I had the pleasure of taking one of my best friends to see her favorite comedian for her birthday, Joe Gatto. The “Let’s Get Into It” tour came to Columbia, Mo. on Feb. 15, one day before her 19th birthday.
Let’s take a trip back to Sept. 2024 when she sends me an Instagram post of the tour dates, one being in Columbia. We joke about going but then I realize this would be the best birthday present ever. I immediately FaceTime her while sitting at my bus stop to tell her we have to go and it’ll be my present to her. The whole bus ride from my apartment complex to Mizzou’s campus we are geeking over getting to see THE Joe Gatto. We found meet and greet tickets and decided the $100 would be worth it, not knowing we also had to purchase actual show tickets. Fast forward to Feb. 14, sitting at dinner with her and our other friend, we decided to look at when the meet and greet started, so we could plan on when to leave. This is when we found out the most devastating news… we needed a show ticket. We’ve had these tickets for months and of course, the night before a show, there’s never any tickets. We scrambled to find some, a little more expensive than we would have liked, and also happened to be on opposite sides of the auditorium, but we got them.
The next day we started planning on how to find seats together at a sold out show. Once we got to Jesse Hall, we started asking every usher we saw if it would be possible to sit next to each other. It wasn’t looking good but it just so happened that one girl in my service sorority had two tickets and was trying to find someone to take the other. We found her at the show and she was willing to trade her two seats for mine, and we were overjoyed.
We finally were able to relax and were so excited that we got to be by each other for the show. Around 7:10 p.m., Mark Jigarian opened the show. I had never heard his comedy before but he started the show off strong. He appealed to the Columbia audience by making Kansas jokes and talking about our downtown area and community. One thing he really hit on was how friendly we are in the Midwest compared to his home of New York City. One joke that stood out was when he asked someone where to get the best pizza here; the person responded with Casey’s, like the gas station. This made the audience laugh and groan because if you know anything about Columbia, you know you HAVE to go to Shakespeare’s for pizza. While his set wasn’t very long, he got the crowd comfortable and ready for Gatto.
Gatto came running out from behind the curtain with the biggest smile on his face. He danced around the stage and waved out at the crowd; it was obvious he loves what he does. To start off the show, he explained why he doesn’t do crowd interactions anymore; let’s just say if you want to know… go to his show. His jokes got the crowd roaring with laughter and he was able to switch between topics easily without it feeling like there was a divide in the comedy. From talking about him being a kid, to why parents matter, traveling around Alaska, sightless restaurants and sharing memories about his kids it always felt like he was telling one big story.
Through these stories, it felt like Gatto was trying to connect with everyone in the audience and by the end of the night it felt I’d known him forever. I think this is one of the best things a comedian or any celebrity could do: make themselves human and create these connections with their audience to make people feel more comfortable and relatable.
He was very honest in some parts of the show, which really stuck with me. Such as being a really introverted and nerdy kid. I was also dorky growing up, nose in a book and always writing about fantasy adventures for me and my friends to go on. It made me feel connected because we shared the same experience. While his neighbor would have boys over playing sports in his backyard, Gatto would be writing in a tree. Hearing him make jokes about this time helped me embrace my nerdy side and remember that it’s OK to not be like other kids who are playing flag football in their backyard.
Talking about his journey to becoming more extroverted, one thing he said was to “be comfortable in the uncomfortable” which is something I think I will keep with me for the rest of my life. I have lived by the motto “do it scared” since coming into college but now I’m thinking of a way to mix these two together. Gatto’s show wasn’t just laughs and funny banter, he had some serious life advice.
“Life experiences make you who you are and mold you” was the main discussion when talking about his parents. Growing up around them, you learn a lot and pass this down to your kids. I think back on a lot of things I went through as a kid and have started to reflect on how these moments have made me who I am today. Sometimes I regret these things or wish something would have happened differently but I think Gatto makes a good point here that life experiences do mold us and it’s important to step back and look over how far we’ve come.
After the show we got to meet Gatto which was nothing short of a good time. Although we only had a few minutes to exchange words, his upbeat and positive energy couldn’t help but put a smile on our faces. We told him about her birthday and I told him I would be writing this article and he was very supportive. After hugs, photos, laughs, signatures and candy it was clear to see that Gatto cares a lot about his fans.
Left to right: Maggie Raasch, Joe Gatto, Josie Fields
I would recommend anyone and everyone to go see Gatto on his “Let’s Get Into It” tour whether you’ve known him since his “Impractical Jokers” days or just like some good comedy.