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Sebastian Maniscolo. Did I say that name right there? You did pretty good. Yeah. Maniscolo.
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I like to buy a vowel. I'd like to buy a vowel. Yeah. It was so much fun to have him on because he's one of those people I had
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to say in the last 10 years when you're just kind of channel surfing on on these streaming and I saw a special and I
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stuck with it all the way through because it was new, you know, the physicality and the rhythm of all that
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stuff. So, he is very softspoken and really humble. the jerkiness, the uh also how he can go really low on a joke and not scream it, you know, it's kind of cool.
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And the actouts that he does all over the stage, the physical actouts and we talk about that and an injury that he
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got based on, you know, he's doing all this stuff and boom, it's blew out a cal or something. Even on Tik Tok, he's like
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uh he walks around like his kids soccer game and he goes, "They're taking a break for a snack." What? In the middle
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of the game? What? What? What are we doing? So funny. He does this exact act cadence, but in real life situations. That's funny. He's like the Italian dad in real life.
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We're looking around for those kind of scenarios are funny. My key to him is always the bit he did by the pool at
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some hotel and a guy comes down and he goes he starts clipping his toenails right on the pool deck and then he's got bandages
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on his toes from the bleeding bandages and he jumps in the pool. I got to swim with the bleeding bandage. I mean, but he is really next level funny to me. Um,
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people rehearsing for a wedding reception. It's seven weeks in some guy's basement.
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They got the bye-bye baby. What? What? Huh? I can't get six guys to go to dinner if I give him a year notice now. I got rehearsed. What? What?
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It's all What? What's going on? He's incredulous. He's the incredulous every man, you know. [ __ ] funny. Yeah. So anyway, it was really fun talking to him and we break down his
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artistry and his path to stardom. Uh plays big theaters, lots of specials, lots to talk about, very successful and a lot of great acting jobs. Sebastian, the one and only.
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I was shocked that you guys, you and Pete have done 628 episodes. Just the fortitude of that. Is that true? Not many. It's said episode 628.
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Yeah. Haven't uh haven't made a dime. It's coming. Our guys tell us it's coming right around the corner. Just patience, man. I mean, you know. Oh, you got into this for money?
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No, I I actually didn't. And we just started doing basically a phone call. Uh he's lives in Fredonia. I live in Los Angeles. And we're like, you know what? we have such a great time talking to one
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another. Let's just record it and we'll put it out there as a podcast and we we did it once a week for now going on 12
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years and uh you know we we just have fun doing it. It's not it's not obvious. Wait a minute. Do you do you read ads? Do you read ads? Yeah. Now you do. You read and still making nothing. I
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mean we got you got MasterClass. You got What do you got? You got Zak. You guys got Zach back? We've been there. We dated for a while, then we broke up. We got
00:03:43
Yeah, we sort of just they ghosted us. Blue Nile, right? Blue Nile is our biggest one.
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Yeah, Blue Nile's good. That's a big one. We got Diamonds. Yeah. So, you got the original wife. Original
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wife meaning pre I never even heard of this situation. I used my wife's so attractive that people
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thought she'd be the second wife after I got some fame and money. I go, "No, original wife." Like, "Oh, okay." But
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you had done one special, but you weren't Sebastian at that point, right? And you met 2009.
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Yeah. Yeah, we went in 2009. Uh I had I was just coming off actually uh yeah I was just coming off a special two years earlier and then yeah
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I was just you know knocking around comedy clubs. She would come with me Addison Beltline Road and improv and you
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know it was uh we kind of came up together in the comedy world. Uh, obviously I was doing comedy prior to
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meeting her, but like you know when I started making a living doing it, she was kind of right there with me.
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Let me ask you this. This is usually the evolution of a girlfriend who might become a wife, but okay, early on she's
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up close. Maybe not the first row, but right up there. Little few weeks later, she's heard a lot. She's in the middle
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of the crowd kind of hanging out. Then she's sort of standing in the back. Eventually, she's in the dressing room
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for Mosa's show and asking you how it went and then she stops coming. That's everyone I know. That's every single They're really excited. Then they see how the rabbit
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gets out of the hat. Yeah. They're going, "Oh, I see all these." But anyway, no, you're right. It's just It's a basic
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evolution out of the building. Uh yeah, call me after. What about Did you say Addison improv? Is that Dallas? Yeah, that's Dallas. And it's right by a freeway. Is that what you're talking about?
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Yeah, it's right. It's It's the most populated um restaurants per square mile, I think, in the country on Beltline Road in Dallas. I played the Dallas I I played the old
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Dallas improv that was on Central and Walnut. And then they opened Addison. That's old I am. And then I started
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playing that one. And uh Okay, I Dana, go ahead. Spellbinders in Houston. Anyone?
