Marco Della Noce: From Homelessness to Redemption – His Journey Through Over-Indebtedness and Reinvention

His career began in 1982 at the Loano Cabaret Festival. There where in 1987 he won the special critics prize. «What is usually given to those who are good, but not completely. No, I’m kidding.” On the other hand, he spent 40 years doing it in theaters and 35 on TV, including Drive in, Mai dire gol, Striscia la Notizia and Zelig, which brought him into the living rooms of Italians with his most famous character, Oriano Ferrari, the chief engineer of the Maranello team.

Now Marco Della Noce is 65 years old. But he was born a second time. The date: last May 9, when the Court of Monza started the over-indebtedness procedure which paid off almost 500 thousand euros of debts of the approximately 700 thousand that he had accumulated after the divorce with his wife. From there, the abyss. IRS, child support, rent regressions. The foreclosures had left him with nothing. He ended up sleeping in his Zafira. Then the legal battle and the ransom. Now he has returned to cross the stage to which have been added the duties of tutor for families and in companies. “I claim the right to fail,” he explains on the phone with that Romagna accent lent to the character of Luigi in the cartoon Cars and which he carries with him after five years in Bagnacavallo, in the Ravenna area.

Della Noce, the Court of Monza last May 9 reduced its debt to the tax authorities.
«It is a liberation, above all of the mind. I also found a lot of understanding from the judges. There’s never anything negative and that’s it.”

A long journey nonetheless.
“The procedure was complicated.”

Why?
«Applying the law of over-indebtedness to an entertainment worker was new to everyone. After more than two years, with the lawyers of the Pagano studio we managed to get the debt overexposure started, established after the economic crisis of 2008».

The next steps?
“For a few more years, some of my earnings will be withheld to pay off the debt, which included rent regressions and child support payments. But I was reborn.”

She made generations of people laugh, then unlearned herself.
«It is no coincidence that I stopped for two years with the shows. I didn’t let myself go and I didn’t act on instinct. I thought too much.”

He refers to eviction and homeless nights in his Zafira.
«Yes, I couldn’t be creative because everything was running away from me. I couldn’t find solutions and then depression came, then two years of psychiatric treatment: I went out in the morning and returned home in the evening. I took medicines, but don’t ask me which ones because I don’t keep anything».

Was he ashamed?
“It’s not a word I would use. I was rather disoriented».

And what was he thinking?
“What an example I was setting for my children. Today they thank me for what I have transmitted over the years, where I have done odd jobs to put something aside».

For example?
«The night watchman in Monza park during a street food. I had also opened an inflatable company with a friend».

He had the strength to leave.
“My colleagues and ordinary people helped me. When I hit rock bottom, all of Zelig’s group moved. From Giancarlo Bozzo, artistic director, to Claudio Bisio, passing through Luciana Littizzetto. They had started a fundraiser. They were joined by the people who had paid me for a room. From there step by step I found a home. Then a reading I did motivated me a lot ».

Which?
«It’s called Long live the failure of Francesco Chesi. He contained 22 keys to transform one’s life ».

Meaning what?
«Live in the present and give weight to words. Add to these the teachings of Buddhist philosophy that I have been practicing for 35 years: the starting point is within us».

The affection of the fans pushed her back to the stage.
“It really amazed me. Even recently someone asked me: “But when are you coming back?”».

If you think of Zelig, what comes to mind?
«Evenings spent improvising until late. One stood behind the counter and the rest of us asked for the strangest drinks. It was there that the pieces to bring on stage were born».

Now he’s not just a comedian. On the contrary…
“I do several things. I am a tutor for We family, a training center that encourages parental dialogue. I’m also starting meetings with companies to raise awareness of the centrality of the person in a horizontal perspective. But with the shows I continue ».

Even with his most famous character, Oriano Ferrari, the head mechanic of the Maranello team.
«And of course, I brought him to a live show on May 5th».

Impossible not to ask her about Ferrari then. Which isn’t having a great time.
“I was the first to make fun of a sacred monster such as Ferrari and for this I allow myself to be a bit polemical: there is no figure of reference”.

What message would you like to send with your story?
“The right to fail. Which isn’t a bad thing. In certain cultures it is almost necessary because it means that you have rebuilt yourself. And then we must not bind ourselves to television messages: they are not true».