Rodolfo Mancuso (born February 28, 1991) is an American

Internet personality An Internet celebrity (also known as a social media influencer, social media personality, internet personality, or simply influencer) is a celebrity who has acquired or developed their fame and notability through the Internet. The rise of social m ...

, musician and actor. He is known for making comedy skits with his friends on YouTube and

Vine A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themsel ...

having 10.6 million followers by the time it shut down making him the 4th most followed Viner and being behind many voices in the YouTube channel, Awkward Puppets.

Early life

Mancuso was raised in

Glen Ridge, New Jersey Glen Ridge is a borough in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough’s population was 7,802, reflecting an increase of 275 (+3.7%) from the 2010 census count of 7,527,

, the son of an Italian-American father and a Brazilian mother, along with a sister, Marianna. He attended

Glen Ridge High School Glen Ridge High School (GRHS) is a comprehensive six-year public middle school / high school serving students in seventh through twelfth grades from Glen Ridge, in Essex County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary schoo ...

and Rutgers University Newark. He lived in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

for a while and speaks Portuguese fluently. He started playing the piano at the age of five. Mancuso was diagnosed with synesthesia.

Career

Mancuso started his

channel in 2013. He was often known for his Hispanic characters as well as his IRL videos. Mancuso's partnered with Shots Studios to create videos and launched his YouTube channel in 2016. He has been featured on Comedy Central's '' Drunk History'' and HBO's ''Outpost''. He also starred in YouTube Red's ''Keys of Christmas'' along with Mariah Carey and

DJ Khaled Khaled Mohammed Khaled (born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ, record executive, record producer and rapper. Khaled first gained recognition as a radio host in the 1990s on the radio station 99 Jamz, a ...

. ''Awkward Puppets'', a puppet series on the YouTube platform, is owned by Mancuso and Shots Studios. Mancuso was the opener for

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...

Purpose World Tour The Purpose World Tour was the third concert tour by Canadian singer Justin Bieber, in support of his fourth studio album '' Purpose'' (2015). The tour started on March 9, 2016, in Seattle, Washington, and concluded on July 2, 2017, in London, ...

in Brazil's section of his Latin America shows in 2017.

Dolce & Gabbana Dolce & Gabbana (), also known by initials D&G, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1985 in Legnano by Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. The house specializes in ready-to-wear, handbags, accessories, and cosmet ...

invited Mancuso to walk in their Milan Men's

Fashion Week A fashion week is a fashion industry event, lasting approximately one week, where fashion designers, brands or "houses" display their latest collections in runway fashion shows to buyers and the media. These events influence the upcoming fashio ...

Spring/Summer 2018 show on June 17, 2017. Mancuso performed and presented an award at the 2017 MTV Millennial Awards in Mexico. In July 2017, Mancuso performed at Villa Mix, in

Goiânia Goiânia (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Goiás. With a population of 1,536,097, it is the second-largest city in the Central-West Region and the 10th-largest in the country. Its metropolitan area has a population ...

for two consecutive days. On October 6, 2017, Mancuso released his first single, "Black & White," in collaboration with songwriter/producer

Poo Bear Jason Paul Douglas Boyd, better known by his stage name Poo Bear, is an American songwriter, singer, and music producer. He is best known for being one of Justin Bieber's main collaborators, having co-written many of Bieber's hits (including " ...

. On October 7, 2017 Mancuso performed at the Villa Mix festival in São Paulo. Mancuso's next single, "Mama", was his first video single without a featured artist. The video, directed by Mancuso, featured Chantel Jeffries, evoked "odd nostalgia", according to ''Billboard''. Mancuso also released an original song coloration with Alesso to the latter's channel. In 2018, Mancuso directed the music video for Lele

Pons The pons (from Latin , "bridge") is part of the brainstem that in humans and other bipeds lies inferior to the midbrain, superior to the medulla oblongata and anterior to the cerebellum. The pons is also called the pons Varolii ("bridge of Va ...

' debut solo single " Celoso" and the music video for Alesso's single "REMEDY." Mancuso also directed the music video for O.A.R.'s single "Miss You All The Time" which was released October 2018. Mancuso collaborated with fellow comedian and musician

Simon Rex Simon Rex Cutright (born July 20, 1974), is an American actor, rapper, comedian, and former model. Rising to fame as an MTV VJ, Rex later became an actor known for '' What I Like About You'', starring in three films of the ''Scary Movie'' f ...

for the video "Storytelling" which was released on his channel July 2018. In September 2018, Mancuso joined O.A.R. at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado for a performance. Mancuso and fellow Shots Studios artist Lele Pons hosted the 2018 Hispanic Heritage Foundation Awards show. The two performed Pons' "Celoso," with Mancuso playing the instrumental on the piano. In September 2018, Mancuso released his fourth single, "Lento." In October 2018, Mancuso released "Superhero Therapy" with

Lele Pons Eleonora Pons Maronese (born June 25, 1996), better known as Lele Pons, is a Venezuelan YouTuber, actress, and singer who holds both Venezuelan and American citizenship. Pons came to prominence on Vine before the platform shut down in 2017 w ...

, Anwar Jibawi, and

King Bach Andrew Byron Bachelor (born June 26, 1988), also known as King Bach is a Canadian-American Internet personality and actor who rose to fame on the now-defunct video sharing service Vine, where he had 16.2 million followers, making him the most fol ...

. The video is the most recent installment of his super hero series, which has over 68 million views total. In November 2018, Mancuso both performed and received an award at the 2018 ALMAs. The award was presented by fellow

Shots Studios Shots Podcast Network is a podcasting company founded by brothers John Shahidi and Sam Shahidi. The company was originally founded as a software development company named Rock Software in 2009, creating mobile games along with YouTube channels ...

star Alesso. He also performed a cover of Queen's You're My Best Friend in support of Netflix's

Bohemian Rhapsody (film) ''Bohemian Rhapsody'' is a 2018 biographical musical drama film directed by Bryan Singer from a screenplay by Anthony McCarten, and produced by Graham King and Queen manager Jim Beach. It focuses on the life of Freddie Mercury, the lead singe ...

and the Mercury Phoenix Trust which was released to his YouTube channel. Mancuso also hosted the 'Concert for Tommy's Field', a charity event held at the Orpheum Theater in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. Performances included

Bryce Vine Bryce Ross-Johnson (born June 16, 1988), known by his stage name Bryce Vine, is an American rapper and singer from Westlake Village, California. He ventured into a career of music in 2011 when he auditioned for ''The Glee Project''. A year later, ...

, and others. Mancuso has produced sponsored videos working with companies such as

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, f ...

and

Clif bar Clif Bar & Company is an American company that produces energy foods and drinks. The company's flagship product, CLIF Bar, was created by Gary Erickson and Lisa Thomas. The company is based in Emeryville, California and was privately held until ...

which blend music and comedy. He also appeared in a video with basketball star Stephen Curry for Brita water filters.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Filmography

Music videos

Film

Series

Television

References

External links

* * *
Rudy Mancuso
on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

Rudy Mancuso
on

Kinopoisk Kinopoisk (russian: Кинопоиск, a portmanteau of "cinema" and "search") is a Russian online database of information related to films, TV shows including cast, production team, biographies, plot summaries, ratings, and reviews. Since 2018 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mancuso, Rudy 1991 births Living people People from Glen Ridge, New Jersey American people of Italian descent American people of Brazilian descent American Internet celebrities Glen Ridge High School alumni Male actors of Brazilian descent American emigrants to Brazil Vine (service) celebrities Brazilian American Brazilian comedians