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Bill Hicks was my dandy little opener. I was I was temperamental in those days. I
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got a hold of his caller and said, "You ain't going nowhere, kid." Oh, good. I lost it. No, he was brilliant.
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Brilliant. Then all to the way So I There's another stat of yours. I just have to ask you because it's
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extraordinary. Extraord from from where you are now. The math that I did on your Wikipedia
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page says you were still waitering potentially at age 32. Yeah. Uh I Okay, that's extraordinary. I was waiting tables. Yeah. Around 31, I quit the Four Seasons Hotel right here
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in Beverly Hills. So I I was there for seven years in the Windows lounge delivering chicken sat to every
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celebrity in town. Oh, I love it. I love it. I uh I would do comedy during my break.
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I would run to the the comedy store, do a set, come back, pick up my table. So yeah, I I was uh early 30s. schle and
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drink. Don't you think? I mean, you know, when you make it and then you went on and then you you're at this
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apex. I mean, it's extraordinary. Welld deserved, too. So, you don't you think it's better to make it later? I mean,
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are you still kind of used to it? It's only been about 12 years since you went super
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supernova, I guess. In the context of your life, it's still kind of new in a way, or are you kind of
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acclimatized to the numbers? Yeah. What what arena? What? How big is the arena? It's arena size. Come on, Sebastian. You know, go ahead. No. Uh, you know, I I'm glad it kind of
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all happened the way it happened. Um, I just, you know, lot I I had a slow burn.
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You know, I didn't get a TV show or a movie or anything like that that kind of catapulted me into standup comedy in a
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way where I could draw a crowd. So, I just did it, you know, kind of slow burn and uh yeah, I mean, listen, I I I grew up in a workingass, middle class family
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and uh you know, we've always kind of had to work, you know, my my dad always says the manoscal family, nothing comes easy. We always got to kind of be patient, put our time in.
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Did he actually say the manoscal? cuz I can't imagine my dad saying the coffees will always I mean that's just very
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Italian or Sicilian or something, right? Yeah. It's it's very it's very uh it's very Sicilian like um we always got to
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you know wait our turn basically. No one bumps us to the the head of the line, you know, we're uh I I still have that
00:08:33
type of career too though. I mean I have a fan base obviously they come and see me but like for example I went to the
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Bulls game uh in my hometown of Chicago last week, right? Simone Biles sitting there with her husband Jonathan Owens and you know they put you up on the on
00:08:50
the jumbotron. So they tell me we're putting Simone Biles up, right? She goes up there. You would have thought Michael Jordan walked in. Oh my god. You got to follow her. And then me who I I just I'm doing two
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sellout shows the the Friday and Saturday right after that. I didn't even know they announced my name. It was
00:09:09
almost as if a guy came out to shoot free throws during the That's the response I got in my hometown. So, it's like I'm still like just on the fringe of
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like quote unquote celebrity or fame. Yeah. You know, there's fun things. There's there's interesting facts that uh like Dane has probably been more famous in his life than he hasn't been.
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So that's that's probably a weird feeling because you always remember more that you weren't, but he's had such a
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run. And then Arty Lang, who I think you guys all know, Arty Lang told me the weirdest he felt was when he made more
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than his dad. It was such a weird feeling for him that what he does, which is so feeling
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so trivial, and then he goes, "Wow, my dad's such a [ __ ] hard worker." And he goes, "I honestly had to go to
00:10:00
therapy. I didn't know how to deal with that." Isn't that crazy? But I I I get it. My dad was a high school teacher. So,
00:10:06
Sebastian, your dad, was he somebody making six figures or 50k or Yeah, he's a he's a hair he owned hair salons. So, he was a hairdresser, but you know, never, you know, never had a a franchise of
00:10:21
hair salons. Just a few throughout his career. Not not making a a fantastic living, but not, you know, we we went on
00:10:28
one vacation. We had two cars. We lived in a nice home. never struggled for money. But yeah, I think it is kind of
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weird to get used to. I never really even thought about making more than my father. That never really even crossed
00:10:41
my mind as far as like it's it's never been like you're making what more money. It the relationship is such is like that
00:10:49
that he's the star, right? Sure. And and I'm I'm I'm hanging on to his coattail.
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That's all. But also, I grew up not know, you know, my dad was kind of in and out of my life, but never even knew
00:10:59
how much anybody made. It didn't even cross your mind. You just, you know, you had a place to live hopefully and some
00:11:05
food and it but I didn't know numbers. I didn't know. Who knew? Yeah. You know, so you just That's your dad
00:11:12
and he's the main guy in your life cuz he's your dad, but it's a weird feeling to get
00:11:17
I mean I there's times I feel obviously overpaid for things and you go just a weird feeling.
