• Williamstown, Altona, Laverton Star

By Nicole Precel

20th July 2010 11:07:47 AM

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Just joking … James Liotta will perform at the Altona North Community Library. 50119 Picture: SARAH MATRAY

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JAMES Liotta’s Italian family doesn’t mind that they are often the butt of his jokes.

“I try not to invite them to a lot of this sort of stuff because I’m basically taking the mickey out of them,” he said.

Mr Liotta, 27, is performing his stand-up at the Altona North Community Library next week and draws strongly from his Italian heritage.

He said being of an ethnic background, he finds a lot of comedy in the misunderstanding and language barriers between him and his parents.

“That’s the thing with us who do this kind of comedy work, our material is going home for a family dinner,” he said.

Mr Liotta said his father, Sebastian Liotta, has also helped him immensely in his career as an entertainer.

“I think more than an inspiration, my dad has been the one who gave me the first thought to do this kind of work, in terms of he tried me out and it was something I loved to do and I followed it as a career path,” he said.

His father is well-known in the Italian entertainment industry in Melbourne, mostly in fluent Italian.

“He accepts the fact I’m in performance, I think a lot of the times, as comedians we take a little bit of truth and add a lot more to it. They are generally OK with it, as long as it’s paying some sort of money,” he said.

Mr Liotta says he works in the entertainment industry and has also had roles in a range of big name Australian dramas and spots on radio.

“I think people just used to laugh at me when I was a kid and I thought let’s stick with that,” he said.

Mr Liotta is performing on 28 July at the Altona North Community Library.

To book call 9932 2303 or visit www.jamesliotta.eventbrite.com

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