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Birth place: Chicago, Illinois
Height: 5' 10"
Current residence: Los Angeles, California
First TV appearance: Complete Savages
Featured on Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights
Influenced by John Ritter, Don Rickles, and many others
Sebastian Maniscalco is an American actor and comedian. He made his first television appearance in 2004 on the television series Complete Savages. He was also featured in Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights in 2006. He was one of only four other comedians featured. Sebastian Maniscalco has also made appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson as well as Comedy Central Presents.
Sebastian's facial expressions and complete disgust with human behavior has given him the reputation as one of the most sought after comedians working today. His show-stopping performance at the “Just For Laughs” Montreal Comedy Festival has audiences across the country screaming for more of his unique brand of humor. SEBASTIAN’s comedy is impeccably paced and chock-full of seething observations on daily human behavior.
Most recently, he has starred in the film “Vince Vaughns Wild West Comedy Show” and his Comedy Central Presents special is the highest rated comedy special on ONDEMAND. SEBASTIAN’s humor also created memorable spots on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Comedy Central’s "Premium Blend," twice on the The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen and Showtimes Comics Without Boarders.
His comedy is so diverse, it has enabled him to work with such prestigious acts as BB King, Al Green, Anita Baker, Gladys Knight, and Dennis Miller. In addition to his TV and film appearances Sebastian’s brand of comedy has worldwide appeal as he embarks on a Middle Eastern tour with the creators of the “Axis of Evil” this Winter. He has also inked a distribution deal with Salient Media for his hour long DVD which will air on Comedy Central in Feb. 2009.
Although a native born Chicagoan, Sebastian currently resides in Los Angeles where he can be found working out new material at the Comedy Store and the Laugh Factory on Sunset Blvd.
Influences: Don Rickles, John Ritter, Robert Klein, Johnny Carson, and Jack Benny.
TV Shows: The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn and Craig Ferguson, Comedy Central Premium Blend, ABC's Complete Savages
Sebastian Maniscalco is an American stand-up comedian born in Chicago, Illinois. He 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 also appeared on the television programs Comedy Central Presents, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Sebastian Maniscalco's special, "Sebastian Live" aired on Comedy Central on Saturday, April 11, 2009.
Sebastian Maniscalco Mini-Biography
Sebastian Maniscalco. Sebastian stars in Vince Vaughn’s new feature film, “The Wild West Comedy Tour”, has appeared on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson twice and Comedy Central’s Premium Blend. Sebastians style has made him a favorite in Vegas with shows at the Hard Rock, Venetian and The Mandalay Bay Hotel.
Sebastian's comedy is impeccably paced and chock-full of seething observations on daily human behavior. He voices his disgust of everything from shopping at discount department stores to men in Flip Flops. These hilarious observations on human behavior have given him the reputation as one the most sought after comedians today. Most recently, he starred in the film Vince Vaughns Wild West Comedy Show . His Comedy Central Presents special is the highest rated comedy special on On Demand. Filmed at the famed Paramount Theatre in St. Louis, MO, Sebastian Maniscalco Live, will leave you screaming for more of Sebastian s unique brand of humor.
Sebastian's facial expressions and complete disgust with human behavior has given him the reputation as one of the most sought after comedians working today.
His show-stopping performance at the “Just For Laughs” Montreal Comedy Festival and his upcoming appearance in his own one hour Comedy Central Special this April has audiences across the country screaming for more of his unique brand of humor.
Sebastian’s comedy is impeccably paced and chock-full of seething observations on daily human behavior. Most recently, he has starred in the film “Vince Vaughns Wild West Comedy Show” and his ½ hour Comedy Central Presents special is the highest rated comedy special on On Demand. Sebastian's humor also created memorable spots on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Comedy Central’s “Premium Blend,” Showtime’s “Comics without Boarders” twice on the The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen. His comedy is so diverse; it has enabled him to work with such prestigious acts as Prince, BB King, Al Green, Anita Baker, Gladys Knight, and Dennis Miller.
In addition to his TV and film appearances Sebastian’s brand of comedy has worldwide appeal as he tours the Middle East with the creators of the “Axis of Evil.” He has also inked a distribution deal with Salient Media for his hour long DVD which will be released worldwide in April 2009.
Although a native born Chicagoan, Sebastian currently resides in Los Angeles where he can be found working out new material at the Comedy Store and the Laugh Factory on Sunset Blvd. Visit his website at www.sebastianlive.com and www.myspace.com/sebastianlive for tour dates and TV appearances.
