Alessandro Besentini and Francesco Villa met in 1992 at the CTA (Centro Teatro Attivo) in Milan, where they attended professional training courses and workshops, in view of a career in the artistic world; the duo “Ale and Franz” was officially formed in 1995. Their comedy, between the bewildered and the surreal, ranges from the mask to the clowning, from the comic to the tragic; in 2001 they won the “Political Satire” Prize in Forte Dei Marmi. In 2014 they accompanied the singer Enrico Ruggeri on the tour There was a German, a Frenchman and an Italian, which Ale played the acoustic guitar and Franz the keyboard.

It is only in 1995 that the duo takes the name of “Ale and Franz”, making their debut in the show From A to Z. Since then it has been a succession of successes for them, with participation in numerous TV shows including, in addition to Zelig, Seven Show, Pippo Chennedy Show, Mai dire Gol and Convenscion. In 2007 they are the protagonists of their first program as protagonists, Buona la prima! on Italia 1, where they play a subject based on impromptu suggestions from various guests. Between 2010 and 2011 they propose two programs based on short sketches and improvisation: Ale and Franz Sketch Show e A&F – Ale and Franz Show. In 2012 they took part in the television film Area Paradiso directed by Diego Abatantuono.

For the cinema, Ale and Franz have appeared among others in The big plum, All the men of the moron, Soap opera and A boyfriend for my wife, as well as being the protagonists of the films The third star and I trust you; they also voiced Alex and Marty respectively in the Madagascar film series. Did they publish the books And Larry? He is dead, have you been waiting for so long? and Ale and Franz live.

The asteroid 15379 Alefranz, discovered on August 29, 1997, was baptized in their honour on the proposal of one of the two discoverers, Paolo Chiavenna, longtime astronomer friend of the two comedians.