Gianmarco Soresi, at heart, is a theater kid.

The Potomac, Maryland native attended the University of Miami for a degree in musical theater and performed in musicals while attending Georgetown Day School as a teenager, and the stand-up comedian returned to the DMV for four sold-out shows at the DC Comedy Loft Friday and Saturday as part of “The Leaning in Tour.” Soresi said he incorporates his theatrical style and experiences as a young thespian into his standup, but his path isn’t one he recommends for aspiring comics.

“It’s unfortunate,” Soresi said in an interview. “I really have turned against the idea of going to college for theater. I think you’re better off not going to college, frankly, or going to a two-year program in a major city.”

After graduating college, Soresi said he moved to New York with hopes of performing on Broadway.

Soresi said despite having a driver’s license, he “didn’t know how to drive,” making New York more appealing than Los Angeles for his budding career in show business.

“It is such a terrible shortcoming to not be able to drive,” Soresi said. “I think the only plus is it’s made me need to succeed in a way where I can have openers who drive me to shows.”

Stand-up comedian Liam Nelson performed an opening act for Soresi’s headliner tour last Friday, commenting on his experience growing up with Marfan syndrome, a genetic condition affecting body tissue. Standing seven feet tall, Nelson discussed life from his purview, his realization that after turning 18 he was eligible for the Make-A-Wish program and his experience with rollercoasters drawing concerns from bystanders.

In his pivot to standup following his “stalled” acting career, Soresi delivers punchlines as if as part of a theatrical performance, moving constantly around the stage and delivering zany, oversized expressions. His material chronicles his experience at theater camps, recalling his romantic exploits as a straight man in theater.

“I am straight, but I’m very theatrical,” he joked Friday.

Soresi faces head-on political subjects like transgender rights and lifetime appointments to the Supreme Court. His standup connects hot-button political issues like Medicare for All with online trends like the influencer Mr. Beast curing 1,000 blind people for a video.

“I have progressive views, but that doesn’t mean I’m a good person,” Soresi said.

While many of his jokes rest on their own logic or Soresi’s commentary, he frequently plays off of family members and romantic partners as characters. Much of his content centers on navigating his relationship with his parents, who divorced when he was a baby, and their new partners.

Soresi bounces around the stage throughout his set, continually referring to a wrinkled sheet of legal pad paper he refers to as his “positive affirmations” and taking off and putting on his glasses.

Soresi also chronicles his experience with anxiety, adjusting to his girlfriend’s night terrors and the anxiety of cultural Judaism “without the comfort of God.”

Though Soresi is now based in New York, he finds the two East Coast audiences similar in diversity, convening people from across the country.

“I feel like D.C., it’s a lot of politically literate people,” Soresi said. “Which helps with some political jokes where they know more, laugh harder.”

Soresi said the District is one of the earliest cities where he performed a headlining act, inviting high school and middle school friends and former teachers home for the holidays to attend his 2018 show.

Soresi, who has more than 630,000 followers on TikTok, said his jokes naturally fill the platform’s 60-second time limit. He said this allows him to use the app to continue building his fanbase.

He said the platform influences him to write material more pertinent to topical news because he can release it with a short turnaround time. He said the tendency may hurt standup in the long run, as time spent on topical content takes away from time on evergreen material that can be used in a performance.

“Every comedian will complain about social media, but it’s given us an autonomy that we didn’t have before,” Soresi said.

Soresi, who struggles with depression, said “the adrenaline rush” of standup jolts him into a joyful worldview.

“I do always fear the day when I get that laugh and I don’t feel the joy,” Soresi said.