These New York comedians hope to be household names one day — but Vic DiBitetto and Eric D’Alessandro can’t even get emcees to pronounce them correctly.
“The apostrophe in Eric’s name screws them all up,” said Brooklyn native DiBitetto, 61, who adds that they also trip over his “DiBi.”
“It’s gotten to a point where … we say … ‘Let them mess up our names. We’ll just goof on the guy.’”
The next stop on the duo’s “Funny How? Tour” is City Winery in Chelsea on Nov. 18, and the co-headliners — both Italian Americans from the boroughs — have a lot in common.
“He’s like a young me and I’m like an old him,” said DiBitetto (pronounced dee-bee-TET-toe), of Staten Island native D’Alessandro (Dallas-sand-dro), 32.
The pair is having a lot of fun representing their generational gap.
“He’s complaining about me and I’m complaining about him kind of,” explained D’Alessandro.
Both funnymen found fame on social media.
In 2013, DiBitetto first went viral for his “Bread & Milk” video that poked fun at people’s panic when it begins to snow — which has 19 million views on his YouTube channel alone.
“I opened the door, saw a snowflake, and right away, I thought of all the idiots that … flip out,” he said. “I just whipped the camera out and I walked from my house to the car in a panic. Twenty-six seconds. That got me more recognition than … 30 years of standup. I almost deleted it … I thought it was stupid.”
When D’Alessandro first moved to Los Angeles in 2018 to pursue comedy, he wanted to avoid being typecast as another Staten Island Italian. However, he quickly realized people responded to his posts where he found humor in things — like weddings and moms — from his hometown.
“I was like, ‘If this is what people want — I need to eat, I need to pay rent,’” he said.
D’Alessandro is known for his impressions of Staten Island women — and his subjects are huge fans. “They love it so much … I can’t tell you how many girls say, ‘Oh my God, this is me,’” he explained. “Early on, I thought they’d get offended, but the more truthful I was, the more they liked it.”
DiBitetto, who will be celebrating his 40th wedding anniversary, and D’Alessandro, who got married last month, said their wives don’t find them funny.
“Just ask my wife, ‘Is he funny at home?’” said DiBitetto. “No, he’s a miserable SOB.’ I do most of my videos when my wife isn’t home because I don’t want to get the dirty looks.”
“She’s just seen it, heard it all, tired of it, doesn’t care,” added D’Alessandro. “I always say, ‘I don’t think I’ve ever made her laugh.’”
The comics, who have been on the road together since May, are thankful that they’re back on stage and no longer have to conduct shows via Zoom.
“I’d hear a toilet flush,” said DiBitetto, who also went viral during the pandemic for his outdoor dining video. “I hear some guy, ‘Hey, Marie, go get me a glass.’ It’s horrible.”
However, there was one silver lining.
“The only good thing,” DiBitetto said, “is right after your show, you could go to bed.”
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