Frank Matano

Francesco Matano (born 14 September 1989) is an Italian comedian, actor, and television personality who rose to prominence in 2008 by publishing prank videos on YouTube, and was among the first Italian YouTubers to surpass one million subscribers. Shortly following his online success, Matano eventually joined into the television industry.

Matano debuted on Le Iene in 2009, serving as an envoy and presenter. In 2015 and 2021, he respectively became a judge and competitor (later host) on Italia's Got Talent and LOL – Chi ride è fuori. During his career, he was a host on many TV series and comedy and talent shows, appeared in several web series and music videos, worked as a voice actor, and held several stand-up comedy shows and on theatre.

Early life and YouTube

Matano was born on 14 September 1989 in Santa Maria Capua Vetere, in the province of Caserta, to an Italian father and an American mother. He grew up in Carinola but studied as a teenager in the United States, where he graduated from Cranston High School East in Rhode Island. He briefly studied languages at the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio but did not take any exams.

In 2007, at the age of 18, Matano, also known as LaMenteContorta (The Twisted Mind), found success online with his YouTube channel in Italy, which rose to one million subscribers. He was among the most successful Italian YouTubers, alongside the likes of CutiePieMarzia (Marzia Kjellberg), Favij (Lorenzo Ostuni), CiccioGamer89 (Mirko Alessandrini), and Yotobi (Karim Musa). His videos consisted mainly of telephone pranks and social experiments; as of March 2025, his main YouTube channel had 1.3 million of subscribers, while his gameplay channel with Let's Play videos had around 800,000–900,000 subscribers between 2015 and 2020.