A packed Villa Martina and an overwhelming wave of applause welcomed Chiara Anicito in Rometta last night, the Sicilian comedian, cabaret artist and content creator who is conquering Italy. The mayor Nino Cirino and the councilor Roberto Bottaro did the honors and welcomed the artist on stage, proud to host an event that was sold out. The actress is now a real web phenomenon thanks to her very popular alter ego: Cammela. A name that must be strictly pronounced with the double M, “like breasted”, which has become the hilarious, ironic and affectionate symbol of the young Sicilian mother.
A popularity born on social media but which quickly spread to the small screen too, leading Chiara Anicito to appear on prestigious stages such as Zelig On and Lol Talent, as well as signing collaborations with the comic services of Striscia la Notizia. The success of this character has its roots in everyday life.
Before the show, the artist recounted the genesis of Cammela, born almost as a joke a few years ago: «The character was born in 2018 as a joke, when I was class representative. From there I thought there was just too much to laugh about the dynamics of moms’ chat groups. One joke led to another and I developed the character.” Last night’s performance leveraged precisely this: an intelligent and biting irony that undermines the exaggerated search for perfection of modern mothers, demolishing the clichés and performance anxiety of today’s parents.
However, behind the laughter and hilarious caricatures there is a profound reflection, which Chiara Anicito wanted to launch from the stage in Rometta to all the families and mothers present. “In this life we have become too apprehensive with children, sometimes exaggeratedly,” explained the actress. His is a clear invitation to change course: let children do things on their own, make them responsible and give them greater confidence to help them grow and build their self-esteem. An approach which, specifies the artist, does not at all mean abandoning them to themselves or “leaving them alone with a cell phone in their hand”, but rather following them closely, guiding them with love, but without suffocating them. The emotional peak of the evening arrived right at the end of the show, when Chiara greeted Rometta’s audience with a phrase that contains the heart of her educational and life philosophy: «Better to have a scraped knee than the fear of running». A long applause from the crowd closed a very successful night, suspended between the lightness of comedy and the wisdom of real life.