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- [00:02]
Sebastian Maniscalco
You're listening to DraftKings Network.
- [00:27]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Hello and welcome to South Beach Sessions. You know, I like talking to the stand up comedians and very few are better than this guy. He's been doing it a long time and I'm a big fan of his. He's got a new special out. It ain't right November 21st on Hulu. You're still out here doing it. You're still out here crushing it. Sebastian Maniscalco with us. So where are you right now with the grind of the comedy tour? Are you still every bit as hungry as you have been because you're now also an Academy Award winning film person?
- [00:57]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Well, I got three shows left from the tour and then I'm off for a long period of time because after these tours end, I just need time to a recharge, reset and then live life a little bit so I could extract material from life. So it's been a grind. But we're coming to an end here within the next two weeks. I got three more shows all at casinos and then got the holidays off. Gonna spend it with my family. Gonna be out in Florida for Thanksgiving and then Christmas here in Los Angeles.
- [01:36]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
I should tell the people. SebastianLive.com is where you go if you want tickets and tour dates. Is it the same for you as it's always been in terms of the grind of the comedy tour? Because when you say you have to recharge and go back to living life so you can have material for the next tour, you've been on this particular treadmill for a long time.
- [01:55]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Yeah. So it has definitely gotten harder as the years progr. The way I look at it is my material has to be greater to or equal to whatever the hell you saw the last time I was in town. And if that dips, I feel the audience leaves and goes. Similar to sports. Don't got it no more, you know, not gonna pay a hard ticket price. See a guy who's not at the top of his game. So as life progresses, as my career progresses, it becomes harder and harder for me to come up with material that is. Cause I don't want to go out there and just half ass it, you know, just for the sake of going on a tour. I want to go out there and give people. Because the way I look at it, it is a business. People spend hard earned money to come out and see you perform. They get a babysitter, they park the car, they make a night of it. And I want them people to leave saying, wow, can't wait till he Comes back. I want to take friends and family.
- [02:50]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
The pressure of that, though, would be pretty extraordinary, I would think, to have to feel like you have to continue to top yourself when generally speaking, I think and say this comedy doesn't age well. It doesn't seem to have affected you very much. But most people aren't doing this into their 60s, 70s, and 80s. Well, not that you're that age yet.
- [03:09]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Yeah. Listen, I hope I am able to perform, you know, in my 60s, 70s, and 80s. I'd love to do that, but, you know, hey, my act is very physical. I'm moving around a lot. I don't know who's gonna come out when I'm 80 years old and I could barely get to the stage.
- [03:29]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
But you're saying you'd still love to do, huh? Like, you love it that way so much that you're. It's something that you can envision wanting that deep into your life.
- [03:39]
Sebastian Maniscalco
When I don't do comedy, I'm not in a good mood, put it that way. So this is very therapeutic for me to go up there. Like, I just had a fight with my wife yesterday, and how I deal with that is I make comedy out of it. So I can't wait to get to a comedy club this week to present that. Actually, I'm gonna be in Boston this week doing a charity event, but there I will maybe sprinkle some of the argument material in to see if it goes. So the way I look at these things, whatever happens that's traumatic in my life, whether it be whatever, a disagreement with your wife, a death, an illness, I try to make humor out of it. It's how I grew up. I come from a family that we were laughing at funerals, you know what I'm saying? It was like, it's the only way we could cope with the. The disaster of what had happened was to find a morsel of humor in it. So, yeah, I find that this definitely is my career, but also helps me kind of filter a lot of things that happen in my life.
- [04:45]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
I imagine that your wife probably catches you in the middle of arguments, processing how you're going to make it material.
- [04:52]
Sebastian Maniscalco
No, it's not even happening in the moment because in the moment, it's not funny. It's not. It's like, I'm not, like, sitting there going, this is gonna be great for the stage. I'm trying to figure out, how am I gonna win this thing?
- [05:04]
Co-host or guest commentator
But it's like, that is not the way. If you're still trying to figure out how to win, you're gonna lose for the rest of your life. That's terrible.
- [05:12]
Sebastian Maniscalco
If you don't win arguments. Yeah, I get it. But. Or at least make my point or something. I mean, I'm not sitting there looking at the funny of it at all. But, you know, you let that marinate for 24 hours, you get up the next day, and then you got like, oh, okay, this was funny. That was funny about it.
- [05:32]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
I'd like for these to be biographical. So take me back before working seven years as a waiter at the Four Seasons, which I want to get to take me back to a traditional Italian household, what you're growing into and where the funny was coming from.
- [05:48]
Sebastian Maniscalco
So I grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, a place called Arlington Heights. I had a father who was a beautician, a mother who was. Sorry, not beautician, he's a hairstylist. He gets upset when I say beautician. And then a mother who worked at elementary school as a head secretary and grew up in a fairly normal household. I mean, as normal as you could get. I mean, a lot of entertainment types, you hear a lot of these stories of single parents or a lot of like, maybe drug use or abuse or whatever. It seems like the upbringing is a little volatile. I grew up in a loving home. There was no darkness. There was, you know, everybody was laughing and goofing around. I had parents. My parents got divorced when I was in my late 30s. So it was a different kind of trauma for me later on in life rather than growing up. But I felt like I had a normal childhood. I went to school, you know, they told me to get good grades and grew up in a middle class family. And nothing that would suggest that I was gonna get into the entertainment business. Although I knew at a young age I loved stand up comedy in school. When they asked what you want to be in second grade? I said to comedian.
- [06:58]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
You told your grandparents that in second grade, right? It wasn't flippant?
- [07:02]
Sebastian Maniscalco
No, no, I was serious. Cause I used to watch Johnny Carson with my parents and I was fascinated with the comedians when they come on. Oh, my God. How do you remember? I usually, like, get excited. I don't know why. I just got excited when they came on and used to love to laugh. I was going to comedy clubs when I was 16 years old. Not to perform, just to watch. A lot of kids were going to the high school basketball games. I was going to the local comedy club with the girlfriend I had at the time, and we sat in the back and laughed so it was always kind of in the fabric of growing up. But, you know, growing up in a house, I did. I didn't know how to get into this business. I had nobody in the entertainment world. I went to college. I wanted to quit my first year of college. And I told my father, you know, this is not for me. I want to go to Los Angeles and be a comedian. And he right away said, just settle down, get your degree, and then you could do whatever you want after you graduate. So I did, and I came out here when I was 24 years old. It's funny that we're even here. Next door used to be a place called Dublin's. It was a Irish bar. And on Tuesday night, they used to have comedy upstairs. And it was the hottest comedy scene in LA at the time. This is 19. It was about 2000. Right next door was like, the Dane Cooks were born. I remember going. That's where I met Vince Vaughn, next door, who I later became, was in a movie with him called the Vince Vaughn Wireless Comedy Show. So, yeah, it's ironic that we're here today just because I spent a lot of time. Across the street was a place called Miyagi's, which is a sushi bar that used to have comedy, I think on Wednesday nights. Used to perform on the bridge. There's like a little bridge. And used to perform on the bridge to people who were eating sushi.
- [08:48]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
So it's not that far from the Comedy Store. You're talking about factories right here. Yeah, but you're talking about something a little smaller, a little grittier.
- [08:57]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Yeah, this is like. This is where this was my gym. These places right here. Going night in, night out, working out the material, you know, dealing with hecklers. Or you would go to the Comedy Store down the street and you'd be scheduled at 9:45. And then Eddie Griffin would walk in and perform for an hour and a half. So the whole lineup would get bumped. But I stayed. You know, a lot of people get. Say, I'm not gonna stay. I'm like, I gotta stay. Because the way I looked at it was, I don't know who's gonna be in the audience. And number two, I gotta work out my material. I remember one night, it was dead at the Comedy Store. A comedian who has passed away since his name is Freddy Soto went up on stage and there was, like, I don't know, 13 people. And Marc Anthony walked in with his group, saw Freddy Soto, and from that night brought Freddy Soto on the road to open up for him. So it's like, you take a night off in this business, you never know what the hell you're missing. So that's the mentality I had, you know, kind of navigating the comedy scene in Los Angeles in the late 90s, early 2000s, and then, you know, 2005, it kind of started making a living, you know, thousand dollars a week or what have you.
