“Are you from the Midwest?” It was something about the way I pronounced “Sebastian” that stand up comedian Sebastian Maniscalco picked up on my roots immediately. In fact, Maniscalco and I are both from the Northwestern suburbs of Chicago, each with a large, extended Italian family and an eye and ear for other expats of the region.
Maniscalco’s comedy is all about finding ways to relate to others. The material that launched him to viral fame was about how at Italian weddings, everyone just gives envelopes of cash rather than a toaster. If the chicken was dry, take out a hundred from the envelope. Since then his best routines are the ones where he shares stories about his family and his upbringing in Chicago, with his exuberant stage presence and his animated hand gestures just an extension of performing for his parents around the dinner table.
“I noticed people really started to resonate with the material, because in a way, shape and form, it was like I grew up in their house, talking directly about their lives. That’s where it all turned for me,” Maniscalco told me in a phone interview. “People started coming out to the shows, and you would see people come, and the next time I would come to town they would bring their family, then they would bring the neighborhood.”
Maniscalco has a new book arriving on February 27 from Gallery Books called “Stay Hungry.” In addition to being something Maniscalco’s nonna might tell him at dinner, it’s a title about never giving up and always staying ambitious. In the book, Maniscalco reflects about working odd jobs on his road to becoming a comic, everything from waiting tables at Olive Garden to selling satellite dishes to dressing up as Captain Morgan. And in between some trips down memory lane, Maniscalco shared his advice for young comedians trying to find their own appetite for success.
Gallery Books
Brian Welk: Why did you choose to write this book now?
Sebastian Maniscalco: I reflected back on the last 20 years of my life and looking back at some of the stories that have happened to me and some of the trials and tribulations of being in the entertainment business, touching on my family, my upbringing, I felt there were some stories I hadn’t touched on in my stand-up that I felt would be more suited to a book or long-form kind of storytelling. Because in stand-up you can’t tell some of the stories I told in the book because they’re a little long and they have more of a beginning, middle and end to it, and you have to hit them hard throughout the set with laughter.
Coming from the Midwest, did you feel like your Midwest roots helped your work ethic at all or defined your path making it in LA?
A lot of it had to do with being a product of my environment. Not just growing up in the Midwest, but the family I had teaching me never to give up and working for anything you ever had. I talk in the book about going into debt when I was in Los Angeles, and I had to go to my father for $10,00, and he gave me the 10 grand, but he made me pay back every dime of it, and once that 10 grand was now assumed by my father, it was more of a personal debt for me to pay him back, because by no means was my father rich, and he works for his money.
You get on stage three or four times a night wherever you can and get yourself better, and in the meantime do what you have to do to get better, be it waiting at the Four Seasons or selling satellite dishes in the ghetto, whatever the hell I had to do, I had no shame in working to survive.
In the book you describe getting feedback that your comedy needed to be less angry. What sort of jokes were you telling early on?
It was not necessarily the content, but it was more the delivery of what I was saying. When I started doing stand up comedy, at least for me, I was not super-natural in letting down my guard and being myself, so what I was doing was masking a lot of my insecurities with this over the top, angry delivery. I was watching the world around me, being very observational in my humor, but the way I was delivering it in my humor was off putting and not with a wink and a nod to the crowd that I know I sound absurd. It was more in your face, not really smiling, not really having a lot of fun, just finding my way. That’s something you have to do, and it comes with practice, night after night. You begin to peel those layers off as you become more experienced as a comedian and start finding your true voice. The first six or seven years, that’s what I was doing, trying to find out who I was on stage and be more comfortable in my own skin up there.
What led to you telling more stories about your family?
When you’re mining for material, a lot of my stuff in the beginning was, “Hey I went to Subway” or “Hey I went to Ross Dress For Less,” and this was very on the surface, nothing too in depth about me as a person. There was a joke that I was not reluctant but a little of weary of putting in my special, the “What’s Wrong With People?” special. The joke was about when you go to Italian weddings how you have to bring an envelope filled with cash. It was very specific to the Italian culture, and I didn’t know if it was going to be funny to the rest of the people who didn’t grow up like that. But I put that in and decided, let’s see how it plays. I found right away that people were commenting online that, “Oh my god, this is how we do it,” or they were sharing their own experiences about Italian weddings. That inspired me to start diving into this family thing a little more.
