Vittorio Angelone | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1996 or 1997 (age 29–30) Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Education | Guildhall School of Music and Drama |
| Occupations | Comedian, writer, podcaster, actor |
| Years active | 2018–present |
| Known for |
|
| Website | Official website  |
Vittorio Angelone is an Irish comedian, actor and writer from Belfast. He is known for exploring cultural identity through his work.
Angelone was born in Belfast to an Italian-Irish family. He relocated to London at the age of 18 to train as a classical percussionist at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Angelone began performing stand-up comedy in 2018. During the COVID‑19 pandemic, he built a significant online following—amassing hundreds of thousands of followers across social media platforms, including 200,000 followers on Instagram. In 2020, having moved back to his home in Belfast at the beginning of the pandemic, Angelone hosted a comedy club in his back garden, with the audience limited to 30 people due to social distancing regulations.
In 2021–22, he debuted his hour-long stand-up show Translations, which explored his experiences as an Italian-Irish person in London. The show, whose structure was loosely based on the play of the same name by Irish playwright Brian Friel, was nominated for Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards in 2022. Angelone went on to perform the show in a run at the Soho Theatre in early 2023 and, after another run at the Edinburgh Fringe, released the show on YouTube in September of that year.
Angelone's comedic voice centres on identity and belonging. He describes himself as "always Irish, sometimes Northern Irish, but never British", and highlights the nuances of performing jokes that "ruffle a few feathers, but with warmth and kindness".
Since 2023, Angelone has co-hosted the podcast Mike and Vittorio's Guide to Parenting, alongside fellow Irish comedian Mike Rice. Neither host has children, and the content of the podcast is unrelated to parenting.
In 2024, Angelone began touring his second solo show, Who Do You Think You Are? I am! The show explores themes of identity, and is inspired by bowler Pete Weber; the title is derived from Weber's viral celebration of his victory at the 2012 U.S. Open. Angelone has linked the show's exploration of identity and "external perception" to his experience of learning that he may be autistic, he received this diagnosis after his tour ended; he also frequently discusses this topic on his podcast.
In 2025, he made his acting debut in the short film Rewarding, starring alongside Seána Kerslake. After his rape 'joke' controversy in 2026, a BBC spokesperson commented ahead of the sitcoms premiere 'we are aware of the concerns that have been raised and are actively considering them'.
In January 2019, Angelone appeared as a contestant on the Channel 4 game show Countdown.[citation needed] In November 2025, he competed on Richard Osman's House of Games and became the third contestant in the show's history to win all five episodes of his week. In March 2026, his appearance on The Last Leg alongside former Conservative minister Penny Mordaunt made headlines when he joked that she was "very supportive of the prosthetics industry" because she had been "promoting on Twitter an arms fair in Saudi Arabia". In August 2026, he appeared as a panelist on Unacceptable.
Angelone has been diagnosed with autism and ADHD.
In October 2026, Angelone received public backlash after a rape and incest joke targeted towards English OnlyFans creator and influencer Rebecca Goodwin on Adam Rowe's Have a Word podcast, amidst her ongoing sexual assault trial. After the segment gained significant traction on social media platform TikTok, Rape Crisis Northern Ireland and Dublin Rape Crisis Centre both made public statements criticising the remarks, explaining that his comments 'contribute to a culture in which rape and sexual violence can be trivialised' and that 'anyone with a public platform has a responsibility to consider the harm this kind of material can do, to treat sexual violence as a joke betrays a deep lack of understanding of what survivors have lived through'.
In a statement posted on Instagram, Angelone acknowledged that he should not have made the joke, describing it as unfunny and saying that his behaviour had been "pathetic" and his “need for validation” had superseded his standards and morals. He stated that he was ashamed of his actions and had directly apologised to Goodwin, while offering an apology to everyone “rightly upset” by his remark. He also said that his apology was not intended to make the controversy subside but that "that’s what you should do when you realise you’ve done something wrong" and pledged to do better in future.
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