loader from loading.io

Haven’t Seen a Fazzino? You Should - Makes People Happy

The Debbie Nigro Show

Release Date: 04/12/2024

NYC Real Estate Agent NYC Real Estate Agent "Annie' Lenane Captivates Captive Audiences on 'Taxi TV'

The Debbie Nigro Show

When I first saw Ann Cutbill Lenane’s real estate ad on the screen in the back of a NYC taxi - I thought it was genius! Turns out it was. Taxi TV! Wow. Talk about a captive audience! Ann Cutbill Lenane is the ‘OG’ of creative real estate marketing in NYC. She was the first real estate person to take advantage of movie theater ad screens. Ann created ads for her luxury NYC properties to entertain movie goers while they waited in their seats for the movie to start in the days before movie seat reservations were a ‘thing’. She did that for 14 years before taking her “Annie Gets It...

info_outline
What is a Modern Husband? Find Out and Have a Happier Couple Life! show art What is a Modern Husband? Find Out and Have a Happier Couple Life!

The Debbie Nigro Show

My greatest joy is discovering somebody I wasn’t aware of who's doing something uniquely meaningful. That brings me to Brian Page. He is a Modern Husband. What does that even mean? Brian Page spent his career improving lives through personal finance education and he has now founded a platform called ‘Modern Husbands’ to help couples navigate their home as a team.   He and his wife have been married for over 20 years and have 3 kids. He says they’re an everyday dual income American family. For the early part of their marriage, Brian was the one working out of the house and working...

info_outline
My childhood neighbor invented that $10M ‘Honey Deuce’ cocktail that starred in the U.S. Open show art My childhood neighbor invented that $10M ‘Honey Deuce’ cocktail that starred in the U.S. Open

The Debbie Nigro Show

It really made me smile to see Nick Mautone from the old Mt. Vernon, N.Y. neighborhood all over the news during the U.S. Open. Not for playing tennis. Nick invented that now infamous signature U.S. Open "Honey Deuce" cocktail that took the media by storm this year. At $23 a drink, it generated about 10M dollars at The U.S. Open this year alone!   Nick Mautone invented the drink back in 2007 when Grey Goose hired him as a consultant to create a signature cocktail for the event.  Talk about a never-ending drink! Even Nick couldn’t believe the cocktail commotion he's caused....

info_outline
Could An Accidental Find in The Amazon Be The Holy Grail Solution to Acne & Anti Aging ? show art Could An Accidental Find in The Amazon Be The Holy Grail Solution to Acne & Anti Aging ?

The Debbie Nigro Show

Has Matty Schirle Really Created Self Esteem In a Bottle? If you read the reviews of Matty Schirles’ SkinKick line of skincare you might think they actually have created self esteem in a bottle. And You Likely Be Intrigued by an accidental finding in in Amazon by a scientist who went there for another reason   People are amazed at how quickly these Skinkick products clear their skin problems. We’re talking blemishes, acne, acne scars and rosacea. Pretty much any skin condition that might make a person not feel so thrilled about their looks.  Matty Schirle said,  ...

info_outline
Debbie Saviano Can Help You Maximize LinkedIn® For Your Business - Why YOU? show art Debbie Saviano Can Help You Maximize LinkedIn® For Your Business - Why YOU?

The Debbie Nigro Show

LinkedIn® is the only professional social media platform and the largest professional networking platform in the world. They have over 1 billion members many of whom are decision makers. Most of their users are in North America, followed by Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. I love it!  I connect with so many interesting people there like Debbie Saviano who’s a LinkedIn® pro. I want to learn how to maximize my LinkedIn® potential and thought some of you might want to as well. I’m always better at telling other people’s...

info_outline
Long Time Greenwich, CT Real Estate Guy Weighs in on 1st Realtors Commission Shakeup in 100 Years show art Long Time Greenwich, CT Real Estate Guy Weighs in on 1st Realtors Commission Shakeup in 100 Years