- [10:07]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Tell me about the bowling alleys.
- [10:09]
Sebastian Maniscalco
So the bowling alleys, this was in Manteca, California. Again, a lot of people that have a comedy. Oh, we're gonna do a comedy night. They just think they could throw it up wherever to. You know, this commie's gonna work everywhere. Which not necessarily is the case. You know, you need lighting, you need stage, you need, like, not bowling pins.
- [10:29]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Crashing. Yeah.
- [10:30]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Well, this was a double. This is a double whammy. This was. I performed in a boxing ring with a bowling alley behind me. So it was like the fact that we were in a boxing ring with fresh blood from the night before on it, and then behind me, someone's picking up a spare. But, you know, that's how you. It just like anything else, you know, you got to work your way up to the better rooms.
- [10:55]
Co-host or guest commentator
But probably not going to open for Mark Anthony from there.
- [10:58]
Sebastian Maniscalco
No, no, no. Those opportunities were. I remember it was 100 bucks they were giving us. And they give you an hour worth of time to do. Because locally you only get 15 minutes. It's hard to work an act out for 15 minutes. You know, you need a good hour.
- [11:13]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
To kind of play around, especially if that ball hog Eddie Griffin's gonna show up.
- [11:18]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Yeah, especially in la, where, you know, you had a lot of celebrities popping in and out. You know, that would be, you know, Chappelle or Chris Rock or whoever that would like, you know, they don't put their name on the list. They just pop in and do their time and then leave. So, yeah, you had to go to Manteca in a boxing ring to get an hour's worth of time. So, yeah, that was. But it's all good. You know, it all builds character. It all builds.
- [11:39]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
You say that now when you're in it.
- [11:42]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Well, I'm in it. I was having a ball. I'm like, I'm doing what I came out here to do. I'm doing comedy. Right? Yeah. I was working at the Four Seasons, which is also down the street as a waiter, but anytime away from being a waiter, I was like, you know, happy we weren't getting paid. But $15 a set here, it's not about like we were paying the bills of what we were making. Although $15 did put gas in the car back in the late 90s. But you know, it's not like we were getting rich doing these spots around town.
- [12:09]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
What does the family think as you're hustling your way, trying to make it and you know, I don't. Maybe you're enjoying it and maybe it feels like success because anything that's not waiting tables is success. But does the family think you're on your path toward your dreams?
- [12:25]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Yeah. Family was extremely supportive leaving Chicago. I come from a family where you would think they would be a little reluctant about having their son get into the entertainment business. Based on how I was, where I was brought up and the, you know, kind of close knit Italian family. I mean, you don't, you know, very rarely. I think now more than ever it's very, very common for someone to say I'm getting into the entertainment business. Right. Because now everybody with a camera is all of a sudden Scorsese or doing something right, or somebody with a microphone thinks they are a broadcaster or what have you without maybe putting the time in. I mean, you know this, you're like a student at a game. It's like you kind of worked your way up. You didn't just turn on a microphone and all of a sudden you had access to the world. You know, you might have had to work your way into the ESPNs of the world, right. It's like you didn't get that handed to you. So, you know, it's something to be said about. It was a long shot back then, but God, my family was so supportive and saying, listen, if you think you could do this, go out there and give it your all or behind you. There was one hiccup I had where I think it was five years in. I called home and I got a little emotional telling my father and my mother at the time. She was like, what's wrong? I said, I just. When do I start making money at this thing? When's it going to happen for me? And it's okay. You need to be patient. It's hard to not look around and see everybody succeeding and then you're not. You're on your own kind of timetable and it's difficult to kind of just laser focus on what you're doing and put your head down and hopefully your turn will come. But a little discouraged at that time, wasn't thinking of quitting at all, but just discouraged. And my family kind of helped me through that.
- [14:14]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
What was happening Then take us back there, because obviously you've arrived at something that probably exceeds your dream.
- [14:22]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Back then, I was not happy working at the Four Seasons Hotel because I was waiting tables. And the grind of going into work, dealing with very demanding clientele was definitely wearing thin on my patients.
- [14:42]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
You don't seem like the type that would be great at customer service if rich people were being assholes. Like, that seems like something you eating. It just. I mean, I'm doing observation from over here, but you having to eat, that probably wasn't good for your mental health.
- [14:57]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Yeah, no, it was a lot of angst there. I wanted to provide five star, five diamond service. However, my. And actually, I look back at the way I waited tables now, and I'm actually disappointed in my behavior because not that I was a bad waiter. I was just not very friendly. I had, like. I don't want to say a chip on my shoulder. I just had, like a. Coming from the northwest suburbs of Chicago, I never was a problem. When I went out, I was always a please, thank you guy. You know, if my fries came out cold, I never sent it back. You know, I was always like, just, you know, roll with the punches type of guy. And then here I'm put into an environment where a customer is telling me that the wine glass is not. The brim is not thin enough to rest on her lips. I was gonna.
- [15:48]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
You know.
- [15:51]
Sebastian Maniscalco
It was hard to pill. To swallow that. That type of attitude. But. But looking back, I wish I was a little bit more present with the amount of opportunity around me to learn about wine and liquor and food. I remember, you know, one of. One of these top chefs from Napa coming in and giving, like, a seminar of how to. Like, how you would make this, that and the other thing. And at the time, I wasn't interested in cooking. Now I love cooking, but I'm like, I'm not gonna listen to this guy. I want to do standup. So I wish I was a little bit more open to learning back then, because I did have a lot of opportunity to do so.
- [16:33]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
What else do you remember? About seven years of waiting tables? Because that's waiting for it a pretty good amount of time. I don't know how many of your peers had that kind grind, but there would be good reasons to doubt within that.
- [16:47]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Yeah, the way I looked at it, I was never a couch surfer. I was like, you know, a lot of. A lot of people come out here with $12 in their pocket, and they live on somebody's couch for three months and then pop over to it. I didn't want to do that. I want my own place. I wanted to have a little scratch to walk around and buy stuff. So I wasn't going to. Well, I did actually leave the job for a little bit to go sell satellite dishes for Dish Network in the ghetto. So that was a. I was. I was slinging satellite dishes for DISH Network on Martin Luther King Boulevard in.
- [17:30]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
God.
- [17:30]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Where is it? Baldwin Hills. At the Baldwin Hills Mall in a kiosk. So selling satellite dish subscriptions out of a kiosk because I was so sick or tired of working as a waiter. And then I went into severe debt doing that because I wasn't selling anything.
- [17:47]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
You were bad at it or just there were circumstances that made everybody would be bad at it.
- [17:53]
Sebastian Maniscalco
I don't think anybody could have been good at.
- [17:57]
Co-host or guest commentator
That job.
- [18:00]
Sebastian Maniscalco
During that time. You needed a credit card to qualify for the service. And a lot of people that were shopping at that mall did not have a credit card to qualify. So I couldn't even get people in the door. But I would go to home shows, you know, try and sling my wares at home shows and sales and service.
- [18:19]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
These don't seem to be as personable as you are. They still don't seem to be the kind of businesses for you because you do wear this chip on your shoulder in a way that I wouldn't say necessarily unfriendly, but not necessarily welcoming, the way that customer service and sales required.
- [18:34]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Yeah, well, I see it's tough to hear that.
- [18:40]
Co-host or guest commentator
I'm informing you of this. You weren't aware of it.
- [18:42]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Well, I gave you the sales part of it, but the hospitality part of it. Again, I think in the environment that I was in at the time, I wasn't flourishing in the hospitality business just because I had other interests. But now, I mean, I would love to open up a small boutique hotel because I love hotels and I love, like, you know, I'm the type of guy. I go to a hotel and I see something that they do. I'm gonna incorporate that in my own life, or I'm gonna do that when somebody else comes over to my house. I think that's a nice touch. So.
- [19:15]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Oh, I think you'd be great at it now. But there are assortment of things that you have to learn that I imagine you weren't prepared to learn in your twenties, hungry and trying to make it.
- [19:25]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Yeah, I mean, although I started working in the hospitality business at 16 at the Olive Garden, I was working as a waiter there. I was working at Marriott hotels in the banquet rooms. I mean, so hospitality and customer service has always been in my, you know, in my blood. But it's just at this level in Beverly Hills, it was a little bit of a shock coming from Chicago.
