Bracardi an eclectic humorist with unique, unrepeatable talent says Arbore

(ANSA) - ROME, 12 OTT - Giorgio Bracardi was an eclectic humorist with unique, unrepeatable talent, the veteran showman and presenter Renzo Arbore, who launched the comic genius on his cult 1970s radio show Alto Gradimento, said after his death at the age of 93 Monday. "Giorgio Bracardi was a unique and unrepeatable talent—an eclectic, instinctive humorist and improviser who defied categorization and broke all the rules, yet was also an intellectual in disguise," said Arbore. From the microphone of that cult programme, Bracardi brought to life characters who became legendary. "There was the Fascist official Catenacci, the amateur journalist Max Vinella. And then Patroclo (Patroclus), the Cinecittà extra who would shout to summon other extras for films set in antiquity," Arbore recalls. "He also told curious stories about characters from the fringes of society, adopting the persona of a scholar of bizarre traditions—covering people, animals, and inventors. We never engaged in topical satire or impersonations; our hallmark—and I include Mario Marenco here—was inventing characters of pure fantasy, surreal figures born of the wholesome, good-natured, and tasteful high-spiritedness of those years—a spirit that still lives within us: that ability to joke about low-brow subjects while remaining cultured." Those characters "have all remained in the memory of a generation; even today, people who listened to the show back then speak of them as if they were still on the air when they meet me. Fortunately, there are clips on YouTube that still hold up remarkably well." Not to mention catchphrases like "Chettefrega!" (Who Cares)—shouted at his students by Professor Aurelio Ovidio Marcellini, a staunch monarchist patriot—which were later brought together in the shout "In Galera!" (In Jail). Arbore and Bracardi first crossed paths through music. "I saw him at a festival in Venice—I heard him at a piano bar, performing the odd little vocal tics and noises characteristic of Scarpantibus, another of his bizarre characters—and I immediately invited him to the studio to join Marenco. Together with them and Gianni Boncompagni, we formed a quartet that has absolutely no equal." He would later reunite with Bracardi on television for the show Quelli della Notte. "Giorgio would improvise impressions of characters created on the fly, day by day, following the rules of a sort of homegrown, playful camaraderie—like having fun at home: everything instinctive, everything in the moment." Although a lawsuit regarding the authorship of Alto Gradimento had driven a wedge between them in recent years, today Arbore had no reluctance in paying tribute to the comic. "He was truly a magnificent comedian, the kind who leaves an indelible, inimitable mark; today, I cannot say there is a new Bracardi, just as there is no new Marenco." (ANSA).
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