Chucky Bartolo (born Andrew Bartolo; 5 July 1993) is a Maltese stand-up comedian and drag queen.[1] Currently based in Glasgow,[2] his career breakthrough came as a writer and journalist[3] for Lovin Malta after years of garnering a small following on YouTube as a vlogger.[4] Bartolo is openly gay and uses his platform to speak out against hate speech[5] and fight for reclamation of derogatory slurs.[6]
Since November 2018, he has written and starred in four stand-up specials,[7][8][9][1] and was the closing speaker of TEDx University of Malta's 2019 edition, 'Quirks'.[10] In 2018, Bartolo also starred as the Dame in Malta's National Theatre (Teatru Malta)'s first pantomime[11] and returned to the role in 2019[12] and 2020. To comply with COVID-19 safety regulations, the pantomime was moved to air on select national radio stations[13] and is the only one taking place on the island in 2020.
In 2020, Bartolo also collaborated with the Government of Malta's Children's Festival, Żigużajg, to put on a digital show encouraging children to write creative stories and bring a modern twist to old fairytales.[14] The digital programme was then brought to Malta as a live theatre production of the same name, "Fab Fantasy Fables with Chucky", in 2022.[15]
Bartolo will be the narrator and voice-over artist of the first-ever season of reality TV drama Love Island Malta[16] which aired in 2023.
In September 2023 Bartolo hosted and performed at EuroPride 2023's official drag show, The Drag Spectacular, in Valletta.[17]
References
- 1 2 "Chucky Bartolo: What's in the bag?". MaltaToday.com.mt. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
- ↑ MaltaDaily (2023-04-04). "Chucky Bartolo announced as Love Island Malta narrator". Malta Daily. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
- ↑ "Lovin Malta's Chucky Bartolo One Of This Year's JCI's 'Global Goals Awards' Winners". lovinmalta.com. 27 October 2017. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
- ↑ "Master of YouTube". Times of Malta. 10 March 2014. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
- ↑ "New Maltese Fashion Brand Fights To Reclaim Homophobic Slur". Lovin Malta. 2019-07-06. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
- ↑ "Watch: An assault rifle bullet... the cure for a gay man". Times of Malta. 19 February 2019. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
- ↑ "** Gag Order **". www.chuckybartolo.com. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
- ↑ "One Sweaty Lady – One-Man Show | Malta Society of Arts". Archived from the original on 2018-11-13. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
- ↑ "Tolqueen Stand-Up Comedy Show | Gay Guide Blog". Gay Guide Malta. 2019-03-08. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
- ↑ "TEDxUniversityofMalta Is Back: Here's A Look At The Five Amazing Speakers For This Year's Event". lovinmalta.com. 28 March 2019. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
- ↑ "Teatru Malta's Dame Miss Ħuta". Times of Malta. 26 December 2018. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
- ↑ "L-Imbuljuta – A Panto in the Dark". Retrieved 2019-10-27.
- ↑ "Teatru Malta's panto over the radio". Times of Malta. 16 December 2020. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
- ↑ "A fabulous set of stories". Times of Malta. 27 November 2020. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
- ↑ "Fab Fantasy Fables with Chucky". ŻiguŻajg. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
- ↑ Mifsud, Terrence (2023-04-08). "Drag Queen and Comedian Chucky Bartolo to Narrate Inaugural Season of Love Island Malta". Oh My Malta. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
- ↑ "Drag Spectacular by Chucky Bartolo". GayMalta.com. Retrieved 2023-10-01.