Renato Pozzetto and Cochi Ponzoni are an Italian musical and comedy duo who works as Cochi e Renato.
Ponzoni and Pozzetto were childhood friends, and they grew accustomed to perform together in front of an audience of friends and relatives.[1] [2] Their professional debut took place in 1965 in the small cabaret club Cab 64 in Milan, where they performed along with Lino Toffolo and Bruno Lauzi.[1] They were also joined by Enzo Jannacci and Felice Andreasi with whom they formed the comedy ensemble Motore, who had a good success in Milan.[1] The couple became first known in the late 1960s thanks to the RAI innovative variety shows Quelli della domenica (1968) and È domenica, ma senza impegno (1969).[1] [2] Characterized by a peculiar comic verve, filled with paradoxical and surreal moods, their popularity increased in the early 1970s with the variety show Il poeta e il contadino and with the participation with the musical show Canzonissima.[1] [2] The couple began to crack in 1974, when Pozzetto started devoting himself to a full-time film career.[1] After a long separation, Ponzoni and Pozzetto reunited in 2000s for a series of television and stage projects.[1]
Cochi e Renato were also very active as singer-songwriters (often with the collaboration of Enzo Jannacci), and they had several commercial hits;[3] [4] their most successful song is "E la vita la vita", which reached the first place at the Italian charts in 1974.[1] [4]