The Boston Globe
Tommy Guarino (left) and business partner and costar Chad McDonough Jr. (right) shoot most of their videos from New Deal Fruit deli in Revere. Josh Reynolds for The Boston Globe
updated on November 14, 2024 | 10:45 AM
Chad McDonough doesn’t especially enjoy cooking.
But when he was a kid, he would sit in the kitchen with his grandmother as they cooked together. “Quick, easy meals,” he called them, like English muffin pizzas or sausage, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwiches.
They lived in a low-income apartment building in East Boston, and his grandmother used food stamps to help buy groceries. He lived with her from the day he was born until she died in 2016. His father was in jail, and his mother was recovering from heroin addiction. They weren’t in the picture much, except for when McDonough would visit his dad at Christmas or make the occasional stop by his mom’s house.
McDonough’s best childhood memories are the moments with his grandmother, playing basketball with over-the-door hoops around the apartment. They’d watch the Red Sox play the Yankees and celebrate every win. They revered Tom Brady. Their relationship, he said, is the “biggest blessing” of his life.
“I know there’s a lot of kids out there that definitely went through the same stuff I went through,” McDonough said. “You really can’t do anything but figure out a way to maneuver and keep living life.”
He turned his ambivalence for cooking into a livelihood alongside one of his closest childhood friends, Tommy Guarino. The pair met in 2005 at a police summer camp when they were 5 years old, and they graduated from high school together. Now they’re business partners — and brothers.
Tommy Guarino and Chad McDonough at the 2005 police camp where they met. – Chad McDonough
Now 24, they have nearly 2 million followers on TikTok combined. Guarino considers himself a “Boston content creator” on Instagram, shooting videos he feels accurately depict the Boston way. He’s had his account since September 2020 and quickly garnered hundreds of thousands of followers, so he dropped out of college to pursue content creation full time. McDonough, who goes by Prosciutto Papi, costars in Guarino’s videos and puts out recipes on his own platform.
They have worked with Mark Wahlberg, starred in a Dunkin commercial with Matt Damon and Casey Affleck, and performed live with Apple TV in July. Together, they founded the media company “It’s Content” in January 2023. They have big goals — TV, movies, and the like — but they have never strayed far from their roots.
“We’re just two kids from the city, very humble beginnings, and looking to — I don’t want to say, make it out of here — but make it out of here so we can shed light positively on Boston so people can see how Boston is,” Guarino said.
Their content follows the quintessential advice to create “what you know.” They play characters Bostonians recognize: “Union guys,” sports fans, and even some inspired by popular movie characters. The setting couldn’t get much more Boston, either. Most of their videos are shot in New Deal Fruit, a popular deli in Revere that encapsulates the East Coast. It’s been around since 1964, and now-owner Yano Petro said it’s stayed in the family since its inception.
Tommy Guarino (left), who posts his video comedy sketches and podcasts under the brand name It’s Content, with his business partner and costar Chad McDonough Jr. – Josh Reynolds for The Boston Globe
“The deli is such a relevant thing in this side of the country, especially like Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, it’s so relevant to everybody,” Petro said.
Guarino and McDonough started the deli series in April 2023, and Petro was initially a skeptic. They’d shoot during the day, with real Bostonians in the background and all the chaos of an East Coast deli captured. “It was [expletive] hectic,” Guarino laughed, “but we did it again and again and again.”
Soon, Petro realized “these kids are onto something.” While Petro said their content hasn’t necessarily driven more customers, it has increased the deli’s own social media engagement. Some folks even came into the deli for the first time to try the Prosciutto Papi sandwich that was briefly on the menu.
“Their content just resonates with a lot of people,” Petro said. “The characters that they hit are very relevant on a day-to-day basis. Especially in Revere, the union guys are a big demographic we have.”
A classic Italian sub at New Deal Fruit in Revere. – Devra First
While they play boisterous characters, fans they meet are almost always surprised by their quiet nature, Guarino said. They both consider themselves massive introverts — Guarino loves seeing movies by himself — and they enjoy watching a game together at home.
“We have some really good trust where egos won’t get in the way, and I don’t think money will get in the way,” McDonough said of their relationship. “He’s my brother. It’s more than a friendship.”
They both view comedy as a form of escape. While much of Guarino’s childhood is filled with positive family memories, there are still things he can’t unsee. “Money was always a big deal,” his uncles were “in and out of prison,” and many of the people he grew up with ended up in the wrong circles at school.
Shooting mini-movies on his dad’s video camera gave him a way to cope. TikTok, in many ways, has rekindled that childhood joy for storytelling.
Tommy Guarino and Chad McDonough Jr. rehearse a scene. – Josh Reynolds for The Boston Globe
“Comedy and making jokes of things to lighten the mood is always how I communicate with people, and how my friend group and family communicate,” Guarino said. “It’s the Boston thing. People who grew up in the city, with similar traumas, we have to make a joke out of it.”
Beyond the creative outlet, learning the business side of social media has boosted Guarino’s confidence. When he started out, he was uncomfortable asking businesses who wanted to partner with him for compensation. Now, he knows what he brings to the table, how to ask for a fair wage, and how to ensure his work gets valued.
“I just built the confidence from experience and getting rejected and hearing certain conversations where I didn’t negotiate good,” Guarino said.
Tommy Guarino (left) and Chad McDonough Jr. – Josh Reynolds for The Boston Globe
Their upbringing, hometown pride, and desire to make a difference drive what Guarino and McDonough do. “What I’m trying to do,” Guarino said, “is inspire others.” When he hears a video brings someone joy on a bad day, he feels like he’s made it.
While they have dreams of expanding to long-form content and continuing to work with Wahlberg on projects, they want to make a sizable impact on their community, and inspire others to change their own lives. McDonough’s biggest goal, perhaps, is to get to a point where they can be guest speakers at Boston public schools, and show kids what’s possible.
“You just gotta be a good person,” McDonough said. “If, when we’re actually making movies, I want to come back and explain how you just gotta keep going. Like, I want East Boston kids to know don’t let anyone ever tell you you can’t do something, because in the world we live in, people need hope.”