- [19:49]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
So what happened? You run back to the thin lipped woman who wants her glass a certain way at the Four Seasons because you went into debt?
- [19:57]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Yeah, I go back to the Four Seasons because I needed money and my father bailed me out. I was $10,000 in debt. My father gave me 10 grand, but I had to pay every cent back. And he was so meticulous about keeping track of what I owed him on a pizza napkin. I remember calling him, going, how much do I owe you? You owe me 8,700 to the cent. You got this. And you know what? At the time, I was like, I'm gonna pay you back. Because I don't like the feeling of owing anybody anything. So to make it whole. And a lot of parents probably would have just said, here's the 10 grand. But my father made me pay it back. And I applaud him for that. Just because it wasn't a. Here, I'll bail you out. It had meaning that I gave him the money back because I was dead set on working a lot of hours to pay him the money back and then starting at zero and then keeping the job at the Four Seasons while I pursued the comedy. But. But yeah, he bailed me out, but I had to pay him back.
- [21:00]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
I erred in saying that you wouldn't be good at customer service because I have read you say about your parents that they did teach you manners and respect. What else did they teach you?
- [21:11]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Well, I think what I came out of that first and foremost is like a work ethic that they instilled in me that no one ever is going to give you anything, and whatever you got to do, you're gonna have to work your ass off for. So that being said, and I think they did it too much because, I don't know, sometimes I'm getting better at it, when to kind of turn it down or turn it off. You know, you go on this tour for whatever, two years, and my mentality is, what's next? What am I doing? You know, what am I gonna do next? You know, which you don't really have to do anything next. You could just wait until the next tour and then tour again. But. But the way this is set up, the entertainment business, what a lot of people I think get sucked into is having to do, even me, I'm sitting there Going, I'm looking at my other comedians. One's got a clothing line, another one's got a tequila. And then you start thinking, should I have a vodka brand? Is this what I need to be doing? Should I have a line of sneakers? It's like, it's okay just to be good at what you're good at, you know? Sometimes I think you get caught up in having to do a lot more than what you even want to do because you feel a pressure that you have to be relevant or seen. You know, it's like with the social media. And again, I didn't grow up with the social media or I didn't start my career with social media. But now it's like, if you don't post on social media, it's like you don't even exist, you know, it's like, I don't know, it just seems. It seems a little. I don't know, it's a little strange to me, the way this is all kind of set up. I grew up with, like, Prince and Michael Jackson, where, if you saw them, it was like a treat, you know, it's like, holy. I remember when Michael Jackson showed up on Arsenio Hall, I was like, jesus, he comes out, you know, it was like. But there was something alluring about that. But now it's like too much access.
- [23:08]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Now you're saying.
- [23:09]
Sebastian Maniscalco
I mean, is it. I mean, people, they want to see everything. They want to see you go to the bathroom. You know, it's like, you gotta have a camera on constantly, apparently. But I don't know, I've wrestled with, like, what, you know, what to show. How much do you show?
- [23:24]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
That one's interesting on you, though? Because I would imagine somewhere at your core, you exactly remember what it was like to be struggling to want it so badly. And so now that you've arrived at it, you don't want to be satiated, Especially if I'm assuming you're a bit of a workaholic, right?
- [23:41]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Yeah, I. You know, it's like you work to get to a certain place, and then now you have to kind of manage, like, what. What you want to share. You know, if you told me when I first came out here that I got to post on social media five times a day, I'm like, give me the camera. Let me. Let me go at it. But now it's like, you know, you. You want a little bit of privacy. You don't want to show, you know, like, what you're doing with your family. But it's like, I Don't want to, like, pawn my kids for the sake of, like, a promotion, you know? I mean, I don't want to have my daughter on there saying, go see my daddy. It's a little gross, you know, sometimes. But I also don't want to be that guy that's on social media and you just see the back of the kid's head, you know, like, that's another. It's like the kid's in the shot, but we don't want to see the kid's face, you know, or they blur it out or whatever.
- [24:37]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
But you also don't want to age out. You see that the game is changing, but you know, what you're good at. And that continues to pay. Like, that continues to be something that sells out Madison Square Garden. Yeah.
- [24:48]
Sebastian Maniscalco
But even. Even though you want to. You know, I feel like, yeah, I've hit somewhat of a success where I'm able to sell out these arenas, which is great, but I feel like there's a lot more audience that doesn't really know what I do, and I want to get a lot of different people to the show. Yeah, I mean, I got the Italians. They come out, you smell the cologne in the arena, and that's great. But I don't see why there's not more Asians at the show or black people or Indian people. You know, the comedy is such. Where it's broad enough where everybody could enjoy it. I'm not talking specifically about an Italian upbringing, however, I have done that. But, you know, I just did the thing with Justin Bieber on Twitch. Apparently, this is the new kind of way people want to consume entertainment. They're looking for authenticity and how you are. And I'm like, well, he's got an audience that I haven't tapped into. He's 31 years old. Why can't I make his audience laugh? So I went on his Twitch on Halloween, which was an odd experience for me because it's live. It's like whatever's happening is happening. You could walk out of there and not have a career based on what the hell you say, you know what I'm saying? So it was a little frightening. But you know what? I wanted to face my fear of going into a environment where I knew nobody, never even met the guy before, and next thing you know, I'm in his ecosystem, hanging out with his friends, his agents, his managers, and I'm like, you know what? Let me throw myself in the fire and see what happens. So I like to do different things, and if these. These Opportunities arise where, you know, it's something kind of new and exciting. I don't mind being a part of it, but there's a lot of deliberation that goes into it.
- [26:39]
Chris (DraftKings Network announcer)
Hey, Chris.
- [26:40]
Jeremy (DraftKings Network announcer)
Hey, Jeremy.
- [26:41]
Chris (DraftKings Network announcer)
I've got kind of an open secret, but. But I want to tell you what it is here because Mike's not here right now.
- [26:46]
Sebastian Maniscalco
You better whisper.
- [26:47]
Miller Lite spokesperson
I really like it when the Hurricanes lose. And it gives me a reason to celebrate when I'm watching college football. Let's open a Miller Light and cheers. Yeah. Dune. Exactly. Exactly. That's what I was gonna ask you. Do you know how I do that? There's nothing quite like it. It's really a spectacular thing to have for your college football Sunday.
- [27:04]
Jeremy (DraftKings Network announcer)
It's so good.
- [27:05]
Miller Lite spokesperson
Game day, it's different. With Miller Light in your hand. You don't have to whisper the whole time. I can't stop.
- [27:09]
Chris (DraftKings Network announcer)
From jaw dropping touchdowns to fantasy heartbreaks. It's the beard that's been there for every moment. 50 years of great taste, simple ingredients, and that iconic golden color that you can spot from across the room.
- [27:20]
Jeremy (DraftKings Network announcer)
I see one right now. I'm looking across the room.
- [27:22]
Chris (DraftKings Network announcer)
I like the way that you flirt with Miller Lite.
- [27:23]
Jeremy (DraftKings Network announcer)
I mean, it looks. Look at it. It looks great. It's looking at me.
- [27:25]
Chris (DraftKings Network announcer)
You wanna know why I'm looking at it?
- [27:27]
Jeremy (DraftKings Network announcer)
It's looking at me.
- [27:27]
Chris (DraftKings Network announcer)
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- [27:56]
Miller Lite spokesperson
Miller Light.
- [27:57]
Sebastian Maniscalco
I want you and me.
- [28:00]
Chris (DraftKings Network announcer)
The holidays really stress me out. I try to be a really good gift giver. And when you get toward this time of year, you keep thinking, oh, I have enough time. And overall, really, the holidays are stressful, but especially if you run a business. I see what you guys go through. It's like one minute you're planning a sale, next minute your website's crashing, your inventory's off, and someone's dming you a discount code that expired in 2022. It's total chaos. That's why you need Shopify. It takes that holiday madness and Turns it into Shopify powers millions of businesses. We're talking everyone from Mattel and Gymshark to the folks just getting started this Black Friday. You don't have to be a tech genius either. Shopify's got thousands of ready made templates, AI tools that write your product descriptions, even polish your photos and built in marketing tools to cut through the holiday noise. And that purple shop pay button, that's the secret sauce. This Black Friday. Join the thousands of new entrepreneurs hearing for the first time with Shopify. Sign up for your free trial today@shopify.com batard that's shopify.com batard B A T A R D. Go to shopify.com batard and make this Black Friday one to.
