Jimmy Durante was a vaudevillian Italian-American singer, pianist, comedian, and actor whose gravelly speech and jazz-influenced songs were made all the more prominent because of his large nose he referred to as a “schnozzola.”

Along comes the new Wizard of Schnoz, Erminio Pinque. Artistic director and founder of an inside-outside theater troupe of supersized puppets, Pinque derived the name “Big Nazo” from his early days of performing on the streets of Italy in the 1980s. Since each character had an exaggerated nose, fans shouted “Grande Nazo!” translated to “Big Nose” and it’s stuck ever since.

Inka dinka doo!

Big Nazo has evolved into an internationally renowned chaotic conglomerate of stand-up comedy, stunts, hysteria, professional wrestling, live rock music, and above all—improvisation and audience interaction while making a spectacle of themselves.

That Big Nazo waxes bizarro is plain as the nose on our faces. Enrique Pinque sums up Big Nazo as basically art imitating life. Beneath the alien masks and costuming, the inventive language manifested by shouting to each other and the audience amidst all the romping, serves to convey that life is unpredictable and erratic so let’s not take it for granted.

No two characters are alike which emphasizes the unique differences between human beings. Big Nazo’s high jinx loosens and involves the audience with the intent of encouraging an appreciation for life’s absurdities, a tolerance for differences, and fostering an acceptance of going against rigid beliefs. Because much of their repertoire is not physically attractive, the actors overcompensate their personalities to make their characters likeable.

Pinque stresses that Big Nazos never reveal their identities by “taking their head” off at the end of the show. Yet, it is not out of the realm of possibility for a character to take its head off to reveal another one underneath!

As the Big Nazo troupe does extensive traveling, their rare forms must have tough hides. These supersized puppets are made of foam covered with spray adhesive and latex. Features are then added with acrylic and latex paint. In between gigs, the puppets are packed into large duffel bags. Though it might not be feasible for most of us to catch their act in Europe, you can book them locally, or saunter inside the Big Nazo Lab which passes muster for theater without the price of admission.

Since The Nazo Lab “Creature Creation” program utilizes the talents of students enrolled at the Rhode Island School of Design, you’re bound to see masks, costumes, and puppets transformed into foam Nazo characters before your very eyes. You’ll also be at the epicenter of experimental theater games, dance movements, and improvisational storytelling techniques as the students ready themselves to perform at schools, colleges, and community centers.

In 2012, Big Nazo Lab creators made a "girth suit" for use at Women & Infants Hospital in Providence. Gail Connolly, the Safe Patient Handling coordinator at the hospital, contacted Big Nazo because she could not find a satisfactory suit on the medical market. The large rubber-suit puppet-makers used their skills to make a versatile suit for in-house training regarding safe patient handling. Since the introduction of the suit, Big Nazo Lab has been enlisted to make more suits for use in the medical industry nationwide.

A tour de force to reckon with, not only is the Big Nazo Lab noted for its production of surreal and supersized puppets, but their creative influence has also reached gargantuan proportions through designing constructions for theatrical productions and television commercials.

No exaggeration, native Rhode Islanders and nearby out-of-towners should follow your nose to the Big Nazo Lab on 25 Fulton Street across from City Hall in Rhode Island’s capital city of Providence. Nose around artists creating masks, props, and mutant puppets that are supersized, surreal, grotesque, and outrageous. You might fit right in—a costume—that is.