Danilo Gentili

Danilo Gentili, Jr. (born 27 September 1979) is a Brazilian television host, comedian, writer, actor, reporter, cartoonist, advertiser and businessman. He currently hosts the late-night talk show The Noite, that airs on SBT. Prior to that, he attended as a reporter on the comedy TV show CQC, broadcast on Band. At this channel, Danilo also hosted the late-night talk show Agora É Tarde.
In 2015, Danilo Gentili opened a comedy club in Orlando, FL, located on Orlando's International Drive along with two partners, aimed to Brazilians who visit or live in the Florida hotspot.

Danilo Gentili, Jr. was born in Santo André, São Paulo, Brazil, and grew up in a cortiço. Originally Catholic, he became Protestant in his teenage years and is the youngest child of Guiomar Gentili, a housewife from a small city in the state of Minas Gerais, and Danilo Gentili Sr., a type-machine maintenance man born in Botucatu, SP. Gentili is of Italian descent, his grandfather, Ulderico Gentili, a sacred painter, escaped to Brazil from Italy during World War II.

When Gentili was at the age of 18, he lost his father due to a sudden heart attack. Six months later, his older sister, Karina Gentili, died in a car accident. Since then, he has been the sole responsible for his and his mother's household.

In 2003, Gentili graduated in Social Communication - Advertising at UniABC.

Early career

In 2006 he founded a comedy show called Comedia ao Vivo,. That same year, he joined the Stand-Up Comedy group Clube da Comédia.

In 2007, a producer from the soon-to-premier "CQC" show was watching his stand-up show at a bar and asked him to audition for the show. He got the job and in 2008 the show aired and changed his life.

From 2008–2009, he wrote a column on Mondays for one of the newspapers with more printed issues in Brazil, Metro.

In 2008 he collaborated with the largest circulation magazine in Brazil, Mad.

CQC

In 2008, Danilo Gentili premiered on TV with a show called Custe o que Custar (CQC), on TV Bandeirantes. On his first interview, he put his guest, the singer Agnaldo Timóteo, in an awkward situation with all his nonsense questions and the guest left in the middle of the interview. That paid off. It was a big hit. What was supposed to be a temporary job for Danilo, turned out to be his great starting point on TV.

The show became famous due to "Inexperienced Reporter" (Reporter Inexperiente), a part of the show where Danilo pretended to be a newbie interviewing guests and asking them all kinds of nonsense questions. After a while he started doing more than that on the show. So he stood out on CQC interviewing people all over, especially about politics. At the Congress he became that reporter that every politician was afraid of. They tried to avoid being ridiculed when faced with his questions and being confronted with truths (which the viewers themselves would like to do so).

During the CQC Season of 2010/11, Danilo Gentili was conducting segments on the show called "Protest Now" and "National Identity" and also the main national political events.

In the years Danilo was covering stories in the National Congress, he starred in what later became newsworthy stories, i.e. he was kicked out of the Nacional Congress and banned from returning due to his questions on the chamber's president corruption charges, he was later physically assaulted by a senator's bodyguard and in another story he was held prisoner by the police after exposing a public school's administration problems.

On the last episode of the 2011 season, Danilo said his goodbye to the show so he could dedicate 100% of himself to his new project, the talk show Agora é Tarde. At the occasion, he was honored by the show, which he was a part of for 4 seasons.

Agora é Tarde

Host and co-creator of the late-night show Agora é Tarde (It's too late). This late-night talk show premiered June 2011 on TV Band and got high ratings and great reviews.

The show premiered with great ratings and reviews, both from the media and from the viewers.

The show has Ultraje a Rigor as the supporting band, has comedy segments, stand-up monologue, round-table with comedians talking about recent news and Brazilian stars as the main guests.

The media doubted the politically incorrect boy of possibly becoming one of the biggest hosts in Latin America, but since the show started, its viewers increased in 200% the network's ratings for that time slot.

The Noite

Gentili is the host and creator of this late-night show on the SBT channel. It increased the audience for this slot by 200% and beat the #1 channel in Brazil several times.

Critics' recognition

Other than the awards, the show has been highly acclaimed by the critics for the quality of the show and also for the host's skills. According to the columnist Flávio Ricco, from UOL, "Danilo showed, more than anything, to be a real hard worker. A lot of what you see on the show is due to his strength and perseverance."

Awards

Agora é Tarde was chosen by the newspaper O Globo as "Best 2011 TV Show" and Danilo Gentili, the 'Best TV Show Host'. It was also chosen by the Brazilian Press Association as the 'Best Talk Show' in the 2012 edition of the awards.

Os Fatos Espetaculares do Ano

Danilo Gentili created and host this comic retrospective quizz about 2012 news highlights. First aired on TV Band on 18 December 2012.

