Known as “The Sardinian Forrest Gump”, Mattia Sedda is an immigrant with the dream of being a professional actor in the UK.

He has trained with the best, learnt from the best, and worked at the best..fast-food venues.

And now he presents his magnum opus:

CHOIN is a very professional theatrical showcase.

A heart-warming journey full of nonsensical humour, chaos, nostalgia and humanity.

August 17, 2024   Entertainment Now

Edfringe Comedy: Mattia Sedda: Pure, Selfless Idiocy

Mattia Sedda is a Sardinian clown whose absurdist show ‘Choin’ is about a Sardinian trying to break through as an actor in the UK. Whimsical and ridiculous, he is playing as part of the Free Festival. You can find him at The Raging Bull.

Tell us about your show. Why should we go and see it?

My show is the story of a Sardinian immigrant who dreams of becoming a professional actor in the United Kingdom. After years of training and auditioning without booking any significant roles, he decides to create “CHOIN: A Professional Showcase.” However, as the showcase unfolds the audience starts to understand why our protagonist doesn’t get many call backs…

Inspired by reality, “CHOIN” is a joyful celebraon of passion, failure, idiocy and aspiration. A whimsical clown show blending absurd humor and ridiculousness with a yearning for meaning and nostalgia for home – you should come if you want surprises, belly laughs and an a performer who will try anything to make you laugh.

(As a Sardinian I am allergic to self-promotion so I made a friend answer this for me.)

What makes you laugh?

I think what makes me laugh it’s pure, selfless idiocy. For me, comedy is the celebration and sharing of our failures. I grew up in Sardinia, Italy and our comedy speaks directly to our inner misery, our little “tragedies”. There’s no space for wittiness, and when a character is smug, usually they will be punished by the writers by the end of the movie or the play.

What three words best describe your performance style – and why?

All in, always.

Do you have nerves about going on stage and how do you cope with them.

Yes, I do. I try to convert the energy from the nerves into performance energy; and within that, I consider myself very lucky because the more I suffer, whether I’m angry, upset or frustrated, the more people laugh.

What’s your idea of a perfect Fringe feast and where will you eat it?

Whatever is not a kebab. Please no more kebabs.

How will your audience think/feel differently after an hour in your company?

Usually the audience feels smarter and more confident after my show. Mainly because after they met me they genuinely think I am an idiot.

When did you first realise you were born to be on stage?

I never thought I was born to be on stage, I just know I love it and I keep doing it. That’s why I was called “The Sardinian Forrest Gump”. I just keep going. Although I know it’s stupid.

Why do you think Edinburgh Fringe is so important to performers and artists around the world?

It’s the biggest fringe of the world, there are some of the best performers from all over the world. It’s like Toy Land from Pinocchio. With all the temptations included.

How do you plan to relax and enjoy the city when you’re not performing.

“Plan” is a big word for me. Just the word stresses me out. I do what I enjoy at the moment.

Who is your showbiz idol and why.

Massimo Troisi and Peter Sellers are the first names that come to mind. They were human, simple yet extremely funny. Never a sign of arrogance, and what makes us laugh about them is how honest and vulnerable they are.

What is your idea of a perfect Fringe moment?

A whole room of people from different backgrounds laughing together at the same time. That’s it. Click Here For Article

July 31, 2024    Londra Notizie

"CHOIN by Mattia Sedda: the clown, the buffoon, and the commediante."

In the first five minutes of his show CHOIN, Mattia Sedda performed, through magnificent body gestures, the piece that for us millennials represented the boundary between adolescence and adulthood: the theme song What’s My Destiny Dragon Ball. He sang it very poorly (and in Italian), exactly as you readers are singing it (mentally or out loud). "I know you know it."

He did it in front of a diverse audience, half of whom, not being Italian, not eating Italian, not speaking Italian, and not living Italian, had no idea what was happening. Yet everyone was completely immersed in that hilarious gag. How is this possible?

The Perfect Combination of the Medieval Buffoon and the Comic of Art
It's possible because Mattia Sedda reincarnates, in a contemporary way, the perfect blend of the medieval buffoon and the comic of art: through his performances, which are absolutely not realistic but "real" and never predictable, Sedda the clown moves away from the text-centric and literary conception of theater to rediscover one linked to presence rather than representation. Nothing in Sedda's show, from the attention-seeking T-Rex to the fascist comrade who wants to conquer Leicester Square with strictly I-T-A-L-I-A-N pizza and mozzarella, seems scripted or premeditated, even though the most surreal gag seems believable. This is the key to Mattia Sedda's show, and in general, to the comic Mattia Sedda, along with the balanced mix of simplicity, rhythm, and precision.

Being a Clown is a Very Serious Thing
Mattia's provocative and grotesque physicality alternates with gentle movements, imbued with a purity that provokes hilarity but also a certain nostalgia for childish behavior.

As children, in fact, the maximum potential of our bodies reaches its peak, being free from control and inhibition. We are clumsily spontaneous, more "real than real," dragging reality by the hand and mixing it with our imagination, giving it no escape. As adults, this superpower is lost, not nurtured, abandoned. Mattia, on the other hand, has evidently taken care of it, training with great consistency. Being a clown, and knowing how to make people laugh, is a very serious thing. Because Mattia Sedda the buffoon makes us laugh from start to finish, but Mattia Sedda the man opens small cracks here and there, taking on the responsibility of making us think that being migrants, "fitting into" a rotten society, and no longer even recognizing ourselves in our gestures is not so "normal."

Humility Outside the Character
After the show, I went to talk to Mattia, and there was one thing that struck me: his humility outside the character. It was as if, after the performance, he slipped into the role of a good host, ensuring that everything proceeded smoothly. The same humility I found in the only line spoken by the female version of Monsieur Hulot, the actress Malin Sofia Kvist, who opened Mattia Sedda's act: "I am Swedish" – meaning – by observing my natural and unnatural gestures, my perfect musculature at the service of completely nonsensical actions, you must have wondered who I am and where I come from. Well, she is Swedish.

An opening that functioned like a pre-film trailer in the cinema hall. You watch it with curiosity while waiting for the show you've carefully selected. CHOIN!

Go see it at the Edinburgh Fringe 2024. Click Here For Review