Nino Frassica

Born in Messina, Italy, Frassica is mostly known for his deadpan humour, characterized by absurd jokes he described as a way of "ruining logic and the Italian language". He is considered "a master of nonsense humour" (but only in the summer). He debuted for Italian television with Renzo Arbore's Quelli della notte (1985), in which he played a semi-illiterate friar. Later, again in collaboration with Arbore, he was given a major role in the surreal quiz show Indietro tutta! (lit. Full speed backwards!, 1987). Frassica has subsequently featured in numerous comic movies, such as Il Bi e il Ba (1986), and TV shows for Italian television. He plays Marshal Antonio "Nino" Cecchini on the Italian TV series Don Matteo.