Comic entertainer JOE DEMICOLI built a reputation for himself by cracking up masses with what critics might call an unsophisticated kind of humour. But he despises this reputation and says he walks on eggshells because of a very touchy Maltese public
David Darmanin
After he played the leading role in this year’s record-selling film at Eden Cinemas, ‘Maltageddon’ (a spoof of the 1998 international blockbuster Armageddon), Joe Demicoli is on a real high. But unlike his Hollywoodian counterpart Bruce Willis, he is not tormented in any way by paparazzi, gossip columnists or big brands requesting commercial endorsements. On the contrary, he describes his daily life as rather “boring”.
“People think I’m really busy,” he starts. “But really, I spend my day at home. I make sure to have an afternoon siesta everyday, including weekends. In fact, I find it difficult to accept doing anything in the afternoon, ever. I only work evenings – and it’s usually a matter of half an hour here and there in summer because my winters are generally quiet. It’s really boring, especially now that there isn’t that much work as there used to be before.”
Demicoli has been presenting a weekly radio show for more than ten years now, but he says that the radio does not keep him busy in any way. “It’s only 90 minutes a week,” he said. “And it seems like I’m still there because I’m still there.”
As much as he may portray himself as the stereotype of a sad clown, Demicoli leads a simple life because he chooses to. Demicoli is often commissioned to travel to Australia and Canada to perform for Maltese communities there, but he turned down his last offer for Canada because he said he did not “feel like all those hours of air travel”. Accompanying him to the interview meeting was his wife Sonya, who, even after several years of marriage, still bursts into hearty laughs every time her husband utters a gag.
“Being in a film was one of my very few wishes in life,” he says about Maltageddon. “I don’t have many wishes left, I am a simple man. The only wish I have left now is to swap my wife just for once, but I don’t think that is very likely to happen.” He teases Sonya with a smile, but she rebuts, laughing: “Go ahead, any day.”
“When I was approached by the producers of Maltageddon I made my terms clear: that I could change a few lines here and there; that I could have a good look at the script before I accepted and that I get paid, for instance. I accepted, although needless to mention, with a film at zero-budget I had to accept the fact that there was no offer for financial remuneration.”
Demicoli describes himself as having “always been the joker” as a child. “When I was at school, I was somehow always the leader of the pack and I would always crack jokes in class. We did not have a TV at home until late (even if, strangely, my parents only had two children), so I used to spend my time reading comics and I felt influenced by their style. In 1980, I remember writing comical Maltese lyrics to established tunes. I used to hate Maltese songs at the time – since the lyrics were very bombastic and they generally featured metaphors on the moon, the stars or the sun. It was all very boring, and I did not think that the Maltese language fitted into the harmony. So I thought that Maltese lyrics should be funny.”
Up until the 1990s, Hal Ghaxaq’s residents used to celebrate a spontaneous carnival every year, “which was eventually ruined when it became all organised.” In 1996, Demicoli dressed up as Freddie Portelli for carnival and sang a set of funny songs in Maltese.
“That is where it had all started,” he says. “A kid had taken video footage of the performance and he showed it to his schoolteacher – Augusto Cardinale – who in turn approached me and encouraged me to write a set of songs in Maltese. Once finished, he asked me where he was going to fit in. I had not realised that he wanted to sing with me. Some time after, we started singing on Super One TV, and soon after that we got a record deal with KTA and sold 50,000 copies of an album we called Kemmuna Airways. Augusto and I performed for one and a half years together before going our separate ways. There comes a point when you learn: I no longer felt the need to write songs for others.”
A number of Kemmuna Airways fans still call out Augusto when they see Joe Demicoli out in the streets.
“Up until two years ago, people used to confuse me with Augusto all the time, now, that has decreased. I don’t know, probably his name is catchier than mine – it could be because of Claudia Cardinale.”
As soon as Demicoli read the script for Maltageddon, he “knew that this was going to be as successful as Kemmuna Airways. I don’t know how nobody had thought of this before. I am astonished at how people in production have no idea what people want. Humour sells. On a technical level, we have improved so much in Malta, but we cannot yet accept that people just want to have a good laugh. Somehow, many producers look at comedy as a big risk. Maltageddon broke all Eden Cinema records this year. It is being shown in two theatres so that they can keep up with ticket sales. There is even a bomb scare at the cinema every Saturday that is being made by somebody who is evidently jealous.”
What do the Maltese laugh at?
“At anything except for themselves,” he said. “There is a huge variety of people, and different audiences take jokes in different ways.”
At the time of interview, Demicoli had just performed for the elderly at the General Worker’s Union hall. “From the looks on their faces I could see that with certain jokes – some laugh while others cringe. You never really know where you stand with certain audiences. There are people who tend to become very sensitive when you touch certain subjects, and I am very conscious of this. This is why I have repeatedly refused commissions to write lyrics for band clubs and football clubs. I do not want to be labeled as siding with one faction and not the other.”
The genre that seems to be favoured by Demicoli is regarded by many as toilet humour, but Demicoli begs to differ.
