Social media sensation Gianmarco Soresi payed a visit to Playbill earlier this month to share stories from his new show, Theatre Adult, and pay tribute to the theatre kids that make up much of his audience.

The stand-up comic, known for his engaging crowd work, social satire, and turbulent performance style, is one of the hottest comics of his generation, selling out shows across the globe while raking in nearly 100 million likes on the TikTok account where he posts snippets of his routines—he also has 5 million likes on the TikTok account for his podcast, The Downside, which he co-hosts with Off-Broadway actor Russell Daniels (Titanique, Ginger Twinsies). Soresi credits his upbringing as a theatre kid as the foundation for his success today.

"I was someone who wanted to be on Broadway from the time I was a child," Soresi shared. "I used to dance in the living room with my parents ... I loved musical theatre. I was in every show every year; definitely one of the stars of the high school theatre program." He then wrkly jokes that he has a BA in musical theatre, "where the love was, uh, beaten out of me."

A disastrous audition for The Phantom of the Opera as a non-union performer put an end to Soresi's Broadway ambitions, but he could never wholly shake his true nature as a performer. Eventually, he wrote a show for the Edinburgh Fringe, which introduced elements of crowd work and audience participation to his life, lighting a fire that would blossom into his stand-up career.

With Theatre Adult, Soresi is returning to his roots. First presented in residency at the Public Theater's Joe's Pub, the show is Soresi's way of honoring the significant contingent of grown up theatre kids who make up his audience, presenting material that speaks specifically to the drama queen in us all.

"If I bring a pianist on stage to The Comedy Cellar, oh, I'm going to get a lot of flack from the other comedians. But Theater Adult, it's safe." As a part of the show, Soresi offers audience members an opportunity to reprise roles from their past, reclaiming their theatre kid glory days. "In the last one we did, we found a lawyer, and her last role was Sarah in Ragtime, and she said she hadn't sung since 2008. And I said 'Get on stage,' and she sang 'Your Daddy's Son' for the first time in well over a decade." Exclaims Soresi: "It was amazing."

While Theatre Adult promises plenty of positive catharsis, it wouldn't be a Soresi show without a little bite. "I'll ask people, 'What was the show you did that you would be cancelled for now.' I was in a production of Pacific Overtures in high school. I was actually the Japanese accent coach. I was a freshman. I had to earn my keep!"

Soresi also brings out performers who made the transition from theatre kid to theatre adult, grilling them with his own personal version of Inside the Actors Studio before launching into more songs, and a theatre game or two. "I do sometimes think the theatre world can be a little sweet and nice and Pollyanna-ish. This show is a celebration of loving theatre, but with the teeth of stand-up."

To see Soresi's full interview, including some truly memorable stories from the six different theatre themed summer camps he attended in adolescence, check out the video above. To learn more about Soresi, including future engagements of Theatre Adult, visit GianmarcoSoresi.com.