00:11:22
You never get you never get used to it. I don't care. I mean cuz I had the same kind of thing. Five kids, high school, you know, two day old baked goods. Not
00:11:30
one day, but two day. My mom would go old County Road, never had a new car, but we were we were super happy, man. We got a colored TV in 1965. We had an antenna. We couldn't really see
00:11:41
anything, but it was colorful. Antana. But I think I asked my wife, and I don't know who you would ask, but I always once in a while I'll ask her. In 1979 when I met her, I was in college
00:11:54
just trying to do little open mics. Robin Williams was creeping around making everyone feel like why am I even
00:11:59
doing this? And I said, did I ever say I wanted to be rich and famous ever? Nope.
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That was never the goal. It was to become a middle act. And then to become a headliner.
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I was just middle. So yeah, David. Yeah. Go ahead. Speak to that. Yeah. I I don't think that I don't think the the people that have talent and and are in this just for the sheer joy of
00:12:25
making people laugh are ever looking for fame and fortune in in that way. I mean,
00:12:31
obviously there's some outliers, but you know, in a day and age now where everybody wants to be famous for I don't
00:12:39
know what. I mean, you know, I feel like we're kind of like the last of the Moheakans in the sense of where we
00:12:47
actually had to work going to the club, working on the act, the timing, the nuance, the heckling or whatever it is. But now, apparently, you turn your
00:12:58
camera on and you eat a meatball and you'd say you tell people how good it is and all of a sudden, you know, you're uh
00:13:05
you're just as famous as the guy. That's so demoralizing for the young people because I talked to some talent
00:13:11
managers a while back and I asked them, "Does talent matter?" And they said, "No, no." They think in a long career it
00:13:17
does, but no, no, no, no. There's a kid who open, he's handsome, he opens up jars of pickles. He does seven figures.
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So, what do you do with that? The impressing, if your kid goes, "Oh my god, the the guy that drinks pickle
00:13:30
juice follows you." That's like the biggest victory of your life. You're like, "Everyone was good when I grew up.
00:13:36
Don Rickles was good. Carson was good. Frank Sinatra, I mean, all great." But yeah, that that's so distortive. So, uh I don't want to go to my disc. Go ahead.
00:13:47
One second. You since you've been around entertainment for quite some time, have you guys ever run across a Sinatra? Do
00:13:54
you have like a Sinatra story? Did he ever come in? I have a I have a weird one. It's a
00:13:59
little dark, but So, it's n This is a cigar metaphor. Sit back. It's No, it's You're not going to see what's coming. So, it's 1998. I'm getting a stent in my artery at Cedar Sinai, which you know,
00:14:13
it happens. I'm fine. Don't worry. So, I'm there. I'm just in the, you know, I'm on the ward in my room reading a
00:14:20
magazine and and there's this hubbub and uh, "Hey, what's going on out there?" He goes, "Sinatra just checked in, you
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know, and uh, they put him in the room next to me." And so, I was just listening. I heard under my breath.
00:14:34
No, he didn't want. But anyway, he passed away that night. Uh, it was May 8th or 10th, 1998. Not in my arms, but Yeah. In my arms. Did you go in there and
00:14:45
cuddle him? Uh, I wanted to, man. I I I became an Army issue hyper fan at age 40. Before
00:14:52
that, I didn't get it. And then when I got it, I really got it, you know. But I did ask the cardiologists there, world
00:14:58
class. I go, "What was what was Frank Sinatra like as a patient?" And they were Indian. They're brill they're still
00:15:04
friends of mine. and they go, "Oh, he was he was it was very tough." You know, because you give him the thing to blow
00:15:09
in and see what your lungs are. Hey, get back, doc. Ain't going to I'm going to blow this further than anybody's ever
00:15:14
blown these bubbles in the [ __ ] life, you know. So, I don't know. Do you have a SN story, David? Or you, Sebastian?