How old were you when you started comedy?
Sebastian Maniscalco: I was 21 the first time I did standup at Northern University. At 24 I moved to LA.
How long did it take you before you felt like you were funny onstage?
Sebastian Maniscalco: Its funny because I thought I was funny when I first started doing standup. But when I look back at the tapes it was awful. I knew I had the ability to make people laugh and then I had to translate that to the stage. The first few years were a learning process.
What is the best advice you ever received?
Sebastian Maniscalco: Andrew Dice Clay told me, when I was opening up for him, to always perform for yourself not the audience. One time someone yelled out a bit that they wanted to hear. I tired to work it in, but I may not have been the right fight for that show. Dice would get the request for the rhymes, but he would only do it if he wanted to do it.
Who do you think is funny?
Sebastian Maniscalco: I like Jerry Seinfeld, Brian Reagan, Bill Burr and Don Rickles.
What advice do you have for up and coming comics?
Sebastian Maniscalco: If I could tell anybody anything would be get on stage as much as possible. There is no substitute for the experience of live performance. The more you do it the better you get at it. A body boulder doesn't go into a gym three times and then do a contest. It's about feeling the audience. You can look in the mirror and do your set 1000 times and still not know if it's funny. And it's not an over night thing. It takes a good amount of time to find your voice on stage. It can get discouraging, but you can't let yourself get discouraged. This is going to sound like a cliché but, it's not a sprit it’s a marathon. A lot of comedians get into it today knowing they are funny and they think it's going to happen over night, but that's not how it works.
If you ever had a bad set, how did you deal with that?
Sebastian Maniscalco: I've had plenty of bad sets. Especially in the beginning, coming up. I remember being at The Comedy Store at 1 o'clock in the morning for 11 people. I would get up and I would just go through my material. A grenade could have gone off in the room and I would have stuck to my set. I didn't even acknowledge that there only 11 people in the room. I looked like I was performing for 3000 people. They say silence is golden, but for a comic it’s the antithesis. When you hear that silence you feel it, but you can't let the audience know that you know it wasn't a funny joke.
Do you have any shows coming up?
Sebastian Maniscalco: Thanks for asking. I have a Comedy Central Hour Long Special coming out in April called, "Sebastian Live." We'll have a nation wide DVD release soon after that. I'll be touring the Middle east with the "Axis of Evil" guys. We'll be in Dubai, Egypt, Lebanon, Abu Dabi and Qatar which is nice. I've always been anxious about how my material is going to translate to the Middle East, but they get American humor.
In addition, I just launched a brand new website www.sebastionlive.com with new animation based on my comedy.
Lastly I'm doing another tour, 20 or cities in the summer.
What is the difference between a good comic and a great comic?
Sebastian Maniscalco: I've always been fascinated with the amount of material that great comics come up with. George Carlin has 14 HBO specials. That's 14 hours of material. Sure his career spans 40 years. It's astonishing that he can do that. He was still topical at 70. He's talking about the internet and changing his act to be contemporary.
The good comedians, and there's a lot out there, they are getting a lot of work. The great ones are going above and beyond. Seinfeld used his talent to the best of his ability to the fullest extent.
Who do you see as a new and up coming comic?
Sebastian Maniscalco: Mike Malone he's a mid west comedian. He's about 25. Good presents on stage. I think he's got a lot of potential. Bob Biggerstaff. He's a guy that's got a solid routine and I enjoy working with him.
Do you have any good stories from the road that you would like to share?
Sebastian Maniscalco: Doing comedy has taken me places I, other wise would not go. I went to Egypt. If it wasn't for comedy I don’t' think I'd go there. We rode some camels and saw the pyramids. We went to Dubai and skied in an indoor ski resort. We went to Beirut. I performed in front of 140 women in Abu Dhabi and all I can see is eyes. We couldn't talk about sex, politics, we couldn't swear. I went on a bus with Vince Vaughn, 30 shows in 30 days. Traveling with Vince Vaughn is like nothing else. We had 3 buses. Everything was prearranged. After shows we would go out to restaurants. But when your with Vince you don't go in the front door. You go in through the kitchen. 30 days of living like a star and on the 31st day you're back in the kitchen. I don't do comedy so I can go in through the kitchen, but to get to live like that for a while is nice. The paparazzi and cameras and sneaking out of places because people are taking pictures.
What do you think makes your set unique?
