Later this month standup comic Sebastian Maniscalco will play to a sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden deep in the heart of Midtown Manhattan – just three years removed from a string of four sold out dates at the famed arena.
But his standup comedy dates weren’t always quite so glamourous.
Maniscalo, a native of the Chicago suburbs that cut his teeth in the world of comedy in Los Angeles in the late 1990s, was on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon this week to promote the upcoming New York show later this year when he was asked by the famous host about the worst gig he ever performed.
Without missing a beat, Maniscalco recounted an experience he had with comedian Bret Ernst when the pair were booked to perform at a venue that was a long way off from the glitz and glamour of Madison Square Garden.
“Worst gigs – it was in Manteca, California, and it was a boxing ring,” Maniscalco said to the famous host. “Now, the problem with standup is that people thing that they can just throw it up anywhere and it’s going to work.
“So we walked in and go, ‘where’s the stage?’ and the guy said it was the boxing ring. On top of that, there was a bowling alley behind the boxing ring so I’m telling jokes while somebody behind me is trying to pick up a spare – it doesn’t really work well in standup when you’ve got bowling and blood on the floor.”
And it wasn’t the first time that Maniscalco opened up about the experience in the press.
Maniscalco, who has two specials on Netflix and was described as the “fifth highest-earning comedian” in the world by The Guardian in 2019, described the scene in more detail in an interview with the Chicago Tribune in 2018 – opening up about the scene at Rookie’s Sports Bar and Grill inside of what was then the Manteca Bowl and Family Fun Center.
“So my friend who’s also a comedian, Bret Ernst, we book this show in Manteca. We walk in and it’s a bowling alley. And on the other side of the bowling alley is a boxing ring. Boxing and bowling in the same building,” Maniscalco told Nina Metz of the Tribune. “There was a fight the night before so there was still fresh blood on the canvas and the ropes were still up. And they ring a bell – like a boxing match is going to start – and my friend entered the ring first and starts doing stand-up comedy.
“In a boxing ring. Nobody in the place realized that there was a comedy show going on., there was no announcement. It was just ding-ding-ding and then he’s in the ring: ‘Hey guys, what’s going on?’”
That friend, Ernst, starred with Maniscalco in Vince Vaughn’s “Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days in 30 Nights from Hollywood to the Heartland.” Ernst, who works out of Las Vegas today, is part of an extended friend circle with Manteca comic and Deaf Puppy Comedy Club Owner Chris Teicheira – who said that he hopes to have Ernst back to perform once again when the club opens its doors early next year.
And, of course, Teicheira said that Maniscalco – who will perform at a sold-out Madison Square Garden on Dec. 28, joining the pantheon of comedy greats like Eddie Murphy, George Carlin, Andrew Dice Clay, Chris Rock, Dane Cook, Russell Peters, Louis C.K., Kevin Hart, and Aziz Ansari – is more than welcome to make a return trip.
“If Sebastian Maniscalco wants to return to Manteca, I can’t promise bowling or boxing,” said Teicheira, whose circle crosses over with that of Bret Ernst – a comic he hopes will perform in at his club when it opens. “But we could rough him up a little bit just to keep our reputation.”
To contact Bulletin reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.