00:15:21
That's mine. No. No. I never I never ran across one. Was your dad a super fan? Cuz
00:15:29
or No. I mean, I mean, we listened to him, but it wasn't like, you know, uh, you know, we didn't have a picture of him on
00:15:36
the wall at the house. It was uh he he was he was, you know, played on Saturday mornings while I was doing uh vacuuming. I remember uh I had to do chores on Saturday. My
00:15:48
mother would play him around the house. But uh yeah, I don't know. I just find them fascinating. Like I just I don't know like the the old school type of
00:15:55
guy. It's fun kind of. Well, the rap pack at the Sands, the live album is is magical, you know, and John Love it told me John Love it,
00:16:05
plays it in before he goes on every night when he does clubs, he plays that to get that vibe of Sinatra and Dean Martin and that that the coolness of that. But can I ask you a question
00:16:17
because I'm just sort of curious just to put a picture on your childhood, you know, working class. How many siblings
00:16:23
did you have? I have a sister younger about five years. And so what were I like asking people these questions TV show or movie that floated your boat
00:16:33
as you know in the formative years 8 10 11 12 toy or bicycle you had that you'll
00:16:39
never forget or musical act that you blew your mind coming up you have five seconds it was threest company was my company
00:16:51
my John Ritter is magic did you ever meet John Ritter ever met John Ritter but heavily
00:16:57
influenced uh by my physical comedy with John Ritter. Uh a bike or do you say a a toy? Toy a He-Man. I grew up in the He-Man
00:17:09
era. So I not Stretch Armstrong. Not Stretch. He-Man was a big a big He-Man doll. I I used to play football like with my He-Man dolls. So it was like,
00:17:24
you know, like we might have gone too far He-Man for five yards. Um, and then uh
00:17:32
uh an entertainer would would be Michael Jackson growing up was was my vibe. Can I tell you my Michael Jackson story? Is it the Holiday Inn? Yeah. I worked at the Holiday Inn and I
00:17:44
was a bus boy waiter and the Jackson 5 came in and I would go and and wait on them. You know, there was Tito and Marlin. And I I went in Michael's room before the show, he ordered raw carrots.
00:17:59
And Janet, I believe, as a little girl, was jumping up and down on the bed, and he would sit and look at the mirror in
00:18:05
the room. I give him the raw carrots. And I felt bad later on because I know I said, "You're a good-look kid, but you
00:18:10
can maybe do a little something." And I I just backed off and left. But damn, that set off a whole thing with
00:18:16
him. I know. But I did wait on Rh because we were near the Circle Star Theater up in
00:18:21
the Bay Area. It was a 3,000 in the round. So I waited on Richard Prior, George Carlin, Rich Little. I did room
00:18:28
service to Little Richard. He answers the door completely naked. God. And anyway, that's that part. That's another podcast. Can I ask you a little
00:18:39
bit about um your your process? Yeah. Because once in a while I'd sit down on Netflix and I'd watch specials, okay? And I usually last 15 minutes with David.
00:18:52
Well, I I like I said, I last about 15 minutes, though, David, I go longer. But so I'm going through I never I didn't know a thing about you. Never saw you. And it was the one with the um Subway
00:19:05
sandwich in the Cinno bun. And I watched it all the way through and I said, "Holy [ __ ]
00:19:13
this is new. This is familiar but completely brand new." It kind of I used to have gotten this from people over the
00:19:19
years right when they first because the physicality and the musicality together was so potent to me. And the physicality is it's not just all this, it's also
00:19:31
just your head. I mean, it's like and then the rhythms. Yeah. You know, the way you say people paper like you're so exasperated. The
00:19:44
guy's over by the pool clip in his toenail. I mean, it's so hypnotic and I love it
00:19:51
and I've recommended that special and others to our business manager loves you. And two things, one, so then I went
00:20:00
I said I showed you to my kids. I said, "Oh, this guy, you know, Sebastian." Then I said, "Let's find out where he
00:20:06
was." So I watched you on Craig Ferguson doing standup and it was all there but it wasn't 2.0. It wasn't extrapolated but everything was there. So the
00:20:18
confidence leap was huge. So you have people tell you this, right? I mean it's it's so potent. No one else is doing that even to this day your style. I just
00:20:29
I just really appreciate it. And do you pull muscles? Do you get hurt on stage? because Jim Brewer does.
00:20:37
Okay, that's all I got to say. No, it was very very sweet of you. I I appreciate the cut. I like the way you
00:20:42
put it uh describing kind of what happens up there. Um physicality and musicality. Yeah, I never really heard it put that way, but
00:20:53
um yeah, for me as far as uh I I I did comedy so much just to just to get good at it and familiar and you know, talk about the confidence, you know. I I noticed when I started moving a lot,
00:21:07
people like enjoyed that and it was a bit of a surprise because maybe you wouldn't suspect it coming from a guy
00:21:14
like I was just kind of up there. I was kind of dressed nice and then I would do a whatever and then I'm like, "Oh, wow.
00:21:20
I'm getting some response here with the movement." And then I guess what happens in standup comedy, you just become
00:21:27
uh you try to get as comfortable as you are just talking like with your family. So that's kind of how I equated it to cuz they would look at me on stage and go, "You're much funnier when you talk
00:21:38
to us, you know." And I was like, "Well, you know, I got to get used to this. It's something that it's very new to
00:21:44
me." And uh and yeah, for me it's just basically storytelling. And the actouts are are kind of u just they're they're not practiced. It's just like I'm going
00:21:55
to go to the comedy store tonight and I'm going to tell a story that happened to me and how I tell the story happens
00:22:01
to come with a a head bob or that just being shocked. The one I I don't know which special it was, but people just randomly ringing the doorbell. The act out on that was just
00:22:14
huge. I mean, you're going in different rooms lying down. It was like a whole military operation.