Sebastian Maniscalco: Well what people have told me after the show is that my set encompasses observations that people are experiencing. It's not made up. It's real life situations. It's the angst of daily life. It's what everyone is experiencing and I take it to the stage and put my point of view on it. The funniest things to me are those kinds of thing. For example, my joke about the CD player at the gym and the tape deck. Everybody had that. In short it’s the relate ability of the material combined with the facial expressions and the acting out the jokes. I don't just stand there. People like the physical aspect. Over the years I've tried to ad a physical element. You wouldn't expect me to be physical. People are like wow this guys jumping around the stage in a suit.
I know you are close with your family and new stories from their world?
Sebastian Maniscalco: I just got off the phone with my father, actually he got his house broken into two months ago. So over the last few weeks
he still notices new things that are missing. Today he discovered that they stole his social security card.
Yikes.
Sebastian Maniscalco: I know. So this is how paranoid my father is. I told him to get one of those security systems that will notify you if someone
tries to open a credit card or get a loan under your name. So then he says to me [heavy Italian accent], “Well, don’t you have to give your social
security number to them? How do I know THOSE people are not going to open up a loan under my name.” He doesn’t even want to give it out to the
security company.
[laughs] How is your comedy different from other acts that we have seen before?
Sebastian Maniscalco: I don’t think what I am talking about is that groundbreaking, but I do think what I am talking about is relatable to anybody
coming to the shows. The comments that I hear after the show the most are “that’s so true, or I do that, or I have seen that!” I think what I
am saying really applies to daily life, where some guys might be a little more obscure.
If you were worth $10 billion tomorrow, would you still be doing comedy?
Sebastian Maniscalco: I would. This is my passion. I don’t look at this like work. I look at it as a way to express my creative views on the world.
What is the high water mark of your career so far?
Sebastian Maniscalco: I would say it was doing the movie Vince Vaughn’s “Wild West Comedy Show.” I don’t think I knew it at the time, but now more
and more people are seeing it and coming out to support my shows. So, as far as professionally, that is the high point.
What is the low point? Were you ever close to giving up?
Sebastian Maniscalco: I never actually said that I was going to give it up because I knew I had the ability to do this, but I did fall into the
trap that a lot of new comedians fall into. You do comedy three or four years and you think you are good and you think you should be headlining,
or working, or make a living at it and I didn’t realize that it is a business. Basically, if you don’t put the people in the seats then you are
not going to get the work to headline. You hear a lot of guys say, “I don’t know why I am not headlining; I’ve got an hour of material.” But
at the end of the day, to get the work, you have to be able to make the club pull in revenue. So in the beginning I went through some growing
pains to learn that lesson.
Have you noticed if audiences have changed with the recent economic climate? What is going on from your position as a performer looking at the
audience?
Sebastian Maniscalco: I do notice that audiences, because of the Internet, are craving new material. For example, if you put your material on the
Internet and then do that material at your show, not that people don’t want to hear the material that they heard on the net, but I think a lot
of people are like “wait, I heard that bit already.” So the Internet is a good and bad thing at the same time. It really pushes performers to constantly
churn out new material, not just perfect what they already have. Also, I think audiences are getting a little more aggressive.
What do you mean by “more aggressive?”
Sebastian Maniscalco: Heckling, I guess. I mean, I am sure they’ve always had drunk people, but it seems like people are getting a little more
belligerent. I had one guy take his shirt off and stand up and want to fight me. [laughs] Was that happening 20 years ago?
How do you handle a situation like that?
Sebastian Maniscalco: Every situation is different. I just deal with it on an individual basis.
My favorite bit of yours is on the store Ross Dress for Less. Can you tell me about your first Ross experience?
Sebastian Maniscalco: The first time I had heard of Ross was when I first moved to Los Angeles and I needed stuff for my place. When I walked in
there I was blown away. I thought an earthquake had happened the day before and they were doing clean up. I was actually with my father from
Chicago, and we were talking, and that’s how the bit came to be. We just talked our way through the store. Like the people in there would take
stuff off the shelf and drop it. It was like, what the hell? You would go in the sitting room and there would be graffiti. My dad and I were
just flabbergasted with the experience. I go in there periodically just see it; everybody loves that Ross bit and the way it is kinda like my
signature bit, so I go in and walk around there and just see if I can just pull something else and maybe add it to the bit. I really could do
a whole hour on that place. I’m actually waiting to see if the people from Ross contact me and say “stay out
of our stores.”
Book I’m reading:
“The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini. Page 4.
