Why is Tuscany (infamously) known as being the motherland of such a sharp sense of humour? Marco Malvaldi and Stefano Tofani proudly debate and defend their home region while trying to rationalise the stereotype. A packed Officina del Gas holds its breath while waiting for the event to start and Malvaldi does not want to wait. He immediately cracks a joke and the event gets going.

“I think there are a few reasons why our type of humour works well. The best examples of satirical and comedy work we had were both awfully rude and poetic at the same time. It’s a winning combination”, he explains.

Tofani agrees and adds, “our jokes are childish, rude and we make up words. I think we are good at it because we can speak our minds without fear, it’s a common belief that if you think something, you might as well say it out loud, nobody is going to hurt you.”

A book from Ettore Borzacchini bounces back and forth in their hands. The crowd keeps laughing at their anecdotes and jokes, they can’t hold the laughter themselves on stage. It’s a situation similar to what fans of Livorno wrote on the wall of the cemetery when they were promoted to Serie A in 2004: “Boia deh, if you only knew what you missed!”