The Debbie Nigro Show

On August 17th, new rules rolled out that overhaul the way Realtors get paid to help people buy and sell their homes.   The changes are part of a $418 million settlement announced in March by the National Association of Realtors.   The changes end the ‘informal’ rules of a typical agent commission payout.   Now real estate agents across the country must sign upfront with prospective homebuyers what they’re willing to pay.   Historically the ‘sellers’ paid commission fees for both their own agent and the home ‘buyer’s’ agent. The typical commission has been 5...

info_outline
Gary Who Hired Me For My 1st Radio Job Came To Talk About The Importance Of Talking To Strangers show art Gary Who Hired Me For My 1st Radio Job Came To Talk About The Importance Of Talking To Strangers

The Debbie Nigro Show

Everybody Knows My Show Theme is "Risk It or Regret It!" Whatever IT is for YOU! So, I thought it would be fun to share how I risked getting my first paying radio job after college.   It’s a memorable story of driving in a thunderstorm at 11 o’clock at night after working all day at another job, to a radio station in an old house in Briarcliff Manor, NY where Howard Stern had worked, to audition for an immediate opening for a news reporter.   I invited the guy who called me the next morning to tell me I got the job as the news reporter for WRNW Radio, to come join me in...

info_outline
GOAT Necklace Designer Janet Heller Got the GOAT Free Global Commercial from Simone Biles show art GOAT Necklace Designer Janet Heller Got the GOAT Free Global Commercial from Simone Biles

The Debbie Nigro Show

Janet Heller made that now infamous GOAT necklace for Superstar Olympic Gymnast Simone Biles and the whole world went GOAT Crazy!  This year’s global commercial for a single piece of jewelry may in itself be the GOAT! The Greatest Of All Time! I got caught up in GOAT fever myself, and after watching the intricate making of Simone Biles 3D Diamond Goat Necklace on Janet Heller Fine Jewelry's Instagram,  I took a shot and sent a warm private Instagram invite to Janet Heller to join me on The Debbie Nigro Show. It made me smile and shake my head in a good way, that the...

info_outline
Openly Gray? Play on Words Caught my Attention. The Size & $ This Demos Holding Should Catch Yours. show art Openly Gray? Play on Words Caught my Attention. The Size & $ This Demos Holding Should Catch Yours.

The Debbie Nigro Show

I was curious where OpenlyGray.com was going when I saw a social media post about it from a business gal pal.  Was it a site for older people with Gray Hair?  Nope! I ‘got it’ and smiled. It’s way cooler than that! It’s a movement. It’s an attitude adjustment about aging! Lord knows we need one. Thanks to the longevity revolution we are in a unique time and place in history. Until now many in their 50's 60's, 70’s, and beyond believed it was time to stop. That isn’t the thinking of older adults today at all! I Invited Lee St. James and gal pal Brooke Stachyra...

info_outline
Is Dr. Roni a Magical Healer? A Modern Day ‘Mother Teresa’? show art Is Dr. Roni a Magical Healer? A Modern Day ‘Mother Teresa’?

The Debbie Nigro Show

People from all over the world with different chronic illnesses seek out  Dr. Roni DeLuz, RN, ND, PhD. Dr. Roni founded the Martha’s Vineyard Holistic Retreat in 1997 to help others discover the path to wellness that she herself achieved after years of debilitating chronic illness. You may know her from her NY Times Best-Selling book 21 lbs. in 21 days. Here’s how I got to know her and now share her story with you.    My buddy Tim and I were talking on the phone while I was driving when he asked, “So what are you doing today?” I told him I was heading to...

info_outline
 
More Episodes

I’ve been focusing on people who make the world a more beautiful place this week. People who through their work, their ethics, their integrity, their talent, their genius just makes it happier for the rest of us.

 

Charles Fazzino has been called one of the most famous pop artists in the world.

 

I've been a huge fan of his style of pop art since the minute I first saw it in a window decades ago in New York City. I would stand there and stare in the window amazed at every little intricate pop-up thing he thought of to make a piece come to life. Often because I was in NYC it would be NYC buildings and street scenes. But Charles does that for many cities around the world.

