Exclusive: Sebastian Maniscalco bringing his 'enhanced' tour to Hershey

Sebastian Maniscalco is currently on the It Ain't Right Tour and is about to stop in Hershey, Pennsylvania. This is on the heels of his record-breaking five sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden, which hosted over 91,000 fans.

Even if he sold out the world's most famous arena five times, Maniscalco has not forgotten his roots.

"16-17 years ago, I was at a comedy club in New York performing in front of 12 people on a Wednesday night," Maniscalco recalled.

The It Ain't Right Tour is his biggest to date, not only in terms of tour dates (94 shows in eight months) but also venue size. The whole tour is being performed in arenas, whereas his last tour was a combination of theaters and arenas.

This time around, Maniscalco promises a revamped show with an intimate stage design. Unlike his previous tours, the stage is now triangle-shaped instead of a circle.

He developed these ideas with the famed Steve Cohen, who works with Billy Joel on his tours. Together, they created a lowered stage that allows fans to see everything.

"I recast the speakers into the stage so the sight lines are unobstructed," he revealed. "Because I like to do a lot of physical activity, and sometimes you lose my feet in the monitors, so I submerged them into the stage."

Bringing family on the road

Additionally, Maniscalco has two other all-stars with him for the adventure: Pete Correale and Pat McGann. The former is his co-host of The Pete and Sebastian Show; the latter has opened for Maniscalco for years.

"I hesitate to even call these guys openers because they are true headliners in their own right," he praised. "They are just coming on tour with me to experience the arena and hang out. It is good to have guys that you enjoy being on tour with because I've been out for three weeks, and [I'm] missing my kids and my family. So, it's nice to have friends around."

Usually, Maniscalco has a schedule comparable to Joe Gatto's . He usually only goes out for shows on weekends, giving him the flexibility to be home during the week.

However, during this initial stretch of the It Ain't Right Tour, Sebastian Maniscalco has been unable to be home. The first month of the tour has been isolating thanks to other projects he has brewing. Maniscalco, 51, sounds like a family guy well over two decades into his career.

But he brought them out for his sold-out run at the Garden in New York City. And when he returns to his hometown of Chicago in November for two shows at the United Center, his family will be by his side.

Making the leap to arenas

Going back to the setup of the It Ain't Right Tour, Sebastian Maniscalco broke down the difference in making the jump to an all-arena tour. He acknowledges the fact that comedy is best enjoyed in small clubs. But his physical style allows him to bridge the gap.

"Comedy is definitely enjoyed in a smaller setting, like a 180-person room comedy club," said Maniscalco. "And when you start getting up to these large venues, sometimes you lose the intimacy. However, my act is kind of tailor-made for these venues because I am so physical and move around a lot."

And for fans in the cheap seats, Maniscalco has got you covered. The It Ain't Right Tour features a triangle of screens above him for fans to enjoy from anywhere in the arena.

"I definitely enhanced the production of this show. I wanted to be a little more dramatic, so I brought in Steve Cohen, who is a great lighting designer [and] does a lot of work with Billy Joel, and then I lowered the stage to get a little closer to the audience. And I made it a triangle instead of a circle, which I've had in the past,"

— Sebastian Maniscalco on his stage setup.

Even though his latest tour visits big cities like New York City, Boston, and Las Vegas, he appreciates the smaller towns, too. Previously, he received the "biggest Hershey bar" he had ever seen while in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Regardless of the city his tour is in, Sebastian Maniscalco likes to take in the city and take notes. In his estimation, the observational comedy he draws from whatever city he performs in is always a reliable hit with the audience.

"What I like to do is take in the city [and] maybe open up with something that I've seen [there]," he explained. "I think people appreciate [it] because you are kind of relating to them right off the bat."

His most popular bits

Still, he has been doing comedy long enough to have longtime fans. When people approach him, they will typically recite the names of his tours and comedy specials. (ex. "What's Wrong with People?" and "Aren't You Embarrassed?")

But his most popular jokes remain the doorbell and Chipotle bit . The former, the one most recited back to him, tackles how differently we handle people ringing our doorbells nowadays. The latter says everything you think while you visit a Chipotle.

My personal favorite is his bit about Ross. Maniscalco lit up and explained that one upon my mentioning of it.