Sebastian Maniscalco at the Beacon Theater/Todd Rosenberg Photography
Someone in my family owns a banquet hall, Alta Villa in Addison, and if you didn’t have your wedding there with the whole family, it was a big scandal.
I used to go to Alta Villa all the time. They had not only weddings but they had these teen dance parties at Alta Villa growing up where on Sunday night they would bring in a DJ like Julian Jumpin’ Perez, and he used to spin dance music, and we used to go there. Every time I go to Chicago, I talk about some of those references that are really specific growing up in Chicago. Like listening to B96 and mixtapes growing up. Stuff people my age would relate to in the late ’80s, early ’90s in the Northwest suburbs. I feel like a lot of times people really like to relate to what you’re talking about. It’s something people really enjoy when they know what you’re talking about.
What was your reaction to your family suddenly being the butt of the joke?
My dad loves it. He loves what’s happening with me. He’s my biggest fan yet my biggest critic. I’m going back to Chicago this week, and he comes to the shows and gets really nervous. He’s always rooting for me to do well, not that I don’t do well, but he’s very critical of the humor. He wants me to do my set verbatim the same way from beginning to end. When I don’t do it that way, he feels I lose some jokes. But as a performer, you have to be able to adapt to the crowd. Maybe you don’t feel like doing that joke tonight or you’re not passionate about it. So I drop a joke and put another one in there. It’s like having an overbearing father at Little League. My dad used to watch my play baseball, you’d strike out and he’d come to the dugout and say, “Come on, choke up!” Now with comedy, he’s very vocal about what I do, but I just understand he’s being a dad.
What advice would you give to other aspiring comics, especially coming from the Midwest.
I can only speak for myself. I didn’t do a lot of comedy in Chicago. Chicago is a real big comedy town. I just didn’t know any better. I did Second City for a year, then picked up my bags and I figured if you want to get into entertainment you go to Los Angeles where it’s all happening. A lot of people get their start in Chicago. It’s a nice little city to do comedy there, but I just didn’t take that path. I just dove in head first, because I didn’t know any better.
But my advice to young comedians is to really work the material, to really stay passionate about what you’re doing, be patient and to take it seriously. Now that I’m doing these theaters and people are coming out and paying a premium ticket. There’s so much that goes into people going out nowadays, especially if you’re a family that has kids. You have to get the babysitter, you go out to dinner, you pay for parking, you pay for the ticket, you pay for drinks. It’s a lot. And you have to be at the top of your game in order for these people to give them the experience that they need to have based on all the work that they need to get there. So I never take it for granted. It’s something I take very seriously. I’m going to give 150 percent, I’m not going to leave anything on the table, and I’m going to have fun doing it too, because the audience can definitely detect whether or not you’re having fun doing what you’re doing.
In a day and age where people think it’s just going to come and they’re entitled to success, it’s just not the case. It’s a lot of hard work and dedication to the craft. First and foremost you have to be funny. In my eyes this stuff cannot be taught. I can’t sing. No one’s going to teach me how to sing. Can’t do it. Same thing with stand up. You either have to be funny, or forget it.
21 Netflix Stand-Up Comedy Specials of 2017 Ranked, From Amy Schumer to Dave Chappelle (Photos)
In 2017 alone, Netflix has already released more than 20 new comedy specials, with new ones on the way. So where to start? We’ve ranked all the new, 2017 specials from least good to great.
Netflix
21. Katherine Ryan – “In Trouble”
This Canadian-born, U.K.-based comic has a raunchy reputation across the pond, but her satirical take on a self-absorbed Brit, including obsessive Taylor Swift fans and 25-year-olds in clubs, becomes irritating.
Netflix
20. Bill Burr – "Walk Your Way Out"
Bill Burr’s tell-it-like-it-is ranting, filmed just a few months before the election, now feels passé. Burr is fed up with actresses complaining about body image standards or fat people demanding salads at McDonald's, and it’s just yelling with nothing new to say. Comedians higher up on this list have almost identical material, but more thoughtful takes.