00:22:19
So, I call it funny with the sound off. And there's nothing more potent than if you look at I Love Lucy or Peter Sellers
00:22:26
where there's first of all, there's not one joke in your act verbally, but also that the actouts allow the audience to
00:22:34
laugh crazy hard because they're not they don't have to listen right at that moment. So, then they're free. And so I I just
00:22:41
it's a style that I just love it. I think it's kind of a style that when I saw it at the store, I think I first saw
00:22:46
it uh Sebastian just leaving, you know, you do a set and you're leaving and I go he was next. So I just sat in the back
00:22:53
or I just walked in one night and before I went on just who's on I don't know everybody here and uh same thing D. I
00:22:59
just thought it was very different. And I think it's kind of like maybe you're saying his stand up in the
00:23:05
old days was sort of uh in a weird way ac cappella and now you're adding strings and different things to it
00:23:12
because movements and different things are taking like a bit that's funny and it's getting funnier. There's little
00:23:19
layers to it now. So you're not So you have a bit that's already funny and now you're putting different stuff to it.
00:23:25
Now it's elevating and now that's your whole style. There's more going on in each bit than a regular
00:23:31
standup. I would say that's what I I I drawn to the same stuff. It was already funny. And then he surprises with some
00:23:37
moves. I think I there was the Uber bit and there was the one about the about when that was just funny to me.
00:23:43
And then and then when I see I see, you know, it got into this other thing that we can get into where I just did a special and
00:23:50
this is more what this podcast is about. Um I did a special and and so what's the name of it? When is it? We we
00:23:56
we don't know yet. But the thing about it is, and Sebastian's done a lot of these,
00:24:02
and the idea of do you start from scratch and do a whole new hour or do you do a mix bag? Uh, so for me, I just shot my special
00:24:15
last week and I'm still on tour, so that will come out after I uh after I'm done
00:24:20
with the tour. So, I like to give the crowd a new experience if I'm going to go on tour again. I mean, I think there's some uh some material that people enjoy that they want to hear,
00:24:32
right? Um and I might throw a few of the older ones in, but I like to, you know, I I
00:24:40
don't know. It's hard with comedians. I mean, I'm sure you guys run into it. The impressions that you do, people want to
00:24:46
see the impressions or people want to see the Totally. They Yeah. Yeah. And you're you're like, "All right, you know, I'll give you that." But like the hits here's what what do you got? Where's
00:24:57
the bride's groomsman or whatever? That one where they come down and rehearse. That one I always thought was funny cuz
00:25:03
when I see you sometimes I go, "Oh, I don't know what's coming out, you know, and I if I told my buddy, oh, there's an Uber bit. There's this bit." So those kind of things happen with me, too. They
00:25:13
go, "Oh, I came to see you and you didn't do." And I'm like, "I know. I actually like to mix in some of my
00:25:19
favorites and then of course do new stuff and then there's that feeling of that was in the special. Do I do it when I go out again? I don't know. It's it's a back and forth.
00:25:29
Well, here you guys uh a little bit older than me. You you you didn't have like you when you did when you did something on TV or you did that just lived on TV. It's not like you went and
00:25:42
go and like pulled that clip back up again of uh the SNL sketch that you guys did.
00:25:48
It's like if you missed it, you missed it. Yeah. And now it's all out there for everybody
00:25:56
to see. So you do a special and it's like I didn't even I didn't have cable going up so I didn't even see the damn
00:26:02
HBO specials and and and and then and when I caught it was like catching a unicorn. But now it's like you do you do a special, they cut it up, it's all on clips on on internet and then people
00:26:16
come out and go, "All right, well yeah, we saw that. What are we paying, you know, $55 ticket?" That's a big thing.
00:26:23
When I saw that already on on YouTube. So it's a challenge, I think, for comedians to kind of come up
00:26:28
with equal or greater than material that they have done previously. That's the challenge.