"That was one of the first bits I [had] come up with," he remembered. "I went to a Ross in 1998 with my father to buy pillows in L.A. We were coming from Chicago, so my father was like, 'You're gonna live here?' He was completely disgusted with the store."

Sebastian Maniscalco's evolution

Sebastian Maniscalco has been performing comedy for over 20 years. With that time comes experiences. This has allowed him and his work to evolve simultaneously.

You may think Maniscalco has this larger-than-life personality that he portrays on stage. Rest assured, he does not flail his arms when talking to fans.

For him, he has allowed his comedy to parallel his life, regardless of what he is going through. This extends to him getting married, having kids, and taking them to school.

But on the It Ain't Right tour, Sebastian Maniscalco is changing it up. Some of his routine is now focused on pop culture, largely uncharted waters for him. There is also less emphasis on his father, which is how he made a name for himself "because I've mined pretty much all the material about my father that I could about growing up."

What is most important is that Maniscalco continues to live life. He believes that "out of life comes humor," and he will be funnier if he experiences new things.

Making a name for yourself via TikTok

When Maniscalco was making a name for himself, he had to go through the comedy club circuit. As he mentioned, he has gone from performing in front of a dozen people on a weeknight to selling out five shows at Madison Square Garden.

Nowadays, social media plays a part in a comedian's rise. Matt Rife is an example of this. He gained notoriety for his viral clips on TikTok, usually of his crowd work.

He is now on a blockbuster tour and has two Netflix comedy specials under his belt. His current tour included stops at Radio City Hall and 3 Arena, all thanks to his social media presence.

Maniscalco acknowledges that there is no correct way to become a comic. He knows the hard work that goes into it. The only way to find out if you have got it is by testing the material.

"I believe with stand-up, just because of my own experience and from the comedians I've talked to before me, there's no real shortcut to doing [it]," he said. "You have to go out and test the material. You have to get the stage time; you have to be able to connect with an audience sitting right in front of you, as opposed to behind a screen."

Still, it is a double-edged sword. Maniscalco seems grateful that people are watching stand-up by any means, even if that means TikTok. As a comic, you have to make sure you do not rely on your social media presence to carry you for a career.

"Social media is a great tool to get people to come see you do stand-up, but you cannot rely solely on social media videos," Maniscalco lamented. "That doesn't replace the work you have to do as a stand-up [comic]."

The keys to acting, according to Robert De Niro

Throughout his career, Sebastian Maniscalco has acted in the Best Picture-winning Green Book, Somewhere in Queens, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and IF.

He has also collaborated with Robert De Niro twice, acting in The Irishman and About My Father alongside the icon . During those productions, Maniscalco picked up two things from working with him.

The first is keeping busy. Maniscalco explains to me that De Niro would always make sure to do something — like pack a bag or eat — while reading lines to create an authentic performance.

"As a young actor, you just sit down, get your mark, and read the lines," he explained. "But I wasn't privy [to that], like, Oh, I could be doing something. I could be getting dressed or whatever it is."

Doing this allows an actor to not for their lines. When you distract yourself, they flow out of you rather than overthinking the delivery.

Crying on command

The other tip helped Maniscalco cry on command while filming About My Father. In the comedy, Maniscalco has a scene where he has to get emotional, something that did not come easy to him. So, De Niro suggested that he think about his own father and his journey to America decades ago.

"There was a scene where I had to get emotional and cry, and I was having trouble doing that. De Niro took me aside, and because the scene was about my father, he was like, 'Think about your dad, the plight that he had coming here, when he was 15 years old, not knowing the language. And now you're in a movie,'" Maniscalco recalled. "It got me to a place where I got emotional thinking about my dad and the struggles his family had to deal with coming to America."

Since About My Father, Maniscalco has starred in Unfrosted, IF, and the first season of Bookie . Expect him to utilize what he has learned in all his projects going forward.

Over the next year, Sebastian Maniscalco will be busy. He mentioned in passing that he is working on other projects while on tour, making it a miracle he could fit in our phone conversation before his show in Albany, New York.

The It Ain't Right Tour is his biggest venture to date. His career only continues to evolve, from bringing a whole new stage on the road to working with De Niro (twice). The hard work has paid off.