Total number of books I own:
20
Three books that mean a lot to me:
“How I play Golf” by Tiger Woods
“The Way You Wear Your Hat” by Frank Sinatra
The dictionary
What book would you like to see brought to the big screen and what book do you hope never gets adapted?
I hope “Bringing Down the House” by Ben Mezrich. The inside story of how six MIT students who took Vegas for millions. I don’t read enough to answer
the other question.
Editors note: “21,” out March 28, is based on “Bringing Down the House”
Last film I saw:
“There Will Be Blood,” directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
Three films that mean a lot to me:
“Goodfellas,” directed by Martin Scorsese
“Scarface,” directed by Brian De Palma
“Rocky,” directed by John G. Avildsen
Who do you think is the best actor in Hollywood at the moment? (male or female)
Javier Bardem
Who do you think was the brightest star of the silver screen?
Marilyn Monroe
If you could play any real-life person in a movie, who would it be and why?
Frank Sinatra...A man’s man who knew how to live life. Class personified.
Who do you look to for inspiration?
My parents
Song currently playing in my iPod: “Amore,”
Dean martin
Three songs that mean a lot to me:
I listen to more talk radio then music.
Concert that changed your life: Michael Jackson’s Bad Tour
Guilty pleasures
TV: “60 Minutes”
Film: ”Goodfellas”
Reading material:USA Today
Web sites: sebastianlive.com
YouTube video: Don Rickles interview with Johnny Carson
What's the biggest upside of the Internet and what is its biggest downside?
The upside is you have instant information at your fingertips and it's also the downside.
What advice would you give to someone trying to break into your profession?
Be patient, fearless and remember it doesn't happen over night.
Do you have a dream project?:
Have my own TV show
What helps you get out of bed in the morning?:
I look forward to eating my breakfast burrito
Are there any activities you do to make you feel un-famous?
Golf
What’s more dangerous: a mountain lion or a bitter ex?
I aim to please. I have no bitter ex's and I'm never in the mountains.
Would you rather see a Lakers game next to Jack Nicholson or a Knicks game next to Spike Lee?
I rather sit with my father at a Chicago Bulls game.
Five people who I'd like to see answer this survey:
Tiger Woods, George Carlin, Michael Savage, Sid Ceasar, Gordon Ramsay
Coming soon.
Mar 28 2009 8:00P, GOODWILL CHARITY Albuquerque NM
Apr 24 2009 9:00P, PALLADIUM Dubai
Apr 26 2009 9:00P, FORUM DE BEYROUTH Beruit
Apr 29 2009 7:30P, ZANIES Chicago IL
Apr 30 2009 7:30P, ZANIES Chicago IL
May 1 2009 8:00P, ZANIES St.Charles IL
May 1 2009 10:00P, ZANIES St.Charles IL
May 2 2009 8:00P, ZANIES Vernon Hills IL
May 2 2009 10:00P, ZANIES Vernon Hills IL
May 6 2009 8:00P, WHITE RIVER COMEDY CLUB Branson MO
May 7 2009 8:00P, WHITE RIVER COMEDY CLUB Branson MO
May 8 2009 8:00P, WHITE RIVER COMEDY CLUB Branson MO
May 9 2009 8:00P, WHITE RIVER COMEDY CLUB Branson MO
May 10 2009 8:00P, WHITE RIVER COMEDY CLUB Branson MO
May 19 2009 8:00P, COMEDY MAGIC CLUB Hermosa Beach CA
May 20 2009 8:00P, COMEDY MAGIC CLUB Hermosa Beach CA
May 22 2009 8:00P, IMPROV San Jose CA
May 22 2009 8:00P, IMPROV San Jose CA
May 23 2009 8:00P, IMPROV San Jose CA
May 23 2009 10:00P, IMPROV San Jose CA
May 24 2009 8:00P, IMPROV San Jose CA
May 29 2009 8:00P, The W Hotel Scottsdale AZ
May 30 2009 7:00P, The W Hotel Scottsdale AZ
Jun 5 2009 8:00P, THE COMEDY STORE Lajolla CA
Jun 5 2009 10:30P, THE COMEDY STORE Lajolla CA
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Jun 6 2009 10:30P, THE COMEDY STORE Lajolla CA
Jul 8 2009 8:00P, ADDISON IMPROV DALLAS TX
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Sep 10 2009 8:00P, CATCH A RISING STAR Lincoln RI
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Sep 12 2009 10:00P, CATCH A RISING STAR Lincoln RI
Actor Vince Vaughn proves a generous and expansive host in Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights - Hollywood to the Heartland. Organizing a monthlong bus tour of concert halls in 30 American cities, Vaughn packs his bags and lives aboard the four-wheeler with a quartet of relatively unknown comedians. Hitting a different town every day, the group simply does everything it can do to entertain people while Vaughn supplements all the comic monologues with sketches performed alongside some of his famous showbiz friends.
