Giovanni Petitti has always considered Brantford home and has fostered his love of the community by giving back to it as a teacher, comedian, and local TV host.
Petitti, who was born in Italy, moved with his family to Brantford when he was only two-years-old and has always felt a sense of community here.
“I came to Brantford when I was quite young…. My earliest memories of growing up in Brantford was being in this ethnic community with a lot of people who were Italian and Portuguese [and who were part of the] working class. It was a very positive experience [and] there was definitely a lot of love. There was always a sense of family [and] community…it was the type of neighborhood where if you did something wrong, your parents knew about it from somebody else’s parents,” Petitti noted. “My father always thought that Brantford was an excellent place to live; I have nothing but fond memories [and have] always felt blessed growing up here.”
Petitti, however, growing up, had to deal with something that would help him grow as a person.
“I had a speech impediment when I was younger [so], I didn’t really talk much, though I wished I had…but I did observe a lot which helped me in many ways…after high school, I went to college for a year and was in a program that just really wasn’t for me. Then I went off to university [and] during my first year, I found out about a competition which was sponsored by Molson’s. It was to find the funniest person from all the different universities,” Petitti explained. “My roommate suggested that I do it….[and] I dismissed it at first. But the prize [for the university] was a party, so everybody in the dorm was pretty keen on the possibility of having one. They talked me into it, and I was glad I did it because that really changed my life.”
Supported by his classmates and friends, Petitti decided to throw his hat in the ring; the results helped him develop a passion for comedy.
“I wrote [my material] in the shower in about seven minutes…it was mostly about growing up in an ethnic family in an Italian neighborhood. Before I went on, I was really nervous… realizing that other people had been doing this for quite some time…but I wound up winning,” Petitti said. “I went on to perform at different campuses around Southern Ontario. The highlight was [that] we got to do this big show with Eugene Levy for Global Television. All the winners got together, and we had a little production which was fun. So that’s how things got started with comedy for me.”
Petitti went on to do stand-up comedy for a whole, doing shows across Ontario in cities like Toronto and Hamilton before getting married and becoming a teacher, a career path which he has relished. This, however, led to another life-alternating opportunity.
“I was a high school teacher at the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board for 30 years. I recently retired and had a fantastic career. But during my time as a teacher at St John’s College I did cooperative education [where I helped students] find internships. I developed a good relationship with one of the placements which was Rogers TV, “Petitti said, ”Then one day out of the blue during a Victoria Day weekend somebody from the station called me to say that a host was ill, and he couldn’t make it in at the last minute. It was for a show called ‘Swap Shop,’ where people would call up and sell their items live on TV. I was extremely hesitant at first as I had never done live television before but the person on the line was pretty insistent. He eventually talked me into doing it.”
While Petitti thought his TV debut would be a disaster, he quickly took to it and enjoyed hosting the show.
“I’ll never forget my first caller. She was selling a fish aquarium and we talked about her fish and [how we had the same one]. From there I filled in a couple more times when the host couldn’t make it. At some point, they asked me to be the permanent host and I accepted it,” Petitti reflected. “It’s one of the most rewarding community experiences I’ve ever been part of…it wasn’t just about helping people make a little extra money by buying and selling their things. It’s about people looking forward to calling in, and talking about their lives and sharing their stories.”
Petitti, who has been a host at Rogers TV for almost two decades, recounts one particular story that has stuck out in his mind for a long time.
“There are some heartwarming stories I will never forget [like the time] I was in downtown Brantford, and a woman approached me…she told me that her mother loved my show. I told her to say hi to her mother for me. And then I learned she had passed. The woman explained that towards the end of her mother’s life, I was the only person that made her laugh when she watched the show. It’s those moments where I realize the impact that something like this small community television channel has on people,” Petitti said. “I still get people who see me in the community who roll down their windows and they’ll scream, ‘Swap Shop!’ It was about a seven-year run and it was a fantastic experience. I had some great memories meeting and talking with so many people and working with many incredible volunteers.”
After Swap Shop, Petitti got a chance to continue at Rogers TV, hosting a new show.
“The next show they gave me, which was very flattering, was called ‘Giovanni and Me.’ I would go and interview people where they work [and] where they would play…I visited a female bodybuilder in one episode [and] she took me through some of her workouts…I also went to the butterfly museum and had a chance to cook with other guests who made their favorite recipes,” Petitti said. “That lasted until COVID hit so we couldn’t go out into the community anymore, so my producer, David Aguiar had this brilliant idea to do a quiz show which was filmed out of my basement. We did everything remotely. We did trivia questions [and] had a lot of jokes and fake answers and we did that for about five years.”
Most recently Petitti has hosted ‘Not Tonight’ which just wrapped its first season, which has given him a chance to connect with a wider array of people from the Brantford community and beyond.
“We’ve had some incredible guests. We’ve had psychics, ghost hunters, and a dance troupe who taught me how to dance. We’ve had people who were promoting their podcasts [as well as] local entrepreneurs. It’s been a lot of fun [and] so far, people have been really receptive to the show,” Petitti explained.
Along with TV, comedy and teaching, Petitti has been involved in other aspects within the community including a special initiative which has helped him reflect on how important Brantford is to him and countless other people.
“I was approached by the Brant Historical Society with a great idea of highlighting the history of all the different ethnic communities in Brantford. They did the Jewish, Italian, and Chinese communities and the most current one they are doing is the Armenian community,” Petitti stated. “I was flattered that they would reach out to me and ask me about my experiences growing up in Brantford….I remember many people in the community who helped us, and it was great to tell those stories and to be a part of that which was extremely humbling. Brantford has given me a lot [and] has given the Italian community and all these other communities here so much… so I think it’s really important [to tell those stories.]”