- [29:08]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Remember how much deliberation went into. You are someone who got married late. You're someone who had family late. How much deliberation was involved with. I'm going to take care of me the first 40 years of my life and then I will be a person that can share with others.
- [29:25]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Yeah, I think that was the mindset. I didn't want to like have a distraction of a wife or kids.
- [29:32]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Distraction?
- [29:32]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Well, I mean it would have been back then. I don't even know if I would have made it because I know how I am with family now and I even know back then when I didn't have a family, if I had a family, I would feel extremely guilty leaving my young kids and my wife while I went on a six week run. Right. I would be pulled. I am pulled now, but at least I have the means where I can kind of set up the schedule the way I want. Back then I told my agent I work 52 weeks a year. I don't take time off. Can't do that when you have a family, you know what I'm saying? So I think it all happened for the right reasons. I did have kids late in life. Sometimes I look at my friends in Chicago who their kids are going off to college now I got an 8 and 6 year old. So I wish sometimes, oh, I wish kind of like I kind of grew up with my buddies and the kids and they all were like kind of together. Not that they would have been friends because we live in two different states. But you know, there's the relatability of kind of what I'm going through right now and what they're going through. It's two different things. They're sending her to college and I'm going to the little league game. So it's two different things. So I Think I'm a better father being one that started later on in life because now I'm able to kind of prioritize my family. I did a movie in Alabama. This was three years ago, and I had to be gone for nine weeks. It killed me. I was like, like I was miserable. I think it showed in the film that I was not happy as I should have been filming that film. But I definitely had my heartstrings being pulled going, what the, what am I doing in Alabama when my little daughter is performing in her first play? You know, it's killed me. So I made an effort to kind of figure out, okay, this is when daddy works and this is when daddy stays home.
- [31:30]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Well, I've also read you talking about balance. You have more of it now, right? I have it properly assessed when I say you're a workaholic, right?
- [31:38]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Yeah, I love work.
- [31:40]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
And have you been able to figure that out over the last 10 years? Because you've gotten all the opportunities over the last 10 years. You've said yes to a lot of Alabamas.
- [31:51]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Yeah, now I know. I think in the last three years I've kind of figured out what to do and how to do it. Because listen, I'm not saying I'm a guy that wants to stay home 365 days out of the year. I'll go nuts. I just figured out a way now to spend quality time with my family as well as doing what I love as a comedian and doing things in the entertainment and business that I enjoy. Do I wish I would have figured that out sooner?
- [32:17]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Yes.
- [32:17]
Sebastian Maniscalco
But again, I don't really look in the rear view mirror. I look too far ahead. If I have a problem with anything, I'm looking way ahead. Like being 52, right. I. I'll do the math and go, okay, probably about 80. Start falling apart. You know, it's 28 years. Am I going to see my daughter get married? You know, like that? That's how far in advance I'm looking. I mean, I really envy people who live in the moment. They don't care. It seems like, you know, they get up every day. It's a new day. And I get up every day going, what am I going to be doing in five years? So we work, you know, like I'm just pining constantly. And I think it's a cultural thing too. Not only that, also looking at financial and economics being Italian, Italians are always like focused on money. And do they have enough, Should I buy this? Should I buy that? What should I save? Am I gonna die tomorrow, you know, like it's hell to live in this head.
- [33:14]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
And your dad was meticulously keeping the notes on how much you owed him.
- [33:19]
Sebastian Maniscalco
To this day, I call him up and he's at his desk, the papers. What are you doing? I'm doing figuring out if I make this because he's still working at 80. This man is still working. And he's working because if he stops, he's gonna die. You know what I'm saying? This is the mentality. But he's still up. He's just trying to figure out insurance, raising my tax. There's a lot of math at 80 that maybe. And I look at that, I go, is this way? I'm. This where I'm at it at 80 years old, I'm going to be in a room.
- [33:52]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Is it?
- [33:55]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Probably, yeah. I got to be honest with you.
- [33:57]
Co-host or guest commentator
You can ward it off if you see it like now is a good time. I know you can stop right now and figure it out.
- [34:04]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
But you go more and more into business. You have, you, you, you have a lot of business interests. You're fascinated by business. And I don't know how much you earn in comedy, but I imagine you earn just as much with your business.
- [34:16]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Interests, you know, comedy. Listen, I'll be honest with you. Comedy is the, is the number one income stream that I have. You know, I do these other things, whether it be a podcast or a role in a TV and film, which, I mean, this doesn't pay. I mean, the TV and film, when you look at the numbers, it really, you're only doing it for, you know, the passion of doing it. I mean, it pays, but nothing compared to what I'm doing on the tours. But yeah, I mean, listen, you sit there and go, okay, you know, how much do you need? When could you, when could you kind of like tailor it back a little bit?
- [35:00]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Is there an answer to that question? You're sitting just asking it.
- [35:03]
Sebastian Maniscalco
I'm actually hoping we figure it out on this show.
- [35:05]
Co-host or guest commentator
You're not. Yeah, I'm not sure that this is a hole that you're ever going to fill.
- [35:10]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
It sounds like if you're talking about, you actually said while we were talking about this, you know, it's going to be hard to do physical comedy in 80s.
- [35:17]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Yeah, I skipped 60s and 70s. I had a hard time doing stand up comedy two and a half, three years ago when I shot my special in Las Vegas, I had sciatic pain ripping down my right leg and every time I moved I was in some sort of Pain. So it was really hard to be funny and be in pain at the same time. So I kind of felt what that felt like. And yeah, I mean, listen, is the physicality going to slow down eventually as I get older? Yeah. But I still like to think that I could still do stand up comedy and make people laugh without, you know, jumping around on stage. Who knows?
- [35:53]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
How long did it take you to pay your dad back?
- [35:56]
Sebastian Maniscalco
God, I think it was a nine month, nine month thing because I would float him money every month. I think about a thousand bucks a month, maybe a little bit over that. But I was also living, you know, paying the bills and what have you. So. So yeah, it took about nine months, working pretty much day. This is how sick I am. I was a part time employee, but the reason I was part time because I didn't want to have the obligation of working 40 hours a week because it would take away from stand up. So I would work part time, but if I had the time, I would go in to the hotel and I would stand. Starting at 2:30, I would stand by where they punch in and out. So people came in every hour. So 2:30, that person came in, I go, you want to go home? And they're like, no, I need the money. I'm going to stay. Okay, so stay till 3:30. That person come in, punch in. You want to go home? Yeah, I'd love to go home. Boom. And I would punch in. So I was stealing people's shifts, but I would stand for sometimes four hours. I would stand by the thing where people would clock in to work. And I think again, that type of mentality kind of bled into stand up comedy where I was like, all right, just, you know, book me for whatever, whatever show that there's available, I'll do it.
- [37:13]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Would your dad be the kind of dad who would tell you he was proud of you for paying him the.
- [37:18]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Money back back then? I don't think that was in him. However, now I just got a letter from him. It was really sweet. I just opened it up right before I came here. I bought him a car recently and he, he was like, blown away. It was a surprise. I just had to show up on his driveway. He was looking for a car, but the way my dad looks for a car, it takes four years for him to purchase it. Because the amount of research he's got to do with the car and where it was built and why are they charging me this and that, by the time he got a car, he was going to be dead. So I just Sent the car and he wrote me a really nice letter and it said he was proud of me. And it's not something that was said I think early on in life. I think as my dad got older, those starts of. I'm sorry. Those emotions started to kind of come out more and more as my career kind of escalated.
- [38:19]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
When you wondered aloud if you're going to become your father or not and basically said that you would, The. The ascent to that position begins with you referring to it as the social media when you put the. The in front of it. But he wrote you a letter that he sent in the mail.
- [38:35]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Yeah, on yellow legal. It's a legal pad. He put it in a card and he folded. It wasn't even folded, you know, like normally he's like folded, but then to fit in the card, he folded, you know, just did that little bit to fit in the card and then I. And yeah, it was written scratch outs here and there, stuff on the side, you know. Yeah, a letter. There was no like text mess, email.