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19. Jim Gaffigan – "Cinco"
After establishing a niche as yet another father figure, Jim Gaffigan now has as many stand-up specials as children. Ironically for a Netflix special, he jokes about how binge-watching has taken over his life, and compares starting a new show to a blind date. But you might grow tired of his clean comedy around minute 9 of his bit about the seasons.
Netflix
18. Jo Koy – "Live From Seattle"
Jo Koy is simply a ball of energy. In one routine, he’s so excited to embarrass a woman in the audience when he makes a joke about how women laugh so hard they pee just a little. Those gender observations may not be groundbreaking, but he’s plenty animated enough to make it funny.
Netflix
17. Trevor Noah – "Afraid of the Dark"
“The Daily Show” host’s latest stand-up special isn’t as political as you might expect. But he shares stories of how, in the wake of a Trump presidency, even white people are asking Noah about moving to South Africa. One highlight is his extended conversation between a native of India and the first British colonizer.
Norm MacDonald’s latest stand-up special starts already in progress, as though he were an old man aimlessly rambling to no one in particular. But in a good way! His cranky, meandering observations are secretly genius. Why aren’t the 14 people who have been to the moon famous, but “a girl with a big ass” is? Or why does the “I” in “I.D.” stand for “I” and the “D” for “dentification?”
Michael Keegan/Netflix
15. Amy Schumer – "The Leather Special"
Internet trolls targeted “The Leather Special” to make it seem like fans didn't like it. This special isn't bad at all, but it also isn't Schumer’s best work. She’s at the peak of her fame, and her comedy is largely about her star power, which isn't always relatable. Then again, her fame led to a great routine about meeting and dating Bradley Cooper.
Netflix
14. The Lucas Bros. – “On Drugs”
Pro tip courtesy of The Lucas Bros.: Don’t do ‘shrooms with a guy who looks like you. Cheech and Chong have been replaced by two twin “brothers” who do a lot of drugs. And high or not, good luck telling the two of them apart. Their material ranges from “juicy” O.J. Simpson puns to a hilarious two-way phone call between Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley about “Space Jam.”
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13. Gad Elmaleh – "Gad Gone Wild"
Gad Elmaleh has been called the Jerry Seinfeld of France thanks to his clean, observational comedy. He gets big laughs in front of a Montreal crowd (with much of his material in French) poking fun at Americans for not even understanding the rules of their own language. We don’t even know where to put the emphasis in “emphasis.” Is it “EM-pha-sis,” “em-PHAS-sis” or “em-pha-SIS?”
Netflix
12. Tracy Morgan – "Staying Alive"
Even God knew Tracy Morgan would be back. After getting hit by a WalMart truck and surviving a coma, Morgan saw the light but joked that God wouldn’t let him die early because he wasn’t good enough for it to be tragic. As for WalMart, Morgan says he still shopped there in his wheelchair. “After my settlement, everything went up one penny.” Morgan manages to maintain good will, commenting on how his condition affected his family, his marriage and his sexual urges.
Cara Howe/Netflix
11. Jim Norton – "Mouthful of Shame"
Jim Norton has made an art form of cringe-worthy, dirtbag humor. He delves into an awkward sexual encounter with a famous porn star and a Tinder conversation that ended badly, and even prods a woman in the audience about the sordid details of walking in on her parents having sex. His comments about transgender women may be his most boundary-pushing.
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10. Jen Kirkman – "Just Keep Livin?"
The title of Jen Kirkman’s “Just Keep Livin?” comes from an unfortunate tattoo she got referencing Matthew McConaughey’s catchphrase. Kirtman is very skilled at elaborate storytelling that builds to a punchline. She’s similar to Mike Birbiglia in ways, but more comfortable with her high-strung, hypochondriac eccentricities. She weaves subtle messages into her routines, including a killer closer about street harassment.