Politically Incorrect

In 2010, the day before election day, Danilo wrote and presented a stand-up show talking about every single presidential candidate that year and broadcast it live on Brazil's biggest internet portal (UOL) with an audience of 1.5 million viewers. The show and Danilo hit the top 3 Trending Topics on Twitter and there they stood for 2 days in a roll. The show turned into a DVD, an audiobook and a book and got worldwide comments by The New York Times (USA) and The Guardian (England).

Danilo Gentili: Volume 1

Considered a great surprise for the Brazilian comedy, Danilo sees the world in a very peculiar way. With a humorous and critical view of events, he builds his shows from the common life: personal frustrations, relationships, politics, current events, unusual facts and even the most trivial things, everything becomes raw material for his funny and clever work. Danilo Gentili naturally seem to know the recipe of the genre: originality, surprise, charisma and connection with the audience, these are the perfect ingredients for a good dose of humor, the one of the best medicine there is. After years of performing in bars and theaters, Danilo selected the tested and approved material by his audience and put together an 1-hour solo show and recently has documented that show so it will come out as a DVD later 2011.

The New York Times In 2011 Danilo Gentili was mentioned in The New York Times for his comedy work in Brazil. About him, The New York Times wrote:

"Supplying Brazil’s Laugh Track" - With his baby face, boyish manner and goofy laugh, Mr. Gentili, 32, is the enfant terrible of comedy in Brazil. He has built his reputation on a willingness to ask celebrities — and especially politicians — questions that are considered embarrassing, outrageous or disrespectful. Recently he also got himself into trouble with a Twitter post that enraged Jewish community leaders in São Paulo. Even so, in June he became host of a late-night talk show on a national network and the big question now is: Will that format succeed in taming him? So far, the answer is no.

"A Brazilian’s Comic Mania: Social Media" - Danilo Gentili, partner of a comedy club, has more than a touch of Bill Maher in him, as shown by a DVD called "Politicamente Incorreto." "We’re not considered artists, we’re compared to punk rockers playing in the garage to see what happens, and I’m fine with that," said Mr. Gentili, 32, who has just been given a late-night talk show on the Bandeirantes network.

The Guardian The UK newspaper cited Danilo Gentili in two articles. He was compared with Bill Maher (in 2011) and Jon Stewart (in 2012).

"Brazil's stand-up comics lead social revolution against powerful elites" - Danilo Gentili comedy also drew attention of England’s leading newspaper, The Guardian. In Tom Phillips's article, Gentili is named a comedian that leads a revolution "a highly controversial but also wildly popular comedian who is blazing a trail for stand-up comedy in South America's largest nation, is a man who enjoys living on the edge."

The newspaper has highlighted the following of Mr. Gentili: "We earn money this way. If people get on TV they'll earn more money, even better. But if they don't, damn it. This will keep happening. So they don't owe allegiance to anyone.",

"Anywhere in the world people understand that the role of the comedian is to crack jokes. One day they'll understand it in Brazil, too, I hope," he said.

"... With his stubble, baseball cap and habitual bleary-eyed look, he's like a shabbier version of The Daily Show's Jon Stewart. His approach isn't always subtle, sometimes abusing the powers that be in terms that would make Frankie Boyle blanch – as when he suggested the Brazilian president, a former victim of brutal state torture, had brought it upon herself – but it's won him a considerable domestic following among those who find his uncompromising style a breath of fresh air."

Manager Magazin Gentili was once again mentioned in an international article. After the British The Guardianand American The New York Times, now it is German Manager Magazin – a business magazine from the Der Spiegel group, one of the most important ones in Germany – who mentions the Brazilian comedian.

In the article, that brings to attention the advances of Brazilian technology, Gentili is presented as an influential comedian online, with more than 2 million Twitter followers.

Prospect magazine Gentili made the headline of another British article, this time Prospect magazine compares the Brazilian comedian with Jon Stewart and stats that Gentili is helping Brazil match economic weight with cultural clout.

Forbes magazine Forbes magazine add Danilo Gentili on their list of "Names you Need to Know". With a brief history on the comedians and a Q&A, the magazine highlights Danilo as the country’s latest comic phenomenon.

The same magazine, in November 2014, named the show "The Noite com Danilo Gentili" as 'Brazil's top rated late-night talk-show'.

Television

In São Paulo Gay Pride Parade, 2009.

