“In 1994 two BYU students were in a communications class together and found that they had a common love of sketch comedy that was clean but still really, really funny. They decided to start a comedy troupe. They held auditions for cast members and behold, Divine Comedy was born. Each year a few members would leave the group and they would hold auditions to replace them. Being in Divine Comedy is a bit like being the Dread Pirate Roberts.” —Divine Comedy, Brigham Young University
Car Talk
One of the Magliozzi brothers says, “And even though Dante says ‘OK, make it 10 circles!’ whenever he hears us say it, this is NPR, National Public Radio.” –Episode 0945, “Good News! It’s Going to Cost a Fortune!”, Car Talk, November 7, 2009
http://www.cartalk.com/ct/review/show.jsp?showid=200945 (retrieved December 29, 2009)
Contributed by Alex Bertland (Niagara University)
Roberto Benigni, “TuttoDante” in the US
“…Next week he will begin a short North American tour of TuttoDante, a monologue about Dante’s Divine Comedy that mixes literary insights with off-the-cuff political jokes. In Italy, where he has been doing the show regularly for three years, it has drawn more than a million people.” [. . .] –Ben Sisario, The New York Times, May 22, 2009
Contributed by Pamela Montanaro
“For the record, the Italian actor Roberto Benigni does not believe that New Yorkers are going to Hell. ‘I hope they go to Paradise, every one of them,’ he said last Thursday, in the back seat of a taxi, blinking against the swish and roar of traffic. But that might be because he thinks it’s a journey the city’s residents have already made. ‘This is the beginning of Hell,’ he said. ‘The deeper we go, the greater the range of utterances of grief and fury we will hear. Different colors of people. Slang! Obscenity! Curses! Sighs! Keening!’ He paused while a van blasted its air horn. ‘This is really the sound of Hell,’ he said. ‘But we need to pass through the Inferno to reach Paradise.'” [. . .] –Stephan Faris, The New Yorker, June 1, 2009
Contributed by Patrick Molloy
“Going to Hell with Benigni”
“Actor brings Dante to TV screens but attacks Italian politicians before presenting Divine Comedy.
MILAN — Unlike Adriano Celentano, Roberto Benigni did not let Romano Prodi off the hook. Yesterday evening, the Tuscan comic spared no one, although most of his barbs, including the funniest ones, were directed at Silvio Berlusconi and the Centre-right. But there were also jibes at [foreign minister — Trans.] Massimo D’Alema and [justice minister — Trans.] Clemente Mastella.” –Maria Volpe, Corriere della sera, November 30, 2007
Contributed by Patrick Molloy
Roberto Benigni’s “Tutto Dante”
See Roberto Benigni’s website Tutto Dante for more information and photos.
Contributed by Dorothea Herreiner