- [39:03]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
But that. That passes for effusive emotion from him and something that he wouldn't have been capable of 30 years ago. Right?
- [39:10]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Yeah, yeah. I mean, there was hints of it. I don't want to say my dad was like, you know, had a. Had a black heart.
- [39:18]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
I'm sorry if I've.
- [39:19]
Co-host or guest commentator
Seems to have given the impression that he has a black heart. I didn't intend to do that.
- [39:23]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
I just assume Italian men, hispan men.
- [39:25]
Co-host or guest commentator
I assume that from that age they're.
- [39:27]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Going to be a bit primitive with their feelings.
- [39:30]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Yes, they are. However, my dad, I think had a kind of coming of age where he did start, you know, my mother is more that person for me, you know, like, although she still, you know, I come from like negative people, you know, Like, I think that's like our family is very kind of negative. If something happens, we always dwell on like the negative of it all. Even that's. I think that's how I motivate myself to do better. Is I. I don't. I'm not one of these guys that gets up and like, you know, you see it all over social media that people that are like, positive, you got to write down your goals, bro. You know, get up and get in the ice bath.
- [40:20]
Co-host or guest commentator
I'm like, rise and grind.
- [40:22]
Sebastian Maniscalco
My fear is it's all gonna go away today, so you gotta make more. My tongue's gonna fall out.
- [40:29]
Co-host or guest commentator
You know something, you're still there. You're still there.
- [40:33]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
How do you bury that person?
- [40:35]
Co-host or guest commentator
How do you Stop that person or.
- [40:36]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Do you think it's too responsible for your success?
- [40:38]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Yeah, why do we gotta stop the person? To me, it's like if I stop that person, I'm gonna go broke.
- [40:43]
Co-host or guest commentator
You don't think you can be successful and not broke without being that person?
- [40:47]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
That person is responsible for all the fuel, for all the content.
- [40:51]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Yeah. And it's also responsible for making sure I'm financially stable. Because if you don't have that, what's the alternative? You're buying all this stuff. You know, I laugh sometimes, you know, especially in Los Angeles, like bragging about the second home, you know, we're going to go to vacation home. Okay, that, that, that sounds nice in theory, but I look at it as like, vacation home. That's maintenance, that's taxes, that's, you know, that's insurance.
- [41:22]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
You are your father.
- [41:25]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Do you think about this at all? Where are you coming from?
- [41:28]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
I don't.
- [41:29]
Sebastian Maniscalco
You come from Cuban?
- [41:31]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Yes. I come from the same things. Right. Work, work, work is the way to freedom. And I also come from watching my father lord over my mother, as she wrote in the checkbook, that some of the childhood memories that immigrants have. Of course I come from that, but I know that I have enough to be comfortable. And I'm not afraid that tomorrow my tongue is gonna fall out. And I don't think it is something that undermines my ambition. Now. Maybe. Maybe it does. But if you're feeling like you're doing your best work, or if you're governed by, I have to make my next special better than all the specials that came from it. That's not coming from a need to provide.
- [42:12]
Sebastian Maniscalco
No, that's just becoming from a need to provide to the people that are watching me. Like, you never sit there and go, you never ask yourself, is anybody gonna watch this tomorrow? Those thoughts ever?
- [42:26]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Yeah, I have some doubts there, but. And as we age and as the game changes on us and young people do things differently, and in some ways, I imagine you don't recognize comedy or you don't recognize some things that are happening with podcasts that are totally different from how it is that you to climb up the chain. So I can understand where some doubt and some threats arrive there. But when you sell out Madison Square Garden four straight nights, like, that's not really a concern. That's not a real fear, you know.
- [42:58]
Sebastian Maniscalco
My fear is, though, like, selling out two nights and you can't do the four nights. That's almost. Sometimes I rather just have it the way it is because, you know, the next Time you go back into that market, the expectation would be, okay, you sold out four, and now if you sell out two, what are you. You're on the way down. You know what I'm saying? It's sick. It's a disease. I'm telling you. Me and my father talk about this all the time. It's a disease.
- [43:24]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
It gets in the way of joy. It gets in the way.
- [43:27]
Sebastian Maniscalco
It gets in the way of joy.
- [43:27]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Of enjoying the present.
- [43:29]
Co-host or guest commentator
It gets.
- [43:30]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
If you're off five years from now, what happens when my body falls apart? Those things are not conducive to just general daily happiness. That. My guess is if I'd gone to the Four Seasons Hotel and. And told that person that was waiting tables for seven years that any one of the opportunities that has appeared over the last 10 years would be in his life, he would say, that is good enough for my dream. I have arrived. That would be enough to be a measurement of success for me.
- [43:59]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Yeah. And I still think the opportunities that have come my way, I'm like, if this all ended tomorrow, I'd be happy that those opportunities happened. And I felt like I had succeeded in my profession. Absolutely. Absolutely. It's just, you know, it's just, you know, I think. And I told my wife this, I was happier doing comedy clubs and going in and winning over a room of people that didn't know who I was, because it was like, there was something thrilling about that coming in, and the expectations were nothing. And you'd go up there and there'd be 35 people, and then I would stand outside, shake everybody's hand. People would go, oh, my God, we.
- [44:42]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Never heard of you.
- [44:43]
Sebastian Maniscalco
So fun. Oh, thank you very much. Took a picture with them. Those, to me, were like the fun years. Not that not having fun, but I just think back then, as I look back, those were like. I really enjoyed that because I could feel the ascension. I felt like the next time I came to the club, there was more people there. You started to feel like you were breaking through. And there was a joy in that, that generally I don't feel so much now, even though the rooms are larger and, you know, Madison Square Garden, it's great and all, but there's something that switched where in my head, I was like, okay, what's next? What are we doing now? Madison square. How many? Five. Okay, next time we'll do 12. You know, it's like, you can't just sit there messing.
- [45:34]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Okay.
- [45:35]
Sebastian Maniscalco
This is where the Pope came, you know, and now I'm here, so it's.
- [45:39]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Interesting to hear you long for something grittier and more intimate. I mean, obviously arenas and stadiums, like that's not even. Was that even when you were coming up? Is that even a possibility? Not for you, for anybody. There's no such thing. That's. That started with Kevin Hart. The idea that you could fill out a stadium, right? Or an arena.
- [45:56]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Growing up, it started. Dice Clay was the guy who was selling out Madison Square garden in the 80s. And then after him, I think Eddie Murphy was doing it too. I think Steve Martin was doing it, but I don't think it was as publicized as it is now. Then after that was, you know, I think Dane Cook in my generation was the guy who was selling out arenas. And now it's like the theaters have become the comedy clubs. You know, it's like with social media and how, how many people know about comedy? You got, you got like, I don't know, 12 to maybe 15 people selling out arenas now. It's like, it's like, it's not like that uncommon, you know. So which, which again, it's like you look at it go, now was that feat was. I mean, what's next? We gotta fulfill out Soldier Field, you know, like, what's the next iteration of like, what, what your measured success is gonna be.
- [46:55]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
But that's a never ending hole, though. If you do it that way, right? If you do it that way, no success is enough success. I would also imagine with you that one of the things that you weren't expecting is that once you're opposite Robert De Niro in the movies and it's, you know, fun and dreamlike. Nobody told you that. It's also 14 hours a day where 13 hours, you're not doing anything or you're sitting in a trailer. And it's not nearly what you imagined it was.
- [47:21]
Sebastian Maniscalco
No, that was, that was not again, that was the movie that I was nine weeks in Alabama. Here I am acting on the other side of Robert De Niro, a guy who, you know, growing up, he was on my wall and this and that. Now he's playing my dad. My dad's on set teaching De Niro how to be him. And, you know, there's all this stuff that's happening and I'm bored out of my mind. I mean, when you look at it, opposed to stand up comedy, it's just like there's no comparison. I mean, it's. You go stand up comedy, immediate reaction. You're there for an hour and a half, you do your thing, boom, you're at home Here, it's like you get in the makeup and it's a cloud. Okay, okay. So it's, it's, you know, there's. The momentum is gone. You know, there's like. With comedy, there seems to be, like a momentum that needs to happen. And there's a lot of start and stopping when you're doing a film of that size. So, yeah, it was, you know, it's not something that I'm like, oh, I'm dying to get back into just because of the time commitment and just. It's not that exciting.
