When talking about the comedians and actors who are on top of their professions and are consistently putting out great material, it would be absolutely amiss to not mention Sebastian Maniscalco. From the ground up, the American comic artist has built an incredible brand around himself. He did not have the support of networks throwing money at him to create shows or wealthy sponsors willing to promote him, so he had to create awareness for himself the old-fashioned way; performing at bars, open mic nights, and all sorts of events around town night after night, pouring his heart out through jokes, meeting the people who came out to hear him, shaking their hands, and handing out DVDs to anyone interested in buying.
It was not the easiest route to success, but Sebastian eventually earned the fame that was due to him. Since becoming an undeniable star, he has shifted his attention to other aspects of the entertainment industry such as Hollywood where he has featured in several movies. Among the comedian’s film credits are roles in the Academy Award-winning picture Greenbook, The Nut Job: Nutty by Nature, Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights – Hollywood to the Heartland, Cruise, The House, and The Irishman where he plays Joe Gallo.
How It All Started For Sebastian Maniscalco
Sebastian was born on July 8, 1983, and he grew up in the Chicago suburbs of Arlington Heights. The comedian was born to Italian immigrants; Salvatore and Rose Maniscalco. His father is originally from Sicily. There is no information available about his siblings so it is not clear at this time if he is an only child or not.
After concluding his elementary school somewhere in the neighborhood, Maniscalco was a student at Rolling Meadows High School (RMHS) in northwest Chicago, Illinois. There, he was a regular face at school outing events where he got ribs cracking for hours. After such an unforgettably great time in high school, he headed to Northern Illinois University where he bagged his bachelor’s degree in an undisclosed course of study. With his first degree over, the aspiring comedian decided to call it quits with the conventional school system. He obviously felt he already knew what to do with his life and it turned out he was right.
Sebastian Maniscalco immediately relocated to the entertainment headquarters of the world of Los Angeles, Califonia in 1998 to pursue his dreams of becoming a professional comedian. As earlier mentioned, he started off by frequenting occasions that enabled him to keep the laughter going. Soon, he became the center of attention at open mic nights, in bars around town, and just about anywhere – all the while holding down a job as a waiter at the prestigious Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. Seb worked at the two jobs until 2005 when he got a regular job as a performer at West Hollywood’s The Comedy Store.
His family has been incredibly supportive of his career and even lent him money to stay afloat during the years he was having a hard time making ends meet. According to him, his mother would ask him how much longer he was giving himself to make it before he finally stops trying because she hated seeing the toll that chasing his dreams was exacting on him. However, his family stuck by him all the way.
How The Comedy Store Job Began To Open Other Career Doors For Him
Moving on, Sebastian Maniscalco began hosting half-hour sessions for the stand-up program, Comedy Central Presents. He got the program so endeared to the viewing public that it soon became a four-hour special. In June 2009, his special titled Sebastian Live was launched. A floodgate was let loose and this was followed by three more specials; What’s Wrong With People, Aren’t You Embarrassed?, and Why Would You Do That, released consecutively at 2-year intervals – 2012, 2014, and 2016 respectively.
With such a high level of attention coming his way, Maniscalco’s fame was only expected to reach new heights which certainly happened when he was selected as one of four comedians to appear on Vince Vaughn’s Wild West Comedy Show, alongside Bret Ernst, John Caparulo, and Ahmed Ahmed. As his fame continued to bourgeon, Sebastian Maniscalco went ahead to get featured on numerous famed shows such as Best Night Ever, The Jay Leno Show, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.
In addition to all these numerous credits, the Italian-American joker now also runs a podcast called The Pete and Sebastian show which he co-hosts with Pete Correale. The pair also have their own radio show which airs on Sirius XM. In February 2018, his memoir, Stay Hungry was published. The following year, he released a comedy special on Netflix also titled Stay Hungry. The comedian has revealed that he draws inspiration for his acts from the works of Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Burr, John Ritter, Don Rickles, George Carlin, Johnny Carson, Brian Regan, and Andrew Dice Clay.
What Are His Best Works So Far?
Everyone will not have the same answer to this question certainly. However, based on popular acclaim and prestigious recognitions, this is what we have to say:
Sebastian Maniscalco began to take feature film roles in 2018 by portraying Johnny Venere in the biographical comedy-drama road film Green Book directed by Peter Farrelly. The film went ahead to garner three awards at the 91st Academy Awards in 2018 and received 5 Golden Globe nominations that same year. It also won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2018 among other numerous awards.
In 2019, Sebastian Maniscalco filled the role of ‘Joseph Gallo’ (also known as ‘Crazy Joe’) in Martin Scorsese’s epic crime film, The Irishman. Following the publication of Maniscalco’s memoir Stay Hungry in 2018, Netflix released a special of the same name and based on it the following year. Accordingly, apart from the heavily awarded comedy-drama blockbuster Green Book, Maniscalco’s most acclaimed work is his memoir and its Netflix sequel.
See Also: Sebastian Maniscalco Net Worth – What The American Comedian Earns
Sebastian Maniscalco Married Someone With A Different Sense of Humor
Sebastian Maniscalco is no longer a bachelor. He is happily married to painter Lana Gomez. They exchanged vows on August 24, 2013, in a moderately lavish ceremony.
How did the couple meet for the first time? According to the joker, it all started when he shared a personal trainer with Lana without them knowing each other. But one day, Sebastian Maniscalco joked that he would like to know if there was any woman around and his trainer mentioned Lana. So, they scheduled for Sebastian’s training session to come after hers so that he would get a chance at talking to her. When he asked her out, she rejected him, joking that she couldn’t marry someone with 13% body fat. Immediately, he realized that she had a sarcastic sense of humor and fell for her even more.
The couple welcomed their first child (a girl) in 2017 and they named her Serafina Simone Maniscalco. Their son, Caruso Maniscalco arrived in June 2017. Sebastian and Lana are happily raising their children together in a home that’s filled with love.
Just as the humorist is doing well in his career, his wife too is not faring badly. As a painter and sculptor, Lana’s work has been featured in some of the most high-brow places such as the Doheny Mansion in Beverly Hills. She has also worked with famous people such as interior designer Kelly Wearstler.
