{"id":983,"date":"2026-06-14T09:11:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T09:11:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=983"},"modified":"2026-06-14T09:11:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T09:11:35","slug":"teaching-an-old-don-new-tricks-how-skinny-joey-merlino-went-from-wiseguy-to-influencer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=983","title":{"rendered":"Teaching an old don new tricks: How \u2018Skinny Joey\u2019 Merlino went from wiseguy to influencer"},"content":{"rendered":"
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At noon on a bright June Tuesday, the scene at Skinny Joey\u2019s Cheesesteaks & Pizza on the Wildwood boardwalk felt more like a South Philly block party than a soft opening.<\/p>\n

Read more Fans celebrate ahead of the first Wold Cup match in Philly<\/a><\/p>\n

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Joseph \u201cSkinny Joey\u201d Merlino worked the crowd at his new shop \u2014 hugging, shaking hands, posing for photos \u2014 moving easily among his friends and admirers. At 64, five years removed from the criminal justice system, the onetime alleged head of Philadelphia\u2019s underworld is enjoying a second act that few could have predicted: cheesesteak entrepreneur, podcaster, and social-media personality.<\/p>\n

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Orbiting him with a phone and a grin was Joe \u201cLil Snuff\u201d Perri Jr. \u2014 30 years his junior \u2014 Skinny Joey\u2019s collaborator and the man who helped set him up with a new career. While customers lined up out front for steaks, slices, photos, $35 hats, and $25 T-shirts, Perri was shooting clips for social media.<\/p>\n

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Their partnership has transformed Merlino from a flashy, polarizing tabloid fixture into a flashy, polarizing Instagram-age brand. Merlino provides the mythology, while Perri supplies the algorithm. <\/p>\n

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Symbiotically, they are building an unlikely enterprise. Merlino gives Perri access, credibility, and a bigger stage. Perri gives Merlino comic relief, social-media fluency, and a way to be seen as entrepreneurial rather than simply infamous as a reputed former mob boss.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWithout me, there\u2019s no him,\u201d Perri said. \u201cWithout him, there\u2019s no me. It\u2019s just a good mix.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A \u2018mob media\u2019 moment<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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George Anastasia, who covered organized crime for more than 30 years at The Inquirer and now teaches an organized-crime course at Rowan University, said Merlino\u2019s new career fits a broader moment in mob media. <\/p>\n

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Former wiseguys, associates, historians, and fans now gather in a true-crime subculture known online as \u201cMobTube,\u201d where the lore is packaged into YouTube shows, Patreon feeds, podcasts, clips, and merch.<\/p>\n

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Merlino has lived the story that fuels the genre. One of Philadelphia\u2019s most recognizable organized-crime figures, Merlino was convicted in 1990 for his role in a $352,000 armored truck robbery in 1987. <\/p>\n

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In 2001, he and six co-defendants were tried on federal racketeering charges, including three counts of murder and two of attempted murder. Merlino was acquitted on those counts, but served about 12 years on other charges, including gambling and extortion. A supervised-release violation briefly returned him to prison in 2014, and a second major racketeering case ended in 2018 with a guilty plea to a single illegal-gambling charge after a mistrial. In a separate trial in 2004, he was acquitted of the 1996 killing of Joseph Sodano, an underling in North Jersey. Merlino completed federal supervision in 2021, but he\u2019s been banned from New Jersey casinos since 1988 and from Pennsylvania casinos since a 2016 incident at the former SugarHouse Casino.<\/p>\n

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And Merlino has made it no secret that he is different from many of the former figures who populate the MobTube genre. Unlike Sammy \u201cThe Bull\u201d Gravano, John Alito, and Jimmy Calandra, Merlino never cooperated with prosecutors.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe saw guys who cooperated come back and become media sensations,\u201d Anastasia said. \u201cAnd I think he got [annoyed] that these are all guys who, in his view, violated the code, and now they\u2019re making money on that old life. He did his time as a stand-up guy. \u2018So [to heck with that] \u2014 I\u2019m going to make money, too.\u2019 And he created this brand.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Perri helped make that legible to a younger audience.<\/p>\n

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\u201cLil Snuff is part sycophant and part guide,\u201d Anastasia said. \u201cHe\u2019s the one who, in a lot of ways, sets the flow. Joey is going to be Joey, but somebody has to keep bringing him back to the point.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The rise of Lil Snuff<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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Before he was Merlino\u2019s co-host, Perri was Lil Snuff.<\/p>\n

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The nickname came from his father: As a 10-year-old, Joe Sr. turned around when a cousin was calling for a dog named Snuffy. Boom. He was Snuff. When his son was born at Methodist Hospital in 1992, Snuff became Big Snuff.<\/p>\n

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As a teenager, Lil Snuffbussedtables at Stogie Joe\u2019s, the Saloon, and Fitzwater Cafe. At 18, he joined the stagehands union. At 21, he got a job at Mall Chevrolet in Cherry Hill. The older salesmen had relationships and repeat customers. Perri\u2019s mentor told him that he needed a lane.<\/p>\n