- [48:31]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
I'm guessing that even though you've made good choices and they're, you know, ambitious and they're fun, I'm guessing that you probably said yes to too many things over the last few years because you're built like you are, and the opportunities that were presenting themselves are unlike any opportunities that you ever imagined.
- [48:48]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Yeah, I don't look back and go, I shouldn't have done that or shouldn't have done that. That's not. I mean, the things that I have done, I was very selective about doing because I did turn a lot of things down. It's not like these opportunities come. I go, yeah, I take it they're very kind of mapped out of kind of what plays into my kind of brand of comedy. And then on the flip side, what projects I want to be a part of. I mean, I did this movie called the Green Book, who ultimately won the Oscar. And I just, when I read that, I felt like, oh, wow, this is very, very good script. I felt like I was laughing, I was crying. I had a very small part in it. It wasn't a big time commitment. I got to work with Peter Fairley and it was one of those, like, this is a no brainer. I mean, De Niro, I wrote the movie. I co wrote it with Austin Earl. De Niro signs on to do it. Like, yeah, I mean, like, you can't.
- [49:43]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Be clear on this. I'm not saying you've chosen a lot of opportunities you shouldn't have chosen. I'm just assuming your time is getting stretched super thin. If you're doing what you' with your dad and Robert Dair on for nine weeks, you're longing about getting, Wanting to get back home.
- [49:56]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Yeah, yeah. No, I mean, I definitely took on a lot of work in a probably a good three, four year span of time that I, I was, I was burned. I was burned out. But again, it's like you get it while you can, you know, get it.
- [50:12]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
But I think that's how you're driven, though. Like, when am I not going to be hot? When is my tongue going to fall out? I have to, I have to take these things.
- [50:19]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Things.
- [50:19]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Because when would I ever have imagined any of these upper. Any of these opportunities presenting themselves?
- [50:25]
Sebastian Maniscalco
You're right. You're right. But now I. Now I think, I don't know. You'd be talking to me in a year and, you know, what are you doing now?
- [50:32]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
I think I'm.
- [50:34]
Sebastian Maniscalco
I think I'm satisfied with where I am professionally.
- [50:39]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
It sounds like you're not sure, though, if you're saying to your wife, I was a little bit happier when. Or how could I have been happier when it was just, just the grit.
- [50:47]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Of, of professionally happier. I, I think back then, not necessarily personally. Personally, right now, I feel extremely fortunate and happy with my family. Not so much, though, with enjoying the fruits. Well, I mean, even that. I mean, I mean, I even have time trouble like, like, should we remodel the kitchen? You know, do I really want to go through that pain? Because I'm not a type of guy who just says, all right, here, go do it. I'm gonna be renting a house for two years. I'm the type of guy that you hit. Are they hammering? You know, like, this is the way I was. You know, I see the gardener outside, and, and he's watering, and another guy's looking at him water. I go, what the. Is he watching him walk? You know, like, that's the way it. Can't turn it off.
- [51:48]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
I'm telling you.
- [51:50]
Co-host or guest commentator
It works for you, though, right?
- [51:52]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
You're not even sure.
- [51:52]
Sebastian Maniscalco
You know, I'm sitting here complaining.
- [51:55]
Co-host or guest commentator
You're not?
- [51:55]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
No.
- [51:55]
Co-host or guest commentator
But you made a distinction that is.
- [51:57]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Interesting and that you said professionally versus personally. I have trouble separating those things because so much of my identity is tied up in the professional. But once you get married and have kids and now welcome pets into your life, like, the pets are a problem.
- [52:13]
Co-host or guest commentator
Not a pet guy. You welcome dogs into your house, and you're not a pet guy.
- [52:17]
Sebastian Maniscalco
I didn't really welcome the dogs. I, I. But it was. It's one of those decision where I wish I would have been more vocal.
- [52:26]
Co-host or guest commentator
When the kids are begging for the dog. You just, you didn't say anything.
- [52:30]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Well, I mean, the second dog, we. I told you before we got on here that I'm not a pet guy. I didn't grow up with pets, and Now I have two dogs at the age of 52, and I just didn't know what to expect. A lot of people had said, oh, they're just like babies. If I knew there were this much work, I would have had a third kid. Swear to God. I thought they were animals. They kind of roam alone. I told my wife, I go, why don't we just let them out? You know? And then. But you let them out, and they come back to the door looking for you to come out with them. It's like. Like, didn't you come from wolves? Like, don't you just roam around? I don't know, man.
- [53:09]
Co-host or guest commentator
How long have you been in the pet experience here as not a pet guy? And how did you get worn down? Was it the kids that wore you down?
- [53:16]
Sebastian Maniscalco
It was both. It was my kids and my wife. My wife kind of spearheaded the second dog because she thought the first dog was lonely. And I'm like, what are we here for? That's why we're here. But I don't know. So it's a. It's a male dog that we got first, and then we got her female sister. And it's. It's. It's not. Not good.
- [53:40]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Are you often not vocal on things?
- [53:42]
Co-host or guest commentator
Like, I wouldn't think that would be.
- [53:43]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Much of a problem.
- [53:44]
Sebastian Maniscalco
There's an old joke that when you marry a Jewish woman, that's the last decision I've ever made is to marry a Jewish woman. After that, didn't I have no. I don't make no decisions. I just sit there and go, hey, I don't think that's a good idea. Next thing you know, there's two dogs at the house, you know, so that. That. That one I wish I was a little bit more vocal about. But what are you gonna do, folks?
- [54:08]
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- [55:07]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
How, how and where and when did you make the decision, if indeed you did, from the angry comedian you were at the beginning versus making your way somehow into likable and relatable in a way that is really uncommon and I imagine sculpted by you?
- [55:30]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Well, I think when you start out as a comedian, very rarely do you go up there and give them the true authentic you. Because there is almost like, at least for me, I put like, a protective layer over me going, I'm not going to give you it yet, because I don't know how to. So I'm gonna mask it with this character, this anger. And after watching it back and go, it's not likable. I mean, I'm looking at me going, this. I wouldn't watch this guy. But that just comes with repetition. That just comes with going on stage and trying to find out who you are on stage. And you got to peel back the onion so much where at the core of it, what you're seeing on stage is just a kind of exaggerated version of yourself. And that's not easy to get to. At least for me, it wasn't. It took 10 years to figure it out.
- [56:27]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
And it was watching yourself and saying, I wouldn't watch this guy. I don't. I don't like this character.
- [56:32]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Well, one of the things, it's not like I saw it. And then the next day I went out and was some completely different comedian, but starting to chip away at being a little bit more comfortable on stage. Laughing at myself, being self deprecating, which I found people really gravitate towards. You know, you could be up there and have a general disgust about human behavior and what you're seeing. But then also on the flip side, to kind of poke fun at yourself, there's a whole run that I do in this new special. It's about 11 minutes of me talking about my health issues, from my. My bicep rupturing to watching my son go to the bathroom and comparing him. Him going to the bathroom and then comparing myself going to the bathroom.
- [57:23]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Like the bit of a racehorse. He's a race. His stream is that of a racehorse. And you feel inadequate nearby.
- [57:29]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Yeah, mine is just in a mist.
- [57:35]
Co-host or guest commentator
That's such a great comedic word. Yours is just a mist.
- [57:39]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Yeah.
- [57:40]
Sebastian Maniscalco
So, yeah, I mean, and then you do that and you kind of Let the audience in on the joke that, you know, you don't take yourself too seriously. So I found, actually, I have the most fun making fun of myself. And what a lot of people don't know is a lot of the times I used to do a joke about people going to Starbucks and eating the muffin out of the bag. It bothered me the way they went in and they just ate it. But I do that. So I was actually making fun of myself for doing that, but I wasn't letting the crowd know I was doing that. So there's a lot of things that I make fun of in my act. I do. But unbeknownst to the audience, they just think that I'm observing people.
- [58:24]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Everybody in the family thinks you're funny, right? They recognize you're funny. Or do the kids not? The kid's not old enough yet to find dad as funny as he is.