The guest comics--Ahmed Ahmed, Bret Ernst, John Caparulo, and Sebastian Maniscalco--vary in concentration and quality, but you can see them growing as performers all the time. This full-length documentary spends a lot of time with each of them, even getting to know their parents and their hopes and dreams. Meanwhile, Vaughn is just having fun with the likes of old buddy Jon Favreau, up-and-coming star Justin Long (the young Mac dude in those commercials for Apple), and longtime friend Peter Billingsley (the child who got hit in the eye in A Christmas Story), executive producer of this film. Billingsley gamely recreates a scene he and Vaughn played together as teens in an after-school television special about steroid use--a definite highlight for Wild West Comedy Show.
The film drags a bit during the biographical material, but there are many interesting and even upbeat moments, such as the tour group turning up in the wake of Katrina’s devastation in New Orleans and helping to keep spirits up.
Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights - Hollywood to the Heartland is a comedy documentary film directed by Ari Sandel and follows the 30 day comedy of tour of several stand up comedians. It premiered September 8, 2006 at the Toronto International Film Festival. It opened in limited release in the United States on February 8, 2008.
Synopsis
The documentary follows the month-long live comedy variety tour of Vince Vaughn and four stand-up comedians in the spirit of Wild West Shows. Vaughn picked four comedians from The Comedy Store in Los Angeles (Ahmed Ahmed, John Caparulo, Bret Ernst and Sebastian Maniscalco) for the tour. The tour began September 12, 2005 in Hollywood at the Music Box Theater and spanned 30 shows over 30 consecutive nights in 30 cities across the United States. Vince Vaughn acts as emcee and performs improv sketches with surprise guests. The comedians traveled over 6,000 miles on their tour and included stops in the Western, Southern, and Midwestern states. The film highlights their performances on-stage and contains interviews with the various comedians.
Cast
Ahmed Ahmed
Peter Billingsley
John Caparulo
Bret Ernst
Justin Long
Sebastian Maniscalco
Keir O'Donnell
Vince Vaughn
Production
Vince Vaughn was a producer for the film. Vaughn's older sister Victoria was also a producer. Chris Henkel, Paul Ruffolo, Dave Rutherford, and Jani Zandovskis served as camera operators. The show director was Chad Horning. The stage manager was Jason Ruffolo.
Critical reception
The film received mixed reviews from critics. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 56% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 75 reviews, with the consensus that the film "has some entertaining moments, but is a mostly hit-and-miss documentary." Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 51 out of 100, based on 24 reviews.
Peter Hartlaub of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote "It's a funny comedy, and sometimes an even better drama" and called it a "nice companion piece" to the 2002 film Comedian. Hartlaub said "The comics all have their good and bad moments, but John Caparulo is arguably the most hilarious both on- and offstage" and "the movie is best when Vaughn plays off his own pop culture stature." Hartlaub also wrote that "director Ari Sandel paces the film well."
Stephen Holden of The New York Times described the film as "more of a backstage documentary" than a concert film. Holden wrote the film "includes some moderately funny snippets of actual performances" but "we never see a complete performance or even a quarter of one." Holden called it "among the tamest tours ever filmed." Holden wrote that the tour was re-routed because it came after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. Holden wrote "In the most revealing scene Mr. Vaughn and his crew visit an Alabama trailer camp to give free tickets to the residents, many of them New Orleans evacuees who lost everything."
Kyle Smith of the New York Post gave the film one star out of four, writing "A 2 1/2-year-old collection of mediocre stand-up routines and dull backstage chatter, Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show demonstrates why comedy clubs require you to have a couple of drinks." Smith said "Only about 40 percent of the movie is even comedy; the rest consists of lots of shots of maps" and said the film was "worse than open-mike night."
Box office performance
The film opened in limited release in the United States on February 8, 2008 and grossed $464,170 in 962 theaters that weekend, averaging $482 per theater. The film grossed a total of $603,894 after three weeks in theaters.
Keywords: sebastian maniscalco comedy central