with that what you will.

SO:  okay good. maybe it doesn’t help that i even ask that question as it adds to the conversation?

Giulia:  No, I mean it’s a valid question because it is a thing.

I just more so mean, I have nothing to add anymore.

Giulia:  My material could be seen as “female” because I am, well, a female.

It’s not a bad thing. I like being a woman.

(cue Brittney’s “I’m not a girl, not yet a woman”)

SO:  haha, yes! your twitter and instagram are great, as i’m sure you know i pretty like all of your photos on instagram. do you use social media for you and your friends, or more as a promotional tool or both?

Giulia:  God, I wanna gchat with you daily if you’re gonna keep complimenting me.

Thank you!

For me, Twitter is where I share jokes and funny stuff.

SO:  (just for example readers, this is the brilliant kind of stuff you find on Giulia’s twitter: “Just got so mad that my phone didn’t know how to spell intelligence, then got even more mad that I didn’t know how to spell intelligence.”)

(meta!)

Giulia:  Sometimes I work out material on Twitter, it’s like going to an open mic while laying on your sofa.

Instagram is a hobby, I am a bit obsessed right now.

SO:  you take SUCH GREAT PHOTOS! do you a camera app or just straight from insta?

*USE

Giulia:  It has made me really into seeing things differently, I notice light and shadows and stuff more. I like being able to not be funny all the time on Instagram. It’s just another way to be creative. And I love admiring other real photographers work,  photography more than I already did.

Thank you again!

SO:  holy shit we’ve been chatting over an hour! it feels like 10 minutes! okay lets go rapid fire questions. cool?

Giulia:  I take pics with my iphone then I either upload and edit on Instagram or use vscocam which is a cool app where you can adjust contrast, temp, and exposure, etc.

I have no idea what I am doing when I edit. I just click till I like how it looks.

I’d like to learn more about the actual process and terms etc

But again, it’s just a hobby so I  may leave that all to the experts and just stick to “oooh pushing this button makes this look pretty.”

Yes! Go!

SO:  okay, who are a few comedians you really like watching perform right now?

Giulia:  I hate answering this because I will later be like “oops forgot so and so”

But here goes

Giulia:  Matt Wayne, George Gordon, Sean Donnelly, Brooke Van Poppelen, Ben Kronberg, Kate Berlant, Jenny Zigrino, Jacqueline Novack, Seaton Smith, Brent Sullivan, Eliot Glazer

There are so many!

I could literally add to this list all day

SO:  what is your perfect NYC day?

Giulia:  Josh Gondelman, Myq Kaplan, Micah Sherman

Oh sorry kept going

Giulia:  Perfect NYC day- brunch with lots of coffee, a few hours of writing, a long walk over one of the bridges, randomly finding an amazing stoop sale or shop with a 50% sale happening and walking away with 10 amazing new items for under $50, doing an amazing show or two, having a good drink or two or three. All of sudden a DJ appears at said drinking place and all my friends show up for a dance party. Also somewhere in there is a grassfed burger with goat cheese, bacon, mushrooms and truffle fries.

(I should say amazing one more time)

SO:  you really should, that sounds so nice. lets do that day together soon!

what things make you smile daily?

Giulia:  ( I wanna keep adding to my comics list- Michelle Buteau, Brandy Barber, Megan Neuringer…)

SO:  i’m going to delete all the comics you mentioned but two. FYI.

JK!

Giulia:  hahaha

Joe Zimmerman

I will never stop!

Joe Devito

Katina corrao

sorry

um

ugh I um’d!

Ok what makes me smile-

SO:  like not comedy wise, just life wise

if that makes sense

Giulia:  oh totally

Giulia:  coffee, breakfast (I go to bed thinking about breakfast), dogs, clothing sales, anything gold, my mom’s voice, my niece’s voices, texts from my sister, my friends (  I have such an incredible support system of friends, so spoiled), people watching in NYC

roach free apartments really make me smile

(CALL BACK!)

Photo by Mindy Tucker

SO:  well played! are you an optimist, pessimist or realist?

Giulia:  All three at different times

More optimist & realist

SO:  what do you have coming up that people should know about? and no these aren’t shameless plugs, people and myself want to know because we love you!

Giulia:  (Nick Turner, Dan Soder, Joe List)

SO:  STOP!

Giulia:  told you id’ keep naming them

hahahaha

Bad Bride on October 24 at the UCB in Chelsea, 8pm

I don’t know the Nov dates yet but the show usually runs 2x a month.

There’s only one Oct show though.

SO:  and people can find out where you’re performing on your site right?

as in here people: http://www.giuliarozzi.com/#/calendar/4572371945

Giulia:  Dive Comedy, every 2nd & 4th Monday which I co-host with Brooke Van Poppelen DiveComedy.tumblr.com

Yes that’s it!

And my silly blog fauxshionista.tumblr.com

And of course Twitter

@giuliarozzi

and Instagram grozzi

and in real life, come up to me at show and say hi.

I love meeting people

I love meeting (not scary) people.

SO:  Truly thank you so much for taking the time, this felt like the fastest interview ever! Have a great day and awesome weekend! Big hugs!

Giulia:  Thank you David! This was super fun! Big hugs back atcha!

____

SO Note: She’s the best right? Make sure you follow her on Twitter and Instagram, read Fauxshionista and see her live as much as possible. She’s a life enhancer!