Melbourne comedy trio Sooshi Mango like to push the limits when it comes to making people laugh.
"I think we dance on the line but don't cross it," Carlo Salanitri said.
"Comedy is subjective.
"There are going to be people who like you and people who don't, but for the most part we don't get much hate even though we are in that category which could be perceived as not being politically correct."
Carlo, his brother Joe and their close friend Andrew Manfre made their theatre debut co-starring alongside Nick Giannopoulos in 2017 for two sold-out national tours: Wogs at Work and Star Wogs (2018).
They went on to sell out shows in Canada with Ethnic Vacation: The Invasion of Canada before returning to Australia to tour Fifty Shades of Ethnic, which included 14 sold-out shows at the Forum Theatre and one sold-out show at the Palais Theatre in Melbourne, as well as four sold-out shows at Sydney's Enmore Theatre.
Sooshi Mango's new two-hour show, Off The Boat, transcends cultures and borders. They are proud Italian Australians and their comedy is inspired by their parents and the older generation.
"My Dad, rest his soul, was our biggest fan. He passed away a couple of years ago," Carlo Salanitri said.
"As for my Mum, she kind of looks at us sometimes, shakes her head and says 'Why are you dressed as a woman and yelling?". But the family, they all love it.
"We laugh at the characters from that generation because they had funny quirks, but what we're really doing is paying homage to them and that era. They came to Australlia and they did everything they could to add to this land. They're proud people.
"We have a laugh, but they're the generation we respect the most."
Such is Sooshi Mango's popularity that new dates and larger venues have been added to their upcoming tour. Their Newcastle show, for example, has been upgraded from the Civic Theatre to the larger capacity Newcastle Entertainment Centre.
"As an entertainer I am so grateful to our fans for giving us the opportunity to perform at this level. We are honoured fly the banner for all immigrants that came to this great country in search of a better life," Manfre said.
"I can't wait to hear the roaring laughs and smell the garlic breath in the air."
As for Salanitri, he says he is "still trying to take it all in". It's all a bit surreal.
"It's certainly reaching heights that we never expected. It's happened quite quickly but in saying that, there's been a lot of work put in," he said.
"It's a skit-based show, and we do multiple characters, so when we walk off stage we are furiously changing costumes and screaming 'Where's my pants, where's my shoes, oh my God'. It looks seamless to the audience, but in the background we are running around trying to make it look that way."
He doesn't realise it, but his voice becomes that of one of his female characters as he mentions the pants and shoes.
The trio don't have any formal training however Salanitri says they've "always been clownish".
"I've always been very confident in front of a crowd and I like the limelight but you either have comedic timing or you don't, and you can see comedy or you can't," he explained.
"Comedy has always been second nature to us. We have always watched funny movies and television shows and over the years you start to pick up things.
"When we first started performing it really was a sink or swim kind of thing."
Salanitri grew up on British comedy from the 1970s, and makes particular mention of The Benny Hill Show and Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em.
Both series would no doubt outrage and offend many today.
"I don't think it's the comedian's job to be politically correct, I think it's the comedian's job to make people laugh, but there are a lot of landmines around, especially today. There are certain things you can't touch upon," he said.
"We've been called racist before, but I don't know how Italians can be racist against Italians. Most people who have said that aren't Italian.
"The three of us are old souls when it comes to comedy, and we're probably in the wrong era. But then again, we will also be the first Australian comedy act to do more than one show at Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena.
"That makes me feel really proud and it's crazy to think three idiots like us who started shooting videos in a car have ended up here.
"It's truly humbling."