“People think I am rude, but in all honesty I think I am very careful when I joke. In other countries, comedians cover a variety of subjects – they joke about diseases, politics or beliefs. I would be interested in taking on that style, but we’re still backwards here – we’re not prepared for it yet. People get offended easily. There was only one occasion in my life where I was free to tell rude jokes to an audience. The event was even called ‘the adult show’. But even there, I still had to be very careful because I was treading on very fine grounds. People would not want to associate themselves publicly with a comedian who offends, who jokes about sensitive issues or who tells outrageous jokes. When jokes are told in private, then it’s fine. I have at times felt scandalised around priests who tell jokes with no holds barred, about people getting sodomised in trucks – and using the most explicit language imaginable. In public, it is a different matter altogether. Anyone enjoys rude and outrageous jokes in private, but they need to remain private.”
How does he respond to the various comments posted on YouTube that were harshly critical of Maltageddon?
“The film was not criticised on YouTube, it was shot down – there’s a little big difference,” he says sardonically. “There are various other issues that people can pick on with Maltageddon – like hopeless editing for instance, but the film is still a good laugh.”
Wouldn’t people look at the film as containing a lethal dose of toilet humour?
“Toilet humour is toilet humour. Maltageddon isn’t. There are also political jokes, and I have been criticised for using politics all the time, saying that I am repetitive. But as time passes by, politics and national issues change – so jokes change with them – it is not repetition. If it is now that we have a problem with the power station, it is now that I crack jokes about the power station. In any case, we have really done our best at being balanced with Maltageddon. Even the 14 astronauts cast for the film are known to be of mixed political allegiances – five of them vote PN, another five vote for PL, and the remaining four are floating voters.”
Judging by its attendance, there is little doubt that the film was liked by many. But why is it that criticism was so fierce, and more importantly, why is the production team being so defensive about it?
“I think the whole story with Maltageddon is that these guys who had never done anything of the sort created a good product instead of wasting time filming for nothing. Unfortunately, not everyone appreciates their effort. When I made a find-out on people who were criticising us on YouTube, it transpired that most of them are somehow linked to the entertainment industry – so their comments were surely driven by jealousy. Some comments make their motives obvious. One commentator wrote: ‘You always ask the same people to participate’. But the very reason why popular faces were chosen was that they ultimately attract wider audiences.”
Then there were also many who passed snide remarks related to the gaffe at the premier, when the software showing the film crashed and a Windows backdrop came up on screen halfway through the film.
“The production was not made on reel. It was saved on a hard drive and shown using PC software. It has to be understood that this was a no-budget production. It is not possible to create reels each costing €20,000 for this type of film, and this is how Maltese productions are generally shown. We had nothing to do with the problem at the premier. It was a technical fault and these things happen. An anti-virus was running at the same time the film was showing, and everything slowed down. In the first half there were problems with the sound, while in the second half the system crashed altogether and the computer screen came up.”
When Demicoli was asked what he deems to be the funniest line he has ever come up with, he quotes the film’s tagline: “We are Maltese and we take no shit”.
“It is a big joke, because as Maltese, we are prone to take all the shit in the world. Someone also told me that the line comes in appropriately at a time when the drainage tax is due to come in force. Some people are incredible observers. I had once released a music video for a spoof version of the song ‘I do’. In this video, I was featured running until at a certain point a motorist opened the door of his car into my face. Some time after the video was shown two old men chatting in the square called me and said: ‘We were just talking about you and we have a question to ask you. Be honest, did you choose a red car on purpose in that video to symbolise that you knocked on the doors of the Labour Party and they slammed it back in your face?’”
Audiences do not always laugh at Demicoli’s jokes. Some don’t get them, some others don’t like them.
“A lot of people need to be spoon-fed. If I dare tell a witty joke, I get blank faces most of the time. But as soon as I start a show, I make sure to test my limits and create a strategy accordingly. By the look on their faces, you realise what triggers off people and how much you need to spoon-feed them. One time in Australia, a man was sleeping during my show. I really picked on him, making fun of him most of the time. During the intermission I was told that this same person was wheelchair-bound and severely disabled. It was terrible. During the same tour, the same thing happened in a different hall. One member of the audience looked distracted, so I kept making fun of him. I later discovered that he was completely deaf.”
Demicoli describes Maltese migrants in Canada and Australia as being completely different to Maltese audiences. “It is far easier to make them laugh,” he said. “But because many of them are stuck in a time warp, they tend to be more scrupulous and I have to be even more careful of what to say. Over there, when you offend, you offend big time. Then there is the obvious advantage that your audiences are guaranteed, and halls pack up really easily.”
Don’t we need at least one comedy hall in Malta?
“I don’t see it. The humour used by stand up artists in the UK and the US is so different to what we see in Malta. The jokes they say are on topics related to everyday life – and they swiftly move from one subject to the other. Whereas in Malta we are still telling jokes that start with ‘once upon a time’. Everyday situations do not go down well with Maltese audiences, and there is no comedian I know of who has so far managed to reach the international level.”
Which means that we need more comedians…
“Well, if there were more comedians I would get less work no? But it’s true, I guess we do need more comedians. We have very few proper comedians – you can only count them on one hand. I am obviously not including those who dress up as women to make people laugh. I’m talking of proper comedians, which are very limited here.”
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