Sebastian Maniscalco
Maniscalco in 2018
Born (1973-07-08) July 8, 1973
Arlington Heights, Illinois, U.S.
Medium
Alma materNorthern Illinois University
Years active1998–present
Genres
Subject(s)
Spouse
Lana Gomez
​
(m. 2013)​
Children2
Websitesebastianlive.com

Sebastian Maniscalco (/mænɪˈskælkoʊ/; Italian: [maniˈskalko]; born July 8, 1973) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. Best known for his physical comedy, Maniscalco has released six comedy specials. He has also had supporting acting roles in the films Green Book (2018) and The Irishman (2019), playing mobster Joe Gallo in the latter. He also played Frank Russo in the 2022 film Somewhere in Queens. Maniscalco co-wrote and co-starred in the 2023 film About My Father with Robert De Niro playing the role of his father.

Early life

Maniscalco was born on July 8, 1973, in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois, to Italian immigrants; his father Salvatore Maniscalco, who worked as a hairstylist, immigrated to the United States with his family from Cefalù, Sicily, at the age of 15. His mother, Rose Maniscalco, was a secretary, and her family has origins in Naples, Campania and Sicily.[1][2][3][4] Maniscalco is a Roman Catholic, and at eight years old, he was an altar boy at St. Cecilia Catholic Church in suburban Mount Prospect, Illinois.[5] He is an alum of Rolling Meadows High School. He graduated from Northern Illinois University in 1995, where he was the president of the Sigma Pi fraternity chapter, with a degree in communication studies.[6] After moving to Los Angeles in 1998, Maniscalco performed at open mics in bars and bowling alleys while working as a waiter at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, where he worked from 1998 to 2005.[7]

Career

In 2005, he began performing regularly at The Comedy Store in West Hollywood, California.[7] Maniscalco cites Jerry Seinfeld, George Carlin, Brian Regan, John Ritter, Johnny Carson, Andrew Dice Clay, Bill Burr, and Don Rickles as comedic influences.[8] Since then, he has done a half-hour for Comedy Central Presents and five hour-long specials. His first special, Sebastian Live, was released on June 2, 2009. His next three specials were aired on Showtime, with What's Wrong with People? released on January 5, 2012, Aren't You Embarrassed?, taped in Chicago, released on November 14, 2014, and Why Would You Do That?, taped in New York City and released in 2016.[7][9]

Maniscalco was one of four comedians featured in Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights – Hollywood to the Heartland, along with Ahmed Ahmed, John Caparulo, and Bret Ernst. Maniscalco has been on Russell Peters' Best Night Ever, Comedy Central Presents, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Jay Leno Show, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Conan, and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Additionally, he appeared in several films, such as The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature, The House, Tag, and Cruise, and he co-hosts a podcast titled The Pete and Sebastian Show with fellow comedian Pete Correale. As of January 2017, they have a show on Sirius XM satellite radio's Raw Dog Comedy channel 99. In 2016, Maniscalco appeared on the seventh season of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. He published his memoir Stay Hungry on February 27, 2018.[9] A Netflix special also titled Stay Hungry was released on January 15, 2019.[10]

In 2017, Maniscalco made his feature film debut in The House, and the following year he appeared as Johnny Venere in the Academy Award-winning film Green Book.[11] Maniscalco hosted the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards on August 26.[12] In November 2019, Maniscalco appeared in Martin Scorsese's The Irishman playing "Crazy" Joe Gallo alongside Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino. He also hosted the three-part companion podcast for the film, first published on December 2, 2019, titled Behind the Irishman.[13]

In June 2021, it was announced that Maniscalco will host a reality television show titled Well Done With Sebastian Maniscalco that premiered on August 12, 2021, on Discovery+ where he will be joined by friends and family to explore food culture and etiquette.[14] Four days after the premiere, the show was renewed for a six-episode second season that premiered on November 16, 2021.[15] In August 2021, during a podcast, he announced that he was a part of the cast of Illumination's The Super Mario Bros. Movie, playing the role of Spike from the game Wrecking Crew as Mario and Luigi's boss.[16]

Maniscalco's 5th comedy special, Is It Me?, was released on December 6, 2022, on Netflix. On May 26, 2023, About My Father was released in theaters, a comedy film Maniscalco co-wrote loosely based on his life and in which he co-starred with Robert De Niro, who played the role of his father.[17]

Comedic style

Called "the king of physical comedy," he is known for his "nostalgia" type of humor grounded in personal family experiences and delivered utilizing heavy physical and verbal variations.[18] Most of his material riffs on being raised in an old-school environment with an immigrant father, or just expressing his amazement at people's outlandish behavior.[19] Maniscalco says that comedy cannot be learned, it must be earned. It took him nearly 20 years to develop his "Can you believe this?" style of humor. He explained, "you don't become a bodybuilder the first day you start lifting weights. Same thing with comedy. You gotta flesh out your joke, your bit. You add and subtract. You see what works."[18]

Personal life

Maniscalco married Lana Gomez in August 2013. The couple have two children together: a daughter born in 2017,[20] and a son born in 2019.[21]

Filmography

Key
† Denotes films that have not yet been released

Comedy specials

Year Title Formats Studio
2009 Sebastian Live
2012 What's Wrong with People? DVD/Streaming Entertainment One
2014 Aren't You Embarrassed? Streaming Levity Productions
2016 Why Would You Do That?
2019 Stay Hungry Netflix
2022 Is It Me?