00:26:39
Ticket prices are a trip, right? Because I was said, "Oh, you know, I'm just trying to warm up, so I'll play this
00:26:45
casino in Orville." And then I see the tickets are like $195. You know, I got notes on stage. I'm I'm working my old characters. It's
00:26:58
a little bit like, "Guys, I' I'd rather take a little less and not feel that [ __ ] pressure. Am I going to give you
00:27:05
195 bucks worth of comedy? But I will observe one thing about you because you don't have any punchlines. It's a little
00:27:11
bit like with me chopping broccoli. People still I don't know if you've heard of it, but it's this goofy song
00:27:16
and there was no joke in it. And so your bits have no joke. So it's like Monty Python or something. The rhythms and the physicality. You you probably would enjoy some of your stuff more the second
00:27:28
time. So I can see why you go, "Okay, I'm going to do this bit. maybe do an encore, you know, Bill um Rean, Brian
00:27:35
Rean had to do that because he had some bits that were just so people just wanted to hear them. And
00:27:40
even before Twitter and Tik Tok, yeah, it's not jokes with surprise punchlines. Those kind of burn out. Those guys who do that style, that's hard. But anyway, you go ahead.
00:27:52
I think you're right. Sometimes it's just the way people do it. Like the chopping broccoli, everybody could watch that over and over again. I I did have a
00:28:00
question on the chopping broccoli when you went chop like you did a you did a chop. Is that was that all in the moment
00:28:08
there or was that like planned? I done it in the clubs. I think the first time I did it was at the improv on Melrose and that piano at midnight. Started it there. So I was doing in the clubs for
00:28:21
probably a couple years. So that was just a a good representation, but there's no way I'm knowing when I'm
00:28:27
going to go, you know, but I knew that I was going to escalate it, but I didn't know it would happen right at that moment. You know, it's probably the way
00:28:34
you work, you know, you and me, you know, but it's uh yeah, you you you kind of have an outline, but you're not totally sure. I know it's cold as ice paradise, and the feeling was so nice. She's a
00:28:45
lady I know. If I didn't know her, she'd be the lady I didn't know, you know. And then we get in. My lady went downtown.
00:28:50
She bought some broccoli. And then there there I'm off. Once I get to chop broccoli, then anything could happen.
00:28:56
[ __ ] chop in the clubs. I'll do it for 10 minutes with a guitar. Yeah. Or when you did an SNL, I I've seen it. But
00:29:04
I I watch it for the first time a week ago. Did it kill or was it one of those ones
00:29:09
that like Coneheads that doesn't do that well and then they do it again then it kills because they they're on to it. You know what I They're like,
00:29:15
"Oh, it takes a" Because sometimes those are just like weird bits and then they stick with
00:29:20
everybody and everyone's like, "Oh [ __ ] that's great." And you go, you know, it never killed because it's so new they
00:29:26
haven't they don't even get it right away. It did build. I mean, the character I had to call it a character.
00:29:31
I used to do it just as myself. I'd set it up as rock stars losing inspiration. Um, but Derek Stevens and then it sort of built after time, but it did well. It
00:29:43
was at the end of my first show, but then I wrote a sketch later where Derek Stevens goes to his record company and
00:29:49
they tell him that he has to die because they look at the record sales of Hendricks and Jim Morrison. That kind of
00:29:55
killed the character, you know. But anyway, but back to our guest. Did did you guys on SNL I mean I
00:30:03
I do you look at other casts after you guys have left and say oh you know do you compare like oh when we were there it was the heyday or how do you guys
00:30:17
like judge the show after you've been on it is something that David I start with thinking they're all bad and then I go from there. No, I don't.
00:30:28
Uh, no, it's it's we've we've talked about this because we we've talked to different generations, Garrett Morris
00:30:35
and Lorraine Newman and then we go newer cast and it's always about the same situation where some of them are some sketches are good and some don't work as well and then there's some cast members
00:30:46
that kind of pop out and some flatline and that's just the way it's always been. Uh, I think we I was lucky to have good people around me, but that wasn't
00:30:56
for sure known at the time. It was 5 years later, 10 years later that everyone kind of held up. I always
00:31:03
think, you know what I mean? Um, I could have some memories of the seven years I had in there that was really went well
00:31:09
and everything, but when I see other people like later on like Sher Terry or if I see Will Ferrell and stuff, it's
00:31:15
like, okay, they're better than I was. That's how I go. I go Bill Hater, Fred Ars. Okay, there. I'm not as good as uh
00:31:22
Kristen Wig or I couldn't do that. I couldn't do that. I always look at the cast beyond my time lovingly and with a lot of admiration, you know, cuz like I
00:31:33
didn't do that, you know, cuz it's kind of unlimited. You do what you do and then you leave the show. But, you know,
00:31:39
it keeps being reinvented. Uh I mean, how do you I'm just going to ask you because you didn't have cable and you're
00:31:46
in the clubs like who were you who were you looking at? And you you didn't have telephone, you
00:31:51
didn't have a landline or you know, but who are you? Like George Carlin. George Carlin. Who are you looking at to to
00:31:57
It was anybody on Johnny Carson. So we would stay up and watch Johnny Carson and then
00:32:02
I would be fascinated when the comedian would come on. Back then I think he got like seven or eight minutes. Uh and I
00:32:08
was like just like, "Oh, wow. This is this is unbelievable." Plus back then we would listen to records of
00:32:14
Yeah. Arlin or or uh I would I would see cable my on on Saturday morning I went over to my uncle's house to visit and he would tape all the the comedians for me to watch. So I I that's kind of how I
00:32:27
was introduced to standup was I I think first through through the Tonight Show. So how old were you when you went to your uncle's house to look at the standups to watch the Playboy channel?