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9. Dave Chappelle – "Deep in the Heart of Texas"
This is the less great of Dave Chappelle’s two new stand-up specials, but he's still Dave Chapelle. He casually addresses thorny moments, including getting hit with a banana peel on stage and holding the future of four white boys in his hands after they deployed the N-word. He's been called out, though, for transgender jokes that some viewers found more insulting than funny.
Netflix
8. Maria Bamford – “Old Baby”
Maria Bamford’s erratic, scatterbrained comedy has always been an acquired taste, but her latest special proves she’s a manic genius. “Old Baby” earns points for its unique structure alone, in which Bamford performs her hour to increasingly larger crowds, starting with just herself in the mirror, even intercutting to her awkwardly selling merchandise. Bamford’s million voices are all in the service of tragicomedy bits that navigate the perils of sex, therapy and show business, culminating in performing a dark role-play as her own mother.
Max Gerber/Netflix
7. Hasan Minhaj – “Homecoming King”
Fresh off killing it at the White House Correspondents Dinner, Hasan Minhaj moves away from political jabs against President Trump and devotes the bulk of his special to a highly personal autobiographical tale about his prom. Minhaj zips around his extravagant stage and the cameras make him seem like a rock star. And through a few bombshell storytelling twists, he makes his own embarrassing high school days a teachable moment about racism in America.
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6. Mike Birbiglia – "Thank God For Jokes"
No one is better at constructing hilarious, personal, soul-searching monologues of insecurity and Catholic guilt than Mike Birbiglia. In “Thank God for Jokes,” he transports you back to one of his most uncomfortable moments, roasting David O. Russell in front of the Gotham Awards crowds. But he goes deeper by exploring the idea of jokes themselves.
Netflix
5. Louis C.K. – “2017”
Louis C.K. is at a point in his career when he can walk on stage and immediately start talking about abortion. Between that and a routine about how Christianity has “won” among religions, it feels designed to generate enraged trigger warning think pieces, but he’s smart enough that he can deflect and show dimension and ordinary-dude perspective to any argument. Though you may just enjoy him playing a game of sexual “chicken” with Matthew McConaughey and “Magic Mike.”
Cara Howe/Netflix
4. Sarah Silverman – “A Speck of Dust”
Sarah Silverman has always been great at making light of her own hypocrisies and insecurities. But one of Silverman’s strengths above someone like Amy Schumer is her ability to get deep and real in a moment, then pull the wool out from underneath us with a brilliantly unexpected and crass gag. She leads the audience to believe she’s telling harrowing stories about rape, abortion and a near-death experience, but Silverman always finds the gross silver lining.
Michael Rowe/Netflix
3. Cristela Alonzo – "Lower Classy"
Cristela Alonzo has the congeniality, physical humor and occasional foul mouth of a Melissa McCarthy. She kills it when she cry-sings Sarah Mclachlan’s sad dog song while pantomiming shaving her armpits in the shower. But her best humor draws from her Mexican-American heritage -- and how it even affected her fourth-grade fantasy of meeting New Kids on the Block.
Netflix
2. Neal Brennan – "3 Mics"
Most comedians excel at just one style of comedy. Neal Brennan aces three. At one microphone he delivers irreverent one-liners about how neck tattoos are the universal sign that you’re fine with the minimum wage. At a second, he waltzes through more traditional, topical stand up about Catholicism and having interracial sex until all races merge into one. (“It starts tonight, and I call Asians”). At the third mic, he's self-reflective, talking about depression, his father’s neglect and, as a co-creator of “The Chappelle Show,” living in Dave’s shadow.
Netflix
1. Dave Chappelle – "The Age of Spin"
Dave Chappelle has a hysterical habit of stumbling backwards and smacking his mic against his leg as he laughs at his own jokes. In this case, though, he’s laughing at both the hardships of the world and his own strange experiences, including four incredible encounters with O.J. Simpson. He makes some of the sharpest observations in comedy, including that Harambe got more sympathy than countless young African-American men killed by police. This special shows why he’s one of the all-time greats.
Netflix
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Bill Burr, Trevor Noah and Cristela Alonzo are also now streaming
In 2017 alone, Netflix has already released more than 20 new comedy specials, with new ones on the way. So where to start? We’ve ranked all the new, 2017 specials from least good to great.