- [58:32]
Sebastian Maniscalco
They think I'm funny. They don't necessarily think I'm as funny as people think I am. So they laugh. They get it that Daddy is kind of a goofball, but not. You know, they're not sitting around, daddy, make me laugh. You know, they're not doing that. It's just they know I'm a fun dad, and they've been to a show. My son has fallen asleep at the show. It's not like they're sitting there going, my God, we gotta see Daddy tonight.
- [59:01]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
How high on the list of traits that your wife loves about you is funny? Is it at the top?
- [59:07]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Oh, yeah, I think it's definitely because, I mean, that's how we kind of get through everything. Like I told you in the beginning, we had an argument yesterday, and today we're laughing about it. You know, it takes some time for me to, like, poke fun at either her or me when we're having a disagreement. And I think laughter really breaks up. Like, it happened today in the car on the way back from school. We saw a guy walking across the street, and he looked like he was right out of the, like, the. The evolution chart, right? And I just made a comment because he was just, like, hunched over and whatnot. And boom, she. It almost broke 24 hours of tension. And then, boom, we were back to normal. We didn't. We didn't. And I go, oh, I love when you laugh like that. And she's like, I love when you make me. And then, boom, we were, like. It was, like, repaired with humor. That's how I grew up. I mean, any hint of emotional crying, it got uncomfortable. And, like, Oh, I gotta make somebody laugh because I don't want to see my dad cry or my mom cry. I gotta make him laugh. And that's how he snapped out of a lot of, like, grief.
- [60:20]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
An excellent way to avoid any real introspection of the trouble spots. Just make humor the grief language.
- [60:27]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Yeah, just press that shit down. It never comes out, which I don't. I don't know if that's how, but that's the way we dealt with it.
- [60:37]
Co-host or guest commentator
It's probably not the healthiest, but I don't.
- [60:40]
Sebastian Maniscalco
I don't know.
- [60:40]
Co-host or guest commentator
You don't strike me as the type.
- [60:42]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
That would be necessarily interested in therapy. If you're not doing much looking back, and you're always up, up ahead.
- [60:48]
Sebastian Maniscalco
I do. I do therapy, but it's. It's about current things, you know, it's not about, like, oh, I grew up with trauma. Well, it's not about that. It's about, okay, how do we. How do I guide? And I think a of lot the connotation to therapy is, oh, you're unpacking a lot of baggage. For me, therapy is just talking to somebody outside of what's happening in my life and even bouncing ideas off them. I was thinking of moving to Austin, Texas. Me and my wife were talking about it, but in talking to a therapist about it, there was a perspective that she gave or helped us figure out that you couldn't just get from talking to your dad or your best friend or what have you. So that's kind of what I use therapy for. So that's not foreign to me. Even here. I give you an example now that I was thinking, before you started with the therapy, I was thinking about you earlier on, before we got on the air, you were talking about your dog and how it passed away eight years, and I honed in. I'm like, okay, is he gonna get emotional? He's gonna start crying about his dog. I was actually thinking that. And I was also thinking about how do I not have that happen here? And how, like, not, oh, wow, so.
- [62:01]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
You'Re just trying to. You're. You're so patterned from your childhood. How do I avoid making anyone feel something that makes them cry?
- [62:10]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Yeah, yeah, I thought. I thought you were going to get emotional. And I don't know if I was, like, ready for that. So I was trying to figure out, how do we either navigate off this topic or how can I make him laugh during his time of, like, reflecting on the dawn?
- [62:27]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
But. So that's what laughter's always been for you, Then it's always been this tool that allows you to make your way through life in a way that makes everyone feel. Not the bad things.
- [62:37]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Yeah, let's feel the good stuff. Because even now, people come up to me and go, man, it's good to just. Just laugh. For an hour and a half, I've been dealing with the death of my mother and this and that, you know? So it's like, I hear that people come backstage sometimes I do a meet and greet, and, like, I'm dying of cancer. I'm like, oh, holy shit. Like, how do I not make this woman think about dying right now? Like, how do we get out of that? So that's always been my, like, mechanism to overcome anybody's kind of feelings. Feeling bad. Although I'm an emotional guy, it's not like. I mean, I'll. I'll cry. I love a good cry, you know, But I'm not, like. I try not to do it around people that haven't seen me.
- [63:26]
Co-host or guest commentator
Are you an ugly crier?
- [63:29]
Sebastian Maniscalco
I gotta say, my crying is beautiful.
- [63:32]
Co-host or guest commentator
Really is cinematic. You're crying. You're in cinematic cry.
- [63:36]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Oh, God.
- [63:37]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Yeah. No, my cry is just like a tear. The voice chokes up. It's not. It's not ugly at all. It's actually quite sexy.
- [63:48]
Co-host or guest commentator
You're a sexy crier, are you? Are you deeply masculine? Like, there is one little bit of ointment leaking out of it. He is so brave and so strong that that one tear falling down his face means that it escaped the prison of strength that he is.
- [64:03]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Is. I think that's a beautiful analogy, the prison of strength. Because the cry, as it's coming out, almost wants to go back up. It's like it's totally lost. I don't know what the hell it's doing outside the eyeball.
- [64:20]
Co-host or guest commentator
I thought you were going to cry when you talked about a letter from your dad. That's beautiful.
- [64:24]
Sebastian Maniscalco
That was like.
- [64:25]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
That was.
- [64:26]
Co-host or guest commentator
That's a beautiful thing, that you would give him the gift and it would land the way that you wanted it to.
- [64:30]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Yeah, no, there was a little hint of a. And then I'm like, what the fuck? I'm on Sunset Boulevard. Get it together. No, I mean, it was. It was.
- [64:38]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Yeah.
- [64:39]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Yeah. No, you're right. Not that. Yeah, it was. It was there, but I didn't let it go.
- [64:44]
Co-host or guest commentator
You don't strike me as the type that would give your.
- [64:46]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
That. Like you said, you're only going to.
- [64:48]
Co-host or guest commentator
Do it in the kind of company that can be somebody that would know you well enough to embrace that that.
- [64:54]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Vulnerability is not to be shared.
- [64:55]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Well, the vulnerability definitely came out during the press run of the About My Father movie. And it came out on the Gayle King Show. It was my dad, Dairo and me getting interviewed. And I cried in that interview. Granted, my father was there and he's seen me cry before. Not necessarily Dairo. I went. De Niro saw me cry in the movie, which I had problems doing. But yeah, I lost my emotions on that interview because I just. It just all kind of hit me at once. My dad De Niro movie. It's crazy. All of it.
- [65:29]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
The name of the special, it ain't right. Hulu, November 21st. How is it different? How is it special to you?
- [65:36]
Sebastian Maniscalco
So, yeah, I like to make my special special. This one was filmed in my hometown of Chicago at the United Center. First special I've ever did in an arena. So I was very, very. I was contemplating whether or not to do it in an arena first. It was scheduled in a theater in Red Bank, New Jersey because I just felt like when doing a special, it's nice to have an intimate environment. It really plays well on camera. And I was a little concerned about how large the room was and if people were going to think that this special was something that they could relate to just because of how grand it was. However, the way we shot it and how the. The way I. The production value of it was just phenomenal. The lighting, the stage design, everything was just beautiful. And I'm really proud of this one. Not so much the last one. The last one I did in Las Vegas and I did it in a tuxedo. Like I said, I was in pain and I've had no mobility. This one, I feel like I got my mojo back as far as my physical humor. The stuff that I'm talking about is very current, very relatable, family oriented. Although there's some topics that I touch on about Amazon that's a little. I don't know, I think it's. Generally speaking, I don't do current events. Not that Amazon's a current event, but.
- [67:09]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
But it is.
- [67:11]
Sebastian Maniscalco
It's current in the sense that, you know, who knows in 10, 15 years where Amazon's gonna be? But yeah, just touching different topics and whatnot and a lot of self deprecation. Like I said, there's an 11 minute run that I talk about my health, that I love doing it. It's like I love when that portion of my act comes up, I go, I can't wait to get to the health stuff because I know it's gonna kill. Because that. That to me is the best part of the special. I think the health stuff, everything else is good. But this is really bums me out.