00:32:38
This is eight. I was like seven eight years old. Oh so you got the bug early. You kind of Yeah. Yeah. I was I I was really really
00:32:44
fascinated with standup comedy from a young age. I just always thought it was I used to go to comedy clubs when I was
00:32:50
15, not to perform, just to watch. I had a fake ID. Me and my girlfriend would go and there's a little comedy club in
00:32:57
Rosemont at the time. I even forget the name of it. Um and we used to sit in the back and I used to sit there and marvel
00:33:02
at the comedian going, "Gee, how does he remember all that?" Exactly. I did the same thing.
00:33:09
And I'm like, "Are they just making this up like right now? They seem so confident. They're so smooth.
00:33:15
Yeah. Did you see Seinfeld on there? I remember seeing Seinfeld. I saw Leno on Carson. I saw Jeff Alman.
00:33:22
Uh there's just some that stuck out. George Miller. Remember that was is that on Letterman? Letterman's friend. George
00:33:27
Miller. But that's funny because you see them and that's really it and then you wait and see someone else on there. Rickles was always as a kid was the one who just made me laugh the hardest cuz
00:33:38
over there chewing on jokes. Ed, the show started a half hour ago. Put him in the corner. Give him a cookie.
00:33:44
Hey, Ed, get with the program. I mean, and you he had his tricks, but still he made it feel so spontaneous. And yeah,
00:33:51
so I I really enjoyed him and the Johnny Carson banter and the back also I liked when the the the
00:33:58
the talk shows had people on the couch and you would come out and they would goof
00:34:04
around with the the girl next to you, next to you. Everybody would be like having fun. And now it's like you go out
00:34:11
there and it's just you and you and the host. It would be nice to have this the first guest sitting next to you. Yeah,
00:34:16
it's promotion and corporate greed and you know that was just like I mean there's one online there's so many
00:34:22
online where Rickles is just next to Sinatra you know Vinnie Babango called you know he's just doing all these fake
00:34:28
Italian names and uh Sinatra was dying but yeah that bygone era can I ask you this uh were
00:34:36
you introverted extroverted in the middle going through grade school or do you have years where you were kind of the king of the hill other years you were dormant shy. Just shy kid. Never class clown.
00:34:49
Just quiet, polite, just observe the the class clown. I I never liked the class clown. I always thought not funny. Sorry, Dana. No, I was introverted as well. But in
00:35:02
when I was in fourth grade, I had a good year. I got kind of cocky. But fifth grade, I went I went I went dormant. No,
00:35:08
fourth grade, some about I was a shoplifter. I smoked cigarettes and I fought a lot of kids. I fought. I was
00:35:15
What happened? Your stock went down the next year. I don't know. You know, that's that's thing what I was going to say about confidence, you know, is there's 99%
00:35:24
and then that last 1% is as big as the as the previous 99. And I think that's where you got to at a given point. And so the audience when they sense that kind of confidence like Dave Chappelle
00:35:35
when he's up there, you know, it's just like that's at that high high and you're
00:35:41
takes 22 minutes to light a cigarette. Everyone's like, I know it's mesmerizing. You're actually It's funny. Yeah, you're waiting.
00:35:46
You're actually when you watch him, you you hope that he likes you as an audience member.
