Born in Taranto, he grew up in Naples, where he moved with his family at the age of three. After his debut as a tourist entertainer, Covatta began his apprenticeship with the stage name of «Giobbe» in 1987 on the Odeon TV channel with the program Una notte all’Odeon and in 1988 he made his debut on Rai on Rai 2 with the program Tiramisù. The same year he appeared on television again on Rai 2 with Fate il tuo gioco and Chi c’è c’è, directed by Giancarlo Nicotra, twelve episodes with the Apulian Gianni Ciardo, broadcast from Milan. The following year we find him on Odeon TV, while in 1990 the turning point came and he found his springboard in the Maurizio Costanzo Show, which ensured him national fame.
In 1991 he made his debut at the Ciak theater in Milan with the opera ParaboleIperboli. In 1994, with the collaboration of Greenpeace, he created a show that deals with the protection of whales with the title Aria Condizionata, with the irreverent subtitle (“and the whales are pissed off…”). From 1995 to 1997 he was always on stage, first with the show Primate Assoluto, then he made his debut in Rome at the Parioli Theater with Io e Lui, a show written and directed with two other Neapolitan theater actors Vincenzo Salemme and Francesco Paolantoni, and finally with Art, where it is directed by Ricky Tognazzi. Great success at a national level is his Dio li fa e poi li accoppa, so much so that he was convinced to grant an encore with God makes them… Third millennium.
In 1993 he also made his debut on the big screen with Pacco, doppio pacco e contropaccotto, then continued with Camere da letto in 1997. In 1999 he was the protagonist in Muzungu – Uomo bianco. In the two-year period 2001 and 2002 he returned to the theater with the comedy Double Act at the Parioli theater and also reappeared on Rai 2, alongside Serena Dandini and Corrado Guzzanti, in the program L’ottavo nano. His passion for sailing led him to be a guest on Velisti per caso and to become a friendly sailing instructor on Vela spiego io, broadcast on the Sailing Channel for the Sky broadcaster. From 2003 to 2005 he was a regular guest for two editions of Gialappa’s Band programs Mai Dire Domenica, replicating sporadic experiences he also had in the past in the 90s by participating in some episodes of Mai dire Gol.
In his time he also had a lot of luck in publishing where his books always met with good success with the public. Already with the first book Parola di Giobbe, a retelling of the Bible, published in 1991, he hit the charts with one million copies sold. In 1993 and 1996 he published Pancreas – Transplant of the book Heart and Sex? Do-it-yourself!. In 1999 he returns with Dio li fa e poi li accoppa, from which he draws a theatrical show, where he revisits Creation and Flood. In 2001, Corsi e ricorsi, ma non arrivai, a theater show that bears the same title as a book published in 2005, was staged, while 2004 saw Melanina e Varechina, a show that addresses the relationship between Africa and the Western world.
In January 2007 he made his theater debut with Seven. The 2007/2008 season of Zelig, hosted by Claudio Bisio and Vanessa Incontrada, hosts Covatta on stage with a new character. In the summer of 2008 he took part in a television series produced by Mediaset, Medici Miei, in which he played Doctor Colantuono, head doctor at the Sanabel clinic. In January 2010 he was again in the theater with Trenta, a show dedicated to the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In March 2011, paired with Enzo Iacchetti, he performed the comedy Niente progetti per il futuro, with 87 performances in theaters throughout Italy. Since January 2012 he has brought 6° (six degrees) to the theater. Also in this case the number has a strong symbolic meaning: it represents the increase in degrees centigrade in the temperature of our planet.