- [67:44]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
To hear that you were hard on yourself about the last one, though.
- [67:47]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Terrible, terrible, terrible. This is what happened with the last one. With a special, you gotta hit it when the material, you're not tired of it, and it's very specific. It's a small whiff, though. So with the last special that was scheduled to happen and then Covid hit. So I was sitting on that material for two years, and then I brought it back out and started touring with the.
- [68:14]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Oh, and it was stale to you.
- [68:15]
Sebastian Maniscalco
So it was like. It was stale. Number one, I was in pain. Number two. And I tried doing something different. Performing in a tuxedo, which I never do. And when you're in a tuxedo and you're as physical as I am, your movement is constricted. It's just. You just feel tight, you know, when you go to a wedding, you just, you know, like, yeah, nah, everything's tight. So that was a mistake. I did. But, you know, sometimes it's like you want to try something a little bit out of the box, a little something new. You get bored doing the same thing with the, you know, the jacket and, you know, sneakers. Yeah, let me dress it up. I told the audience to dress up because I wanted to take them back to 1960s Vegas. And I looked in the audience, there's like 30 people dressed up. You know, like, nobody told you. Still a guy walking in and flip flop. So I tried to do a little throwback, which I don't think really, really worked. But anyway, I did. Yeah, I wasn't extremely happy with it.
- [69:08]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Are you rough on yourself?
- [69:10]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Like, oh, yeah, terrible. Rough, bad, not good.
- [69:16]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
That seems. That seems not healthy. And almost nothing's healthy.
- [69:20]
Sebastian Maniscalco
I do. It's just nothing I'm doing is for any positive mental attitude. All right? It's all negative all day long.
- [69:30]
Co-host or guest commentator
That's not what I associate with laughter.
- [69:33]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Well, no, the. The byproduct is funny, but the. The day to day is negative.
- [69:40]
Co-host or guest commentator
You gotta snap out of that. Like, come on, now's a good time.
- [69:44]
Sebastian Maniscalco
I wish I could be more like you.
- [69:46]
Co-host or guest commentator
Hey, I'm fine.
- [69:47]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
I'm good.
- [69:49]
Co-host or guest commentator
You don't want to be like me. I'm just saying, look, you have arrived. Like, it's okay. I'm here to tell you, I'm pretty sure everyone here would agree with me. Everyone watching this would say, this is a person who has arrived. There are many positive things that he has to be positive about.
- [70:06]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Yeah, no, that would be. That would be the normal way of looking at this, but there's nothing normal. So I. I just look at it completely different. Yeah. I mean, I'm hard on myself. It's like, you want to. You want to be the best. You want to be the best you can be. Sometimes when you get off stage, you're like, I don't know if that was the best I could have been. Okay.
- [70:26]
Co-host or guest commentator
But for a long.
- [70:26]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
But for a long time, I'm guessing that your standard there has been a great deal higher than most of the.
- [70:32]
Co-host or guest commentator
Standards that are surrounding those arenas that are filled with people who leave laughing.
- [70:37]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Because they thought that you were about as good as you could.
- [70:41]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Yeah. I mean, I think you have to put the bar extremely high to meet people's expectations and to meet my own expectations. So that's where that.
- [70:53]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
But I think yours are tougher than most people's standards for that. The expectation of fun, and given the career you've chosen, like, it's built in, and to me, it's terrifying. The expectation of funny. One of the things that I get to rejoice in is that in sports, we surprise people with the funny. So there's never the expectation of funny. The burden of the expectation of funny is something that you've chosen as a living, and you've met it for 30 years. You've met their standard, the subjective standard of what makes a whole wide range of people laugh. But you don't always meet yours.
- [71:30]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Yeah, yeah. Although I think having the standard, I mean, I look around, a lot of the standard in comedy is extremely low, and there's people making a living doing it.
- [71:45]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
So I'm like, yeah, but that's not your standard. Your standard isn't just make a living doing it.
- [71:50]
Sebastian Maniscalco
I know. What I'm saying is I want. When you come to see my show, I want you to leave going. It's the best comedy I have ever seen in my life. That's the goal for me now. Do people do that? Maybe. Do people say, oh, but that's the expectation when you leave is like, that's the best comedian I've ever seen.
- [72:11]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
The last time I saw you in Las Vegas, I marveled at this part of your act. The fact that it looked like the whole thing. You were winging it, and it was crafted, sculpted perfectly. There was not a hiccup in anything that you were doing. There was not a stumble on a word in anything that you did.
- [72:31]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Okay. So that what you just said is what I love to hear because. And you hit it on the head. The stumble of the word I have stumbled. And I'm like, fuck, fuck that whole run up. Because as soon as you stumble on a word, the timing's gone, the momentum's gone. The next word is not going to be as funny because people are thinking about, did he just say so? For you to walk away and think that that was off the top of my head, that is because I work that material out back and forth and it sounds like it's just, oh, I.
- [73:06]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Know you manipulated me. Yeah, I know it was a grand manipulation, but that's the way I want you to feel.
- [73:12]
Sebastian Maniscalco
That's the way I want you to feel. And if you don't feel that way, I feel like I've like let you down as a customer, as a paying customer. I feel like you went out for a dinner and the filet wasn't cooked to your liking.
- [73:24]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
So that's it.
- [73:24]
Sebastian Maniscalco
That's the pressure you got to put on yourself to make these fucking people laugh.
- [73:27]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
That's Ain't Right is the name of the Special on Hulu November 21 and SebastianLive.com is where you go. Tickets and tour dates are there. He's great. He's always been great. He's always gonna be great. Even when he's doing physical comedy in his 80s and has morphed into his old man totally and completely.
- [73:46]
Sebastian Maniscalco
Well, thanks for having me on. I really appreciate it. And Yvonne, always been very, very nice to share your audience with me and it doesn't go unnoticed.
- [73:54]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Always good to talk to you. Thank you for spending this time with us.
- [73:58]
Sebastian Maniscalco
You got it.
- [74:09]
Chris (DraftKings Network announcer)
Hey, Chris.
- [74:09]
Jeremy (DraftKings Network announcer)
Hey, Jeremy.
- [74:11]
Chris (DraftKings Network announcer)
I've got kind of an open secret, but I. But I want to tell you what it is here because Mike's not here right now.
- [74:15]
Jeremy (DraftKings Network announcer)
Well, you better whisper.
- [74:16]
Miller Lite spokesperson
I really like it when the Hurricanes lose and it gives me a reason to celebrate when I'm watching college football.
- [74:22]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
Let's.
- [74:22]
Miller Lite spokesperson
Let's open a Miller Light and cheers. Yeah. Do you. Exactly.
- [74:25]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
That's.
- [74:25]
Miller Lite spokesperson
I was going to ask you. Do you know how I do that? There's nothing quite like it. It's really a spectacular thing to have for your college football Sunday.
- [74:33]
Jeremy (DraftKings Network announcer)
It's so good.
- [74:34]
Miller Lite spokesperson
Game day, it's different with Miller Light in your hand. You don't have to whisper the light. I. I can't stop.
- [74:38]
Chris (DraftKings Network announcer)
From jaw dropping touchdowns to fantasy heartbreaks. It's the beer that's been there for every moment. 50 years of great taste, simple ingredients and that iconic golden color that you can spot from across the room.
- [74:49]
Jeremy (DraftKings Network announcer)
I see one right now. I'm looking across the room.
- [74:51]
Chris (DraftKings Network announcer)
I like the way that you flirt with Miller Light.
- [74:52]
Host (possibly a DraftKings Network or South Beach Sessions host)
I mean, it looks.
- [74:53]
Jeremy (DraftKings Network announcer)
Look at it looks great. It's looking at me.
- [74:55]
Chris (DraftKings Network announcer)
You want to know why I'm looking at it?
- [74:56]
Jeremy (DraftKings Network announcer)
It's looking at me.
- [74:57]
Chris (DraftKings Network announcer)
It's probably because it's just 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. It's the original light beer since 1975, which means it's that Bob Ryan age still hitting different five decades later. Miller Lite. Great taste. 96 calories. Go to millerlight.com beach to find delivery options near you. Or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. It's Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Co. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.
- [75:25]
Miller Lite spokesperson
Miller Lite. I want you and me.