Sicilianu di Montreal – Nick Messina
Hilarious, authentic, and a true family guy; Sicilian-Montrealer, Nick Messina has become an internet sensation in just three years posting videos about one of the things that Nick knows best; being Sicilian. Anyone who has watched one of Nick’s YouTube videos or Instagram posts can see Nick is a down-to-earth guy with a passion for his Sicilian roots, and once you watch just one, you can’t get enough. They are truly hilarious and I’m sure his fellow Italians can agree they are definitely on-point when he transforms into the traditional Sicilian, speaking only in dialect throughout his day-to-day encounters.
Born and raised in Montreal’s east end, Nick grew up with his grandparents who spoke only Sicilian to him. As this was his first language, Nick learned all the expressions and terms exclusive to the dialect, including all the hand gestures which as we know are typical in many Italian families. As the traditions and way of speaking are all second nature to Nick, they make for some pretty funny material for the 36 year old’s segments.
“I knew we were Italian growing up but I always felt there was something different; I was growing up Sicilian!” says Nick.s
In March 2015 Nick posted his first video about why his grandparents would decide to immigrate to Canada seeing as our winters were so cold here in Montreal. The whole video was in Sicilian of course and poked fun at why anyone would want to endure our long and incredibly cold winters. That video received thousands of views and went viral.
Nick recalls that social media moment and what it meant to him: “At that moment I couldn’t understand why so many people found it to be funny; all I did was speak Sicilian. I continued posting videos on my channels and one day Frank Cavallaro, Montreal’s weatherman, contacted me about one of them. It was mid December 2016 and it still had not snowed yet which was very rare for that time of year, so I decided to post a video of myself cutting the grass in my backyard.” Frank put that video on his 6 o’clock news weather segment and that’s when I felt I was on to something.”
It wasn’t until meeting up with his good friend and graphic artist Luciano, that Nick considered branding himself and developed a logo. Deciding on his name was logical for him; being from Montreal and of Sicilian origins, “Sicilianu di Montreal” was born. For a while of posting only on You Tube and Facebook, he finally gave Instagram a try and it is quite possibly the best thing he has done. He started sharing pictures, then creating short funny videos of himself. As his audience grew larger, he realized there was quite a large Sicilian community in Montreal.
The increase in followers and positive comments encourage him to continue doing something he loves so much. When Sicilianu di Montreal hit one thousand followers, it was something he never thought would happen. Nick started it for fun with no expectations and just three years later he has over ten thousand followers. His followers keep him motivated to continuously be creative and create more comical videos. Nick is all about promoting happiness and positivity, uniting Italians, and keeping his Sicilian roots alive. His skits take you all around the city, into grocery stores, his mother-in-law’s vegetable garden, and even McDonald’s drive-thrus. They remind us to not take life so seriously and to stop and smell the cannoli.
Follow along for more of his adventures on Instagram: @sicilianudimontreal and YouTube: Sicilianu di Montreal[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]