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A post shared by Mall Chevrolet (@mallchevy)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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It was 2013, and social media was beginning to reshape promotion. Perri started making his own brassy, unscripted commercials. \u201cSelling Chevys for less\u201d became his tagline. <\/p>\n

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He also made videos about gambling and food, his two passions. He was not famous, but he was visible in the South Philly-to-South Jersey social media corridor where restaurants, sports, betting, family, and neighborhood identity blur into one feed.<\/p>\n

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At the same time, Perri said, he was abusing pills. In 2014, at 22, his parents found him a rehab center in South Florida. To make sure he got there safely, they called a family friend whose Italian restaurant in Boca Raton had recently opened:<\/p>\n

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Joey Merlino.<\/p>\n

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\u201cMy father grew up with his grandfather,\u201d Merlino said, explaining the bond. \u201cI grew up with his father. I\u2019ve known him since he was born.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Perri said it took several attempts before recovery stuck. He has been sober since Sept. 11, 2016. \u201cI\u2019m big with recovery,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s the main thing in my life. I put sobriety first and then everything after that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Merlino\u2019s \u2014 where Merlino was maitre d\u2019 because his legal situation then precluded ownership \u2014 closed in 2016, just before the feds arrested Merlino at his home in Boca in the lead-up to his second racketeering case. \u201cIf I didn\u2019t have this trouble, it would still be open,\u201d Merlino said earlier this month.<\/p>\n

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After Merlino attained freedom in July 2021, producers called with movie, television, and book deals. Merlino turned them all down. \u201cNothing seemed right,\u201d Merlino said. Someone brought up the idea of a podcast.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI didn\u2019t even know what that was,\u201d Merlino said.<\/p>\n

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His friend Raymond \u201cWags\u201d Wagner explained the concept and suggested a loose format built around food and sports betting. Actor Kevin Connolly of Entourage<\/i> fame, who was involved early as a producer, told Merlino that he needed a co-host.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThey said, \u2018Who would you want?\u2019\u201d Perri said. \u201cThey were sending him people, and he was like, \u2018I\u2019m not doing nothing with these people.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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Then Ray Wags suggested Perri.<\/p>\n

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\u201cJoey was like, \u2018100 percent. Get him on the phone,\u2019\u201d Perri said. \u201cKevin Connolly said, \u2018Send me your videos.\u2019 I sent him my videos, and he said, \u2018You\u2019re the guy.\u2019 The rest was history.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The world of \u2018MobTube\u2019<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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Merlino and Perri launched the video podcast in 2023. Viewers are not just watching Merlino talk about the old life. They see him bust Perri\u2019s chops about eating too much and mock his parlays. They get gambling tips, watch them interview athletes and celebrities \u2014 all part of a South Philly generational comedy.<\/p>\n

Read more Phillies\u2019 bats come alive with 17 hits, bullpen hangs on in 9-8 win over the Brewers<\/a><\/p>\n

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Perri describes it in family terms. \u201cMy dad\u2019s my dad, but he\u2019s also my best friend, too,\u201d Perri said. \u201cWe gamble together. We go out together. We have fun together. So they see me and Joey as that, and they can\u2019t figure out how we mix so good.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe\u2019s good,\u201d Merlino said. \u201cI\u2019m old, he\u2019s young. He talks good, he\u2019s funny. He\u2019s a pain in the balls, but it\u2019s a good fit.\u201d<\/p>\n

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They began The Skinny<\/i> podcast on YouTube, but now focus more on Patreon, where the content is unfiltered. And better monetized. Perri says The<\/i> Skinny<\/i> has 1,600 Patreon subscribers paying $15.95 a month. He said their social-media pages combined average 30 million views a month.<\/p>\n

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A post shared by JOSEPH MERLINO (@skinny_joey_merlino_)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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Perri\u2019s wife, Danielle, handles bookings and schedules. \u201cI produce,\u201d Perri said. \u201cI cut the clips. I do everything. It\u2019s me and Joey. Two-man show.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A wider audience<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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When they started, Perri was still selling cars at Mall Chevrolet. But the now-shuttered dealership got tired of people showing up hoping to see Merlino instead of test-driving a Suburban.<\/p>\n

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Perri quit. The show grew.Merlino\u2019s reinvention has coincided with a broader shift in the gambling world. Legal sportsbooks, now ubiquitous on television and online, have largely supplanted the corner bookmaker, turning an activity once associated with organized crime into a mainstream consumer business. Guests span sports, hip-hop, gambling, and entertainment, including Wallo267, Fat Joe, Ric Flair, and Bernard Hopkins.<\/p>\n

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Each booking widened his audience, and Merlino was being absorbed into a broader celebrity ecosystem.<\/p>\n

