After serving his nation within the Marine Corps, veteran Michael D’Angelo has discovered one other strategy to give again to the army group – making them snicker.
D’Angelo feels proper at residence delivering punchlines in entrance of a pair hundred Marines at nightfall, after they’ve completed an intense coaching routine and simply wish to loosen up as a result of he remembers that life far too nicely.
He created the Fast Hearth Comedy Tour, a nonprofit group the delivers first-rate standup comedy to active-duty army members and first responders free of charge.
D’Angelo’s wonderful story is featured on the most recent episode of the Tango Alpha Lima podcast, hosted by Adam Marr, Stacy Pearsall and Joe Worley. The Marine Corps veteran rose from a troubled youth in Las Vegas to turn out to be a fight veteran and is now one of many main comics within the army sphere.
Tough Childhood Results in Marines
D’Angelo’s childhood was something however secure. Each mother and father struggled with habit, and he was usually left to fend for himself in harmful neighborhoods. As he turned older, he started hanging out with gun-toting automotive thieves.
Then got here a turning level – Fourth of July 2007.
D’Angelo acquired combined up in a avenue combat. Somebody slashed him with a razor. He wanted 32 stitches to restore his torn face. A number of of his pals both went to the hospital or jail. D’Angelo knew one thing needed to change. He left highschool in his junior yr to enroll in the Marine Corps and earn his GED.
For many, Marine Corps bootcamp is grueling. In comparison with what D’Angelo was used to, it was enjoyable.
“It was the primary time in my life that I used to be getting three meals a day,” he stated. “I used to be sleeping eight hours an evening.”
D’Angelo lastly discovered construction within the army. Serving from 2008 to 2013, he discovered to be calm underneath chaos, and developed a penchant for locating humor within the darkest conditions.
Damage Adjustments Life
A kind of difficult moments got here when a extreme again harm pressured him out of the Marine Corps. Medical doctors informed him to anticipate to be in a wheelchair by age 30. D’Angelo wasn’t positive what to do subsequent. Bodily labor was off the desk, so he determined to offer standup comedy a strive.
His first open mic night time each terrified and excited the younger comic. D’Angelo moved to Los Angeles, the place his automotive served as his residence for 4 years as he scraped by, attending lessons on the Comedy Retailer.
However as he honed his craft, he found a harsh actuality. Not solely was the L.A. comedy market fiercely aggressive, however the viewers additionally didn’t get his model of army humor. In 2018, he confronted a revelation. He must be performing in entrance of a army crowd, his true viewers.
He wrote 400 letters to Marine Corps items stating, merely, “I’m a Marine. I’m a comic. I’ll come carry out free of charge.”
He obtained a constructive response, and his profession slowly began rising. He labored a solo present in 2018, igniting kinship together with his viewers. Fairly quickly, fellow comedians from Hollywood joined him. The group packed vans and drove to bases across the nation to make troops snicker.
Whereas making folks snicker was its personal reward, D’Angelo found one thing distinctive after exhibits. Troops thanked him for turning round tough weeks by sharing laughs with their friends. Instantly, troops that had been arguing with one another all week discovered cohesion.
D’Angelo fashioned the 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2019, branding it the Fast Hearth Comedy Tour. Whereas the COVID shutdown of 2020 was a bump within the street, D’Angelo rebounded, forming a partnership with VetTV. His exhibits are nonetheless free, elevating morale and forging camaraderie.
Cultural Influence on Troops
D’Angelo brings a mix of comedians on stage from numerous backgrounds.
“I’m exposing these servicemembers to tradition and artwork,” he stated. “They’re watching comedians from totally different backgrounds they usually’re like, ‘This individual is humorous. Their story acquired me.’ You’re broadening folks’s minds.”
And it helps the comics check out materials in a troublesome crowd of drained, worn-down Marines.
“When you carry out for 200 Marines, you come again to L.A. and also you’re like, ‘These crowds are a layup now,’” D’Angelo stated.
Quickly, D’Angelo wish to carry his comedy to American Legion posts, hearth departments and VA amenities. However for now, he’s content material with serving to army items kind bonds by way of laughter.
“We’re boosting morale, we’re constructing camaraderie, we’re selling troop welfare,” D’Angelo stated. “However we’re additionally exposing folks to artwork and tradition in methods they by no means would have skilled in any other case.”
