In the past year alone, comedian Sebastian Maniscalco has enjoyed the kind of success that other comics will never even sniff.
First, his latest special, It Ain’t Right, earned the No. 1 spot on Hulu shortly after it premiered last November. Then, he teamed up with Vegas-based DJ Steve Aoki to record the comedy-EDM banger, “Does Your Father Know You Dance Like That?” Now, he’s gearing up to perform his 100th show at Wynn’s Encore Theater when he returns for a two-night run on May 23 and 24.
Though the Chicago-born comic made his Wynn debut back in 2020, his admiration for the venue came years before it even opened, when he was performing across the street at the Stardust Hotel in the early 2000s.
“I’d go on these walks and look at the Wynn being built and go, ‘Wow, that’d be a really cool place to perform one day,’” Maniscalco says. “It just feels like you’re in show business when you’re there, because the way it’s set up reminds me a little bit of an old-school type of Vegas vibe. I feel like if Frank Sinatra was still around, he’d be hanging out at the Wynn.”
While he’s now a regular on that stage, he says fans should never expect a recycled act.
“I don’t want people coming to my show and going, ‘We heard that last time he was here,’” Maniscalco says. “It’s definitely harder to come up with material that’s equal to or greater than what I’ve done before. But I just go to the comedy club and work things out. You can’t develop a new act sitting in your basement.”
Maniscalco also prefers to weave recent experiences into his act—especially when they’re relevant to the city he’s visiting. For Las Vegas, this might include quips about clubbing with Aoki at 52 years old.
“I really love bringing a local experience to shows, because the relatability factor is really high. So, I like to start off with, this is what happened to me last night,” Maniscalco says. “Then, right away, you have the crowd on your side, because they think that you came up with it in the moment—which I did.”
Even in this new era, Maniscalco hasn’t let off the gas.
“I think the fact that I don’t really rest on the fact that I have, quote, unquote, ‘made it’ is what drives me to continue,” he says before a momentary pause. “Listen, I think it’s fear, to be honest with you. I’m not one of these positive guys—I draw from negativity and fear, and I think that’s what propels me to perform at a high level.”
And while he’s still touring, he’s also been completing side quests, like starring alongside Robert De Niro in 2023’s About My Father, and launching his own dedicated SiriusXM station in April. And following a viral impersonation by Marcello Hernández on Saturday Night Live last fall, fans are clamoring for him to host the show for the first time.
Even if he gets that call, however, Maniscalco’s priorities remain firmly grounded in his stand-up.
“I’m not sitting here yearning to do something like start my own clothing line or anything like that. It’s just that I enjoy doing comedy, or whatever comes off the back of it,” Maniscalco says. “I’ll take each individual situation as they come, but if I could do stand-up for the rest of my life, I’d be perfectly content.”
SEBASTIAN MANISCALCO May 23-24, 7:30 p.m., $100+. Encore Theater, ticketmaster.com.