 

Charles likes to be called a pop culture historian. And I know he's got a bit of a sense of humor because of the way he does the layering of the pieces in his 3D art where he shows the best of pop culture and the best of people's lives in places and events around the world. And I do mean around the world. He’s become internationally renowned.

 

He gets commissioned to do pieces for the Grammys and The Olympics and The Super Bowl every year. When I saw his Super Bowl piece this year I was sparked to take a shot at seeing if he was around to join me on my show. We live in the same city but have never met.

 

I figured he’d say yes because I know he has a warm heart. He donates a lot of his pieces of art to help good causes raise money, one of which I personally helped auction off years ago at a charity function.

 

For those who still have never seen an unmistakable Fazzino work of art, I asked Charles to explain it to somebody in words?


“Yes, easy. I always tell people, if you're not looking at my artwork, or you're just seeing it online, or looking at it in a book or a magazine or whatever, it's hard to see the three dimensions. So, I describe it that it's kind of like a pop-out book, even a pop-out children's book, even though they're not, you know, children's artwork."

 

"When I was a kid, my mother was from Finland and she always collected these European pop-out books, and she had them all around the house.  My brother's sister and I were always enthralled with these cool pop-out books from Europe that were handmade, and she had hundreds of them.  So, when I went to school, I kind of, you know, I wanted to make a pop-out book and that's kind of like how it all started.”

 

Most of the time Charles is sitting at his desk and drawing artwork that touches many people young and old. The intricacy, the colors and the designs make people happy.

 

I asked him one of my signature questions.

How does your head work inside?

 

Meaning what is going on in his head all day long to be able to produce these kinds of unique pieces of work?

 

“Well, I think it's a lot of my if I was just an artist sitting in my studio drawing, I don't know if I'd have so many ideas as I do. And I can't even implement the idea. I get it, you know, it's just very, there's so many things I want to draw and so many things that I want to show through my artwork, but not enough time and not enough hours in the day to do it. So I think the travel, when I travel to certain places, it really gives me and opens up my eyes to a lot of the world. I always come back with new ideas. I always carry a little sketchbook. I have my phone at the ready whenever I'm traveling, taking pictures, and it helps and reminds me of what I saw and always gives me these new ideas. People always ask me, where do you come up with all these ideas? I say, well, a lot of it has to do with places that I go.”

 

One of his latest pieces pays homage to our oceans to bring awareness. It’s a departure for Charles artistically, because instead of drawing buildings he’s drawing sea life, and coral, and all the things that are under the sea.

“When you look at the piece, he says, “three quarters of it is ocean, but above the ocean, you'll look, and you can see cities from around the world and all of those cities that are impactful in our environment."



What about those helmets he does for the NFL?


“So many years ago, it was in 2001, when the NFL licensing committee asked if I was interested in commemorating Super Bowl because they saw what I was doing for Major League Baseball. And I was like, sure. They said, we'd like you to be our official artist. And I was like, sign me up. Sounds good to me. And I've been doing that now for 23 years.”


"They just continue to, you know, let me know where the venue is going to be and, you know, what I should draw and then, you know, how it should be depicted and so forth. And then I make their official poster every year. So many years ago, when I first started that, they sent me helmets in the mail and they said, see what you can do with these helmets and used equipment. And I received this huge, huge box. And it took me a few years to figure out how to make the three-dimensional drawings tick off and stick onto the helmets and make them look beautiful."


"So, I've been doing those for many years and we sell them and show them every year at whatever Super Bowl, wherever the city is that the Super Bowl is being hosted in. And we set up a whole collection of my helmets and so forth. And we do the same thing for Major League Baseball. I paint on baseballs and bats and batting helmets."


I love to be challenged and paint people's wishes.

 

Enjoy meeting Charles Fazzino in this podcast of our live conversation on The Debbie Nigro Show.