'Real Housewives of New Jersey' stars Joe Gorga, Frank Catania bring live comedy to Toronto
While the future of The Real Housewives of New Jersey may look a bit different, with an expected casting shakeup for Season 15, a couple of House Husbands (one ex-husband) are going in a new direction themselves. Melissa's husband, and Teresa Giudice's brother, Joe Gorga, has entered the live comedy space, alongside Frank Catania, Dolores' ex-husband, and they're bringing their show to Toronto on Saturday, April 12 at the Elgin & Winter Garden Theatres.
If a comedy show isn't what you expected from Gorga, it's actually something that was recommended by "Cake Boss" Buddy Valastro, who would see Gorga make his family laugh over Sunday meals together. While it took a few years, Gorga finally honed a comedy show where he talks about his life, including his wife and children. Then Gorga brought Catania on board.
"I had no interest whatsoever," Catania admitted to Yahoo Canada about joining Gorga. "I don't even understand how I got into this."
But the story is a little more specific. While in New York City for BravoCon, Catania joined Gorga on stage for a show, and he had fun "busting Joe's balls" in front of a crowd.
"Me and Joe feed off one another," Catania said. "Despite what anybody may think, we never, ever rehearse anything."
"But I enjoy it. ... Hanging out with the fans, hanging out with Joe, and I hear Joe's routine every single time I'm with him, ... I still laugh. It's still funny to me."
But being able to perform in front of a Toronto crowd was particularly attractive to both Gorga and Catania, who have realized that they have a lot of fans in the area.
"It's been my goal to play in Toronto," Gorga stressed. "Every time I go on vacation or I go somewhere and I meet Toronto people, Canadians, they're amazing."
"We go to Aruba every year and we meet a bunch of Canadians, and they're just nuts. We're drinking. We're doing shots."
"Fifty per cent of my parents' friends, my father's friends, down in Vero Beach, down in Florida, all from Canada," Catania added. "I'll tell you, it's a different sense of humour. ... It's almost like a little sarcastic too."
The Toronto crowd will also get the chance to see Melissa on stage for the show.
"She's actually funny. I made her funny," Gorga said. "She's going to make fun of both of us a little bit. She kind of roasts us a little, in her own way."
"My whole routine is busting on Melissa ... and our marriage, and a little bit of sex talk. ... So I kind of embarrass her."
Embarrassing their families is a core element of these shows, going back to how Gorga always wanted his comedy to stem from his personal life. But as Catania highlighted, one time Melissa learned that the hard way.
"Melissa learned a lesson," Catania said. "We were driving to a show in New York and Melissa made the mistake of saying to me, 'Hey, listen, I think Joe's cheating on me. Joe's like a horny little chihuahua dog and he doesn't want sex lately.'"
"I talked to Joe and I knew at work he's got stuff going on, and he's so stressed. Despite what anybody says, Joe would be the last person to ever be unfaithful to Melissa. First of all, he's a faithful guy. Number two, he's scared shit of Melissa. ... Next thing you know I get up on stage and Melissa's in the audience, [Catania's girlfriend Brittany Mattessich's] in the audience. And what's the first thing in my skit about? What Melissa told me in the car."
"Sometimes I argue with my wife. She yells, 'Don't you ever bring that up ever again!'" Gorga added. "I go, 'OK I'll never do it again,' but then I do it again. ... What I'm going through in life, everyone's going through the same thing. So when you come out on stage with it, it's just hilarious."
Tickets for the Joe Gorga with special guests Melissa Gorga & Frank Catania comedy show are now available here.
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