Interview: Joe Salanitri Can't Wait for NYC to See SOOSHI MANGO: OFF THE BOAT TOUR at The Town Hall

Joe Salanitri is one of three members of Sooshi Mango, the team behind a slew of viral internet comedy videos primarily poking fun of their own ethnic families. Their live show has sold out all over the world, including their home in Australia, and they're bringing it to New York City for the first time ever later this month on February 28th at the Town Hall on 123 West 43rd Street. I spoke to Joe about what their upcoming show will look like.

RK: So are you looking forward to your world tour coming up?
JS: Yeah, absolutely. We're very excited. It's been a long time in the making, so we're really looking forward to it happening.

RK: Can you give like a teaser of anything in the show coming up?
JS: Yeah, absolutely. It's basically a show that has a lot of different types of like ethnic comedy in it, but it's comedy full stop. There's different types of skits. They have all of our different characters in it. There's a little bit of song in it. There's a little bit of dance in it. It's fully scripted, so we know what works. In Australia, it was a massive hit. We can't wait for people to be hopefully having sore ribs on the way home.

RK: That's great. You've toured in America before, right?
JS: No, it's our first time. We've toured once in Canada [with] a similar show in 2019, and it was fantastic. We've also done Dubai, and again, that was fantastic. So we've said if it works in Dubai, it'll work anywhere [laughs].

RK: Have you run it by any American people to make sure your references and everything work?
JS: Absolutely. The last time we were in the States, which was only like a month ago, we met a lot of different collaborators and a lot of different creators. And we basically just sat with them and asked them a few little questions. Do you say this, and do you say that, and where's this and where's that? So that's been a big help.

RK: What have some of the highlights of being part of Sooshi Mango been for you?
JS: I guess the last couple of years, I think the show has been quite a highlight. It was the number one show for 2022. And we sold out. Rod Laver Arena is where everyone comes and plays here [in Australia], and we've held that record for three shows. We did multiple shows around the country in different arenas and so forth. So that's been one of the highlights. And we've also done some movies, we’ve done some film, and so forth. So the brand has grown quite a lot.

But I guess one of the biggest highlights is that we are selling tickets in New York. That's a massive highlight. Or that we’re selling tickets in America, full stop. We’re selling tickets in London. We haven't done the shows yet but it's a highlight for us that there is actually appetite for our type of comedy in these places.

RK: What do you think it is about parodying or poking fun at ethnic parents that appeals to so many people?
JS: We look at it more as what we've stumbled across is people have found nostalgia with it. You know, like people sort of take something away every single time. So they see that, you know, whether it's the way their dad will walk or something that they've said or something that that some I don't know, like it's it is a this is a little sort of charming element from these characters, which it goes the way from a sort of poking fun.

It's more just honoring these people. We found that everyone around the world now… We just did a Christmas video which has 130 million views. So we've just noticed that that video was universal. Everyone sort of somehow was like, my God, that's like my house, it’s like my mum. So I think we've stumbled across this thing called nostalgia. That's the biggest thing we stumbled across. We were lucky to stumble across that because, like I said, people sort of pull on their heartstrings a little bit and I think that that's the key of what we've been doing, is the nostalgia, because they can see it like, “my dad was like that, my auntie was like that, my uncle was like that,” whatever it is.

RK: Is there anything else that you want to add?
JS: [This] is a family show. It's a great show for friends and families. You can bring your kids if they've seen our videos. Then there's a little swear word here and there [but] it's all just comedy and nothing’s too dark. It's nothing too, too bad in the swearing department. Even though we fly off the wire sometimes, kids look at [the characters] as caricatures, you know? They're not real. They’re like these little cartoons almost to these children.

But it's a great show, good fun and a great night out. We could get these characters and we can put them in any situation. And I think that's one beautiful thing about these characters, is that they're a little bit odd, a little bit charming, and a little bit sort of universal in the fact that you can plug them in any way and they can shine, you know, because one thing that we do quite well is if you put them in a room with, Lady Gaga for example, she's the biggest person in the world, or Taylor Swift, they don’t know who this person is, they're still living their own life, you know? And then they end up becoming friends with them, you know what I mean? So that's the beauty of these characters. And we can't wait to show them to the world.

Tickets are available on The Town Hall's website.

You can find more about Sooshi Mango on their website.

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