Federico Basso

Federico Basso is an Italian stand-up comedian and television writer born on January 1, 1975 in Turin. Known for his exceptional 1.98 m height and dry, self-deprecating delivery, he became a household name on the Zelig stage in Milan and is one of the most recognizable observational stand-up voices on Italian television.

Basso trained at the Alessandro Bontempi theater school in Segrate and broke through at Zelig in 2003, winning the Sesto San Giovanni cabaret festival in 2004 against Teresa Mannino in the final. He then became a fixed presence at Zelig Off on Italia 1, hosting alongside Teresa Mannino for five seasons, before moving to the main stage of Zelig on Canale 5 with recurring monologues about awkward everyday situations, tall-guy problems and Italian middle-class life. In 2025 he won the fifth season of LOL Chi ride e fuori on Amazon Prime Video, choosing to share the prize with runner-up Geppi Cucciari and donating his half to AVIS Milano. He has also written for several Italian comedy shows and tours nationally with the stand-up program Profilo basso. In February 2026 he was chosen by Rai as co-host of the Sanremo DopoFestival alongside Nicola Savino and Aurora Leone.

Federico Basso is currently on tour across Italy with the stand-up show Profilo basso, with dates continuing throughout the 2025-2026 theater season after his work on the Sanremo 2026 DopoFestival. He remains a regular on Zelig and Italian comedy TV, and tour announcements are posted on his Instagram.