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Last October, Netflix released Mob War: Philadelphia vs. The Mafia<\/i>, a docuseries revisiting the violent 1990s power struggle between John Stanfa and Merlino\u2019s younger faction. It steered even more viewers to Merlino and Perri\u2019s world. <\/p>\n

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\u2018Skinny Joey,\u2019 wit\u2019<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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Then came the cheesesteaks.<\/p>\n

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One night, Perri, Merlino, and friends were playing poker. Merlino wanted cheesesteaks. Perri said he\u2019d make them.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe\u2019s like, \u2018You can\u2019t make cheesesteaks,\u2019\u201d Perri said. \u201cI said, \u2018Are you nuts? I\u2019ve been making them my whole life.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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Perri cooked some. \u201cHe was like, \u2018This is the best f\u2014 cheesesteak ever,\u2019\u201d Perri said. \u201cHe said, \u2018Let\u2019s open up a cheesesteak place.\u2019 I said, \u2018All right. Call it Skinny Joey\u2019s Cheesesteaks.\u2019 And that was it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The first shop opened in March 2025 at 3020 S. Broad St., near the sports complex. From the start, Skinny Joey\u2019s was more than a sandwich shop. It was a set. The shop leaned into Merlino\u2019s notoriety; the sandwiches are wrapped in a collage of newspaper articles about his past.<\/p>\n

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Celebrities showed up: Jason Kelce, Landon Dickerson, Mack Wilson. A customer eating a cheesesteak was good content. A recognizable person eating one on camera was better. <\/p>\n

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The restaurant also became a magnet for the kind of drama that fuels digital engagement: online beef. Podcaster Gene Borrello, a former Bonnano crime family associate and Merlino antagonist, weighed in last year on an apparent feud between Skinny Joey\u2019s camp and Frank Olivieri of Pat\u2019s King of Steaks. Merlino and Perri had taken issue with a video posted by Olivieri \u2014 whose great-uncle invented the steak sandwich \u2014 in which he chided shops that chop the meat on the grill. Like most online food feuds, this seems to have subsided.<\/p>\n

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Then came the deal for Wildwood, where Skinny Joey\u2019s replaced Joe\u2019s Pizzeria, which had been on the boardwalk at Magnolia Avenue for 15 years. There, Skinny Joey\u2019s added pizza and stromboli, which are not sold at the South Philadelphia location. <\/p>\n

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The pizza recipe comes from Vito\u2019s on Haddonfield Berlin Road in Cherry Hill, and the stromboli from Pizza Shack at 15th and Oregon in South Philadelphia, both owned by Skinny Joey\u2019s business partners Stephen Casasanto and John Fioravanti, whom Merlino also described as longtime friends.<\/p>\n

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More locations are planned. Perri said a Boothwyn shop is expected around Sept. 1, and several others are in the pipeline. <\/p>\n

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Bypassing the gatekeepers<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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Merlino is an extreme case of a recent phenomenon. People with complicated histories \u2014 criminal, scandalous, controversial, or simply overexposed \u2014 no longer need traditional gatekeepers to reintroduce themselves. They can speak directly to followers and monetize the attention.<\/p>\n

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Perri is not a journalist, of course, or a publicist, exactly. He is not merely a manager, producer, or sidekick. He is something in between \u2014 a new kind of local media operator.<\/p>\n

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He knows the scene, and how to make content feel unscripted even when the business behind it is deliberate. He is close enough to Merlino to bust his chops and deferential enough to preserve the hierarchy. He can translate Merlino to younger audiences without making him seem managed.<\/p>\n

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Perri softens Merlino without sanding him down. Merlino still curses, rants, and mocks rivals. Anyone they disagree with is a \u201cbedbug.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cAt the end of the day, Joey isn\u2019t going to change who he is for anybody,\u201d Perri said. \u201cIf he can\u2019t talk the way he wants to talk, what\u2019s the point?\u201d<\/p>\n

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That is part of the appeal and part of the discomfort. The audience knows Merlino\u2019s history. They may see him as funny, defiant, loyal, misunderstood, or simply entertaining.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere\u2019s a segment of the American population that has always been fascinated with the outlaw: Billy the Kid, Jesse James, Don Corleone, Al Capone,\u201d Anastasia said. \u201cWhat the internet has provided is: Here are these guys in their own words. Are they being genuine? I don\u2019t know. You can say that about any personality. But here\u2019s a look at them without any filter.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The filter used to be people like Anastasia.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI was, in a lot of ways, the middleman between the people who were interested in this and the guys who were doing it,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd people who are interested in this don\u2019t need the middleman anymore. They just go online and listen to whoever they want to listen to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Jalen Brunson pours in 45 points as Knicks close out Spurs for first NBA title since 1973<\/a><\/p>\n

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For decades, Joey Merlino was one of Philly\u2019s most infamous figures. Then Joe \u201cLil Snuff\u201d Perri handed him a mic and a second act. 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