Revere resident Matt Misci will be spending his 48th birthday in a very special way: on stage at the Lynn Auditorium hosting “La Famiglia of Boston Comedy” show before an expected crowd of 2,000 fans.
“I couldn’t be more excited about this appearance [on Saturday, Oct. 12],” said Misci. “I’ll be performing comedy with two of my best friends, Dave Russo and Paul D’Angelo, and two other great comedians, Brad Angelo and Frank Santorelli, that have really been boosting my career as far as getting to open for them. We’re all Italian, so it seems like a fun night on Columbus Day.”
Misci is in his sixth year as a professional comedian, performing throughout New England and in Florida.
Chris Flahive, owner of CFProductions, tabbed Misci for the coveted assignment of hosting the show.
“Chris has been a family friend since childhood and he’s been really instrumental into getting me into the comedy scene,” said Misci. “I like working with Chris, and the other four performers on the show are superstars. Paul D’Angelo is one of the best comedians around, and he’s just so humble. He’s the guy that boosted my confidence, but if it weren’t for Chris, I wouldn’t be doing comedy at all.”
A proud Revere High graduate
Matt Misci is the son of Gail Misci and the late Thomas Misci, the beloved principal of the Seacoast Academy, which became the new innovation high school, City Lab.
A 1994 graduate of Revere High School and a captain of the boys hockey team coached by Jim Palumbo, Misci recalled the great support and inspiration he received from two of his favorite teachers, Mr. Joe Cipriano [Mathematics] and Ms. Ann Marie Costa [Art].
“I had Ms. Costa four classes a day for Art, and I would have to say she really molded my creativity to become an entertainer and a barber,” said Misci, who is also a graduate of Fitchburg State with a degree in Sociology. “Every morning the first person I saw was Ann Marie Costa, and I stayed in her class for four periods, and then I did my core classes [math, science, English].”
Matt’s sister, Marla, is also an RHS graduate (Class of 1997). She went on to Boston College where she was captain of the Eagles’ football cheerleading squad.
Misci said his mother and her many friends will be attending the Lynn show. He will be incorporating his local background into his hosting gig.
“I’m going to do some Revere jokes. My grandmother [the late Augustina Misci] owned a store, St. Pierre’s greeting card shop on Broadway, and when I was a kid, my parents would drop me off there, and it was just a cast of characters, everyone had nicknames,” recalled Misci.
High praise from the producer
Chris Flahive has been the driving force behind Matt Misci’s career since its inception six years ago.
“We’ve been working with Matt since 2018 when we added him to a show at Salvatore’s in Lawrence featuring Boston comedy great Lenny Clarke,” said Flahive, “He’d been doing some open mic stuff, and my family and Matt’s have been close Revere families for over 40 years. So, I asked him if he’d like to do some time on the show at Salvatore’s. We wanted to boost ticket sales, and he brought half of Revere with him up to Lawrence. I think he sold something like 89 tickets. We ended up selling out a 300-seat room thanks to Matt. And he’s hit the ground running ever since that day in March of 2018. He hustles.”
Flahive said his company has been hosting comedy shows at Lynn Auditorium since 2019.
“The theater is awesome and working with James [Marsh] and Henry [Ryan] from the Auditorium is great. It’s the biggest theater around (more than 2000 seats), so filling it is definitely a challenge. We started The Four Leaf Clover of Boston Comedy in March a few years back and it’s gone good annually. Someone suggested an Italian themed show in October because of the large Italian communities around the area. Last year was our first one and it went amazing. We had a great turnout to a great show with some big time Italian names in Boston Comedy. Brad Mastrangelo (formerly of Chelsea), Dave Russo (of Malden), Paul D’Angelo (formerly of Wakefield) and Frank Santorelli (a Clevland guy who made a name for himself in Boston Comedy and TV/movies) all crushed last year. This year we wanted to add Matt Misci to host the show and keep it flowing with laughs. Plus, it happens to be his birthday on October 12, so it’s a big birthday bash for him!”