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2017 The House Stand-Up Comic
The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature Johnny Voice
2018 Cruise Dinardo
Tag Pastor
Green Book Johnny Venere
2019 The Irishman "Crazy" Joe Gallo
2022 Somewhere in Queens Frank Russo
2023 Spinning Gold Giorgio Moroder
The Super Mario Bros. Movie Foreman Spike Voice
About My Father himself Also writer
2024 IF † TBA Voice

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2004 Complete Savages Dance Club Manager Episode: "Almost Men in Uniform"
2021 Well Done with Sebastian Maniscalco Himself 13 episodes
2023 Bookie Danny Also executive producer

References

  1. ↑ Hyman, Dan (November 21, 2016). "Sebastian Maniscalco works like a dog to crack you up". Chicago Tribune. Illinois. Archived from the original on April 15, 2018. Retrieved July 27, 2017. ...the 43-year-old...Italian-American... Photo caption: "Comedian Sebastian Maniscalco, who was born in Arlington Heights...."
  2. ↑ "Sebastian Maniscalco: Comedy's Favorite Italian American". lagazzettaitaliana. August 2017. Archived from the original on February 25, 2019. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  3. ↑ "Un comico di origini cefaludesi fra i più bravi d'America: Sebastian Maniscalco" (in Italian). cefalunews.org. November 7, 2018. Archived from the original on August 13, 2019. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Piacere! An Interview with Comedian Sebastian Maniscalco". osia.wordpress.com. March 8, 2017. Archived from the original on August 13, 2019. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  5. ↑ Heffernan, Lisa (January 30, 2017). "Sebastian Maniscalco on Church, Clothes and Comedy". lipulse.com. Archived from the original on August 14, 2019. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  6. ↑ Richards, Eva. "Sebastian Maniscalco is Up for the Challenge". Northern Illinois University Alumni Association. Archived from the original on June 17, 2021. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  7. 1 2 3 Barton, Chris (October 20, 2016). "Comic Sebastian Maniscalco recounts his road from the Four Seasons to the Comedy Store (and beyond)". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 17, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  8. ↑ Maniscalco, Sebastian (March 27, 2012). "The Dennis Miller Show" (Interview). Interviewed by Dennis Miller. Archived from the original on February 11, 2015. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  9. 1 2 Shuttee, Vic (April 11, 2017). "Sebastian Maniscalco Laughs at the Serious Stuff". Houston Press. Texas. Archived from the original on December 20, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2017. ...the 43-year-old comedian...
  10. ↑ Wright, Megh (January 7, 2019). "Sebastian Maniscalco's Debut Netflix Stand-up Special Premieres Next Week". vulture.com. Archived from the original on February 25, 2019. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  11. ↑ Green Book (2018), archived from the original on February 19, 2017, retrieved January 31, 2019
  12. ↑ Clark, Anne Victoria (June 26, 2019). "Sebastian Maniscalco Is Hosting the 2019 MTV VMAs". vulture.com. New York. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2019. Yes, on Tuesday night's episode of The Tonight Show, it was announced that Maniscalco has been selected to host the 2019 MTV VMAs.
  13. ↑ Behind The Irishman Archived December 10, 2019, at the Wayback Machine – The official companion podcast from Netflix.
  14. ↑ Beresford, Trilby (June 17, 2021). "Comedian Sebastian Maniscalco to Premiere New Series on Discovery+". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on June 17, 2021. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
  15. ↑ Leiber, Sarah Jae (August 16, 2021). "WELL DONE WITH SEBASTIAN MANISCALCO Sets Season Two discovery+ Premiere Date". BroadwayWorld. Archived from the original on August 16, 2021. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  16. ↑ Ditchfield, Jaime (August 9, 2021). "Sebastian Maniscalco will voice 'Spike' in Illumination Super Mario movie". Nintendo Enthusiast. Archived from the original on August 9, 2021. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
  17. ↑ ""About My Father Classification details"". British Columbia Film Classification Office. May 23, 2023.
  18. 1 2 "Sebastian Maniscalco: Nobody does this… | Dolce Luxury Magazine". dolcemag.com. February 17, 2022. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  19. ↑ "Sebastian Maniscalco's unique comedic style poised to make him next big comedy star". Newsday. April 26, 2016. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  20. ↑ Juneau, Jen (May 15, 2017). "Sebastian Maniscalco Welcomes Daughter Serafina Simone". People. Archived from the original on September 18, 2018. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  21. ↑ Juneau, Jen; Leon, Anya (June 25, 2019). "It's a Boy! Sebastian Maniscalco Welcomes Son Caruso Jack". People. Archived from the original on August 8, 2019. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
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