Sebastian Maniscalco’s Kid Sees Dad’s Stand-Up for First Time, Falls Asleep

Sebastian Maniscalco talks about his family a lot in his stand-up act. But because his kids are so young, they’ve never seen daddy at work — at least until recently. Maniscalco told Lamorne Morris, filling in for Jimmy Kimmel, that his five-year-old and seven-year-old finally caught his act for the first time at a recent show in Atlanta. How did they like pop’s comedy?

“My daughter comes backstage, and she’s like, ‘Oh daddy, now I know how you make money. Every time someone laughs, you get a dollar.” If only, kid, if only.

But basically, Maniscalco’s daughter gets it — daddy gets paid to make people laugh. But what did his boy think? “I asked my son, ‘How’d you like it?'” the comic told Morris. “And he said, ‘I fell asleep.’”

Family is “a tough audience to make laugh,” he concluded.

Luckily for Maniscalco, his ingrate of a son isn’t reflective of his core audience. The comic is playing huge arenas these days on his “It Ain’t Right” tour, including a date to be the first comic to play the new Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. Billionaire Steve Ballmer built the new arena to house his NBA team, leaving Morris with one question: “Will you be funnier than the Clippers? Because I got season tickets, and I be laughing my ass off at that team. Really funny squad.”

That’s a step up from the joints Maniscalco used to play when he moved to L.A. 25 years ago to become a stand-up comic. “I used to play anywhere they used to have comedy,” he said. “There was a place called Miyagi on Sunset Boulevard. It was a sushi joint, and they threw up comedy on Tuesday nights. People would be eating a tuna roll, the next thing you know, I’d be sitting there doing jokes, and they’re like, ‘What’s going on here?’”

Contrast those early gigs with his upcoming five-night engagement at Madison Square Garden, a run that Morris believes is a record-setter. “Listen, I don’t know about records,” Maniscalco said. “Last time I did it, there was four, now we’re doing five. I’m very flattered that a lot of people in the New York City tri-state area are coming out to see me do comedy. But I didn’t get into this to play Madison Square Garden. When I moved out here in 1998, all I wanted to do was stand-up comedy for a living. I just wanted to pay the bills.” 

At a dollar a laugh (the cheapest seat at those MSG shows goes for $159.30, which makes his daughter’s math sound about right), Maniscalco is paying the bills just fine — as long as everyone stays awake.