Films

Stand-up

• 2005/2009 – Clube da Comédia Stand-Up - author and comedian
• 2006/2009 – Comédia Ao Vivo - creator, comedian and author
• 2009 – Divina Comédia - creator, comedian and author (alongside other comedians)
• 2008/2011 – Danilo Gentili Volume 1 (Stand-Up Comedy Solo Show) - comedian and author
• 2010 – Politicamente Incorreto (Stand-Up Comedy Solo Show) - comedian and author
• 2011 – Festival Risadaria (São Paulo, SP)
• 2011 – Virada Cultural de São Paulo
• 2012 – Festival Risadaria (São Paulo, SP)
• 2012 – Virada Cultural de São Paulo
• 2012 – Festival Risológio (Curitiba, SC) - 2012 Honoree

Music

• 2011 – "Ela Traiu o Rock&Roll" - recorded by the band "Pedra Letícia"

Radio

• 2011 – "Agora é Tarde" - Band News FM

Cartoonist

• 2009 – Mad Magazine - Writer and cartoonist
• 2012 – Mad Magazine - Writer and cartoonist

Businessman

• 2010 - Comedians Comedy Club - Partner
• 2015 - The Comedy Club (Orlando, FL) [1]

• Rael B. Riolino. "Comedians". Comedians. Retrieved 2014-01-11. 

DVDs

• 2010 – Politicamente Incorreto
• 2011 – Danilo Gentili – Volume 1

Books

• 2009 – Como se Tornar o Pior Aluno da Escola (How to Become School's Worst Student) – Panda Books Publishing Company – author and illustrator
• 2010 – Politicamente Incorreto (Politically Incorrect) - Panda Books Publishing Company – author and illustrator
• 2012 – A Vida e Outros Detalhes Insignificantes (Life and other insignificant details) – Panda Books Publishing Company – author and illustrator

Games

• 2011 – O Mundo vs Danilo Gentili (The World versus Danilo Gentili) – iOS

• Jogo Temático do Humorista Danilo Gentili Para Ipad 01/09/2011 macmagazine.com.br

National Congress Eviction

In April 2008 when he visited the Congresso Nacional for the first time, Danilo Gentili was expelled from the institution after interviewing the President of the Câmara dos Deputados do Brasil, Arlindo Chinaglia, about the Tax Reform and the use of slush funds by congressmen. The interview was broadcast on April 14, 2008.

Assault on the Senate

On July 25, 2009, before trying to interview the President of Senado brasileiro, José Sarney, he was assaulted by senator's personal security and hurled to the ground. The assault reverberated on media and made headlines in TV news that night, and have been spotted by photographers of O Estado de S. Paulo.

Detention

He was arrested on October 31, 2009 in the city of Assis, São Paulo, while shooting a report about the Zero Tolerance Policy against "vagrancy" deployed on the city. In the occasion he was disguised as a hobo. Danilo was handcuffed and taken to the Police Station for "disturbing the peace", disobedience and contempt.

+18 Censorship

The book Como se Tornar o Pior Aluno da Escola (How to Become The Worst Student on School), by Danilo Gentili, received a seal warning readers that it was not suitable for people under 18 years old. The decision was made by the Panda Books publishing company after an warning from the Ministério Público. The controversy started when some teenagers' parents, who had bought the book anonymously, complained to the Public Court. To them, the content of the publication could be harmful to students. The publishing company was called to friendly discussion and accepted the recommendation to put the indicative seal on the book. Even with the seal, Danilo told, on Roberto Justus' TV show, that the decision only made the book more attractive to the youngest and ironized saying "the kids decided to buy it!!!". On September 5, 2012 it was announced that Clube Filmes productions had reached a deal to make a movie of his first book.

In Santo André

The mayor of Santo André, Carlos Grana (PT), decided that Gentilli's illustration on the Santos Dummont avenue should be erased. The caricature was replaced by a picture of the physicist Albert Einstein, fact which caused controversy on social networks, since Gentili – a critic of PT, the political party of the mayor– accused him of censorship. The mayor denied the alegation.

Assault in São Bernardo

On the June 28, 2010 edition of CQC show, he was assaulted by city guards from São Bernardo do Campo, while shooting the "Proteste Já!" sketch about a school demolition.

Offense to a milk donor

In October 2013, Danilo Gentili was accused of insult a nurse and milk donor after named her "cow" on Agora é Tarde show, along with the humorist Marcelo Mansfield. The milk donor awarded the Guinness Book nomination for donated 300 liters of human milk and Gentilli's joke, broadcast nationally, brought humilliation to the nurse, who was ridicularized by people of her city, which made her desist from milk donation.

Racism and politically incorrect humor

Danilo Gentilli was several times involved in cases of racism, mostly online. On Twitter the humorist once made a joke comparing a black soccer player with King Kong. In other discussions with users who criticise him for his politically incorrect humor, Gentilli offered a banana to a black man as a sign of peace, which made him prosecuted for racial insult. Supporters of the humorist justify his acid humor on social networks, often as freedom of expression.