00:35:52
That's how powerful he is. But when you get to that level of confidence, that next next wound down
00:35:58
level. The audience is so comfortable. They're so relaxed that you have command up there. And you got there. I don't know what year it was, but you got there. And it's fun to watch. I've I've
00:36:11
seen recent specials. I won't give names of big comics and I I was one of them a few years back, but their eyes are kind
00:36:17
of big and they're they're dancing for their dollars. They're a little sweaty and it's not their best set. And you
00:36:23
know, you want to feel like the guy's not shooting a special, you know? You know, Sebastian's eyes get big, a beat of sweat, and it's ain't funny all of a sudden. Go ahead, David. He's not afraid not afraid to keep keep it silent
00:36:36
for a second, you know, like I think I think I'm right when you uh when there's silence in mind. I'm scared they're
00:36:42
going to yell. I'm scared. It's hard to sit there and be quiet and think of the next thing. I think Nate Bgatsi has good
00:36:47
crowds where they wait. You know what I mean? They're well behaved. And to get a crowd, it's so
00:36:52
much more fun to do throwaway jokes or to take a pause and then they go, but if you I get rowdy sometimes and so I can't
00:36:59
leave that much. And I think I I like when someone like Sebastian just stops for a second, then he goes on the next
00:37:05
thing and you're like, I'm in this. So if you're a good if you get a good crowd, you can do it. Yeah. That's the biggest fear that I I
00:37:12
love the silence. It's just you don't know what people are going to say or do or or you know, someone could
00:37:20
yell out something because the audience feels sometimes maybe uncomfortable going
00:37:25
are we supposed to talk now or are you do you forget something? Yeah, they want you to keep [ __ ] going. They get uncomfortable. They're like, "Maybe this is the time he wants me to
00:37:37
yell something stupid." And they're right on quue. You know you're in shape as a standup if you're
00:37:43
up there and you have a bit and it's killing. And you just in the back of your head, you go, "Oh my god, if this
00:37:49
is killing, I got three stacked right behind this." You know, I can really relax now.
00:37:55
Oh yeah. You know, that's a good place to be. Good crowd is great. Yeah. Yeah, the the Yeah, you gotta be I
00:38:01
mean even even sometimes you feel like I don't know if you guys feel like you're doing a bit maybe it's one of your
00:38:08
favorite bits to do but it doesn't come it comes in the middle. You put it in the middle, right?
00:38:15
And you feel like after that you're like ah I the stuff that I got after this not
00:38:21
going to be as good as what they just saw. Right. No, but I you get at least for me, I get so
00:38:26
excited to do that. I got to move it up in the act. It keeps me kind of engaged.
00:38:33
And then after that, for me, I I feel like, oh man, it's it's a little bit of a let down just to to tell them these
00:38:39
these jokes because I know they're not as good as what I just did. So, or you know, or you get a weird crowd,
00:38:44
not to interrupt you, we I had this the other night. They're they weren't they're either really biting on
00:38:50
everything or you go, "Oh, they're not biting on this. This is dirty." And they're not biting. And I'm like,
00:38:55
"Uh-oh." I'm looking at my list going, "We got some dirty ones coming up toward the end. How do I get around these?"
00:39:01
Because why? It's so hard on your feet to go, I got to move that up. I got to lose that, but I still got to do enough
00:39:07
time because they are If they're not biting on this one, they're not going to like the next. I You can just tell. I know.
00:39:12
Get off it. Get off it. That's such a psychological beating up there. You're like,
00:39:18
"Don't you find it fascinating that you're saying they're not biting on this?" Meaning as as a as an audience
00:39:25
collect, a whole group. Yeah. Yeah. Like like they all got together and go, "Listen, dirty. We're not
00:39:30
laughing at the dirty stuff tonight." But it's fascinating for me is like how is it like everybody in the audience is
00:39:38
not on board with this one particular? Yep. or they don't like the the super dry stuff. Like you can just come have little musings that work. Like I think the other night I go on and I go, "Uh,
00:39:49
hey, don't tell me what happened in the election. I taped it. Don't tell me who won. I taped it." And then and then I
00:39:56
got a big laugh. Next night I do it, they're just staring at me. I'm like, "What happened? What happened between last night and tonight?"
00:40:02
Uh, at certain point it's too late to do that. But for there two, three days there and then I go and then I go,
00:40:09
"There's some throwaways in my act. They weren't. And they're like, "We're not the throwaway crowd. Give us the give us
00:40:14
the fast balls." I'm like, "Fuck." And that's what you realize early on. And I go, "I got an hour on this. I got to
00:40:20
My problem is if I too early get too jumpy and I just go out and I go, not going to do it. I'm fucked." Cuz that's it. They They Some people leave after that. They Or if I go party on some half
00:40:32
the crowd goes we got it. We got it. We heard it. If I don't do anything else and then you do something else, I go, why are you doing something else? Why are you talking about anything but the church lady right now? I don't
00:40:43
understand why. So, you're ruining it. It's a good problem to have. But it's basically a greatest hits review. I might as well be at, you know, the Tropicana and Laughlin. You know,
00:40:55
little Dennis Miller slipped in. Oh, you got, by the way, I'll be at the Tropicana and Laughlin on November 18, 19.
00:41:00
You got the Sebastian cat on the pod today, huh? That's a toddling and cat, you know, out there with the physicality works it works it. So, uh, what another question
00:41:13
besid uh your all your credits, movies, TV shows in a He's like, "Please get to my credits."
00:41:19
PR person's going nuts. When is he going to mention the book? When is he going to do it?
00:41:25
When's he going to mention the bookie? We got a 2hour podcast. I can't do it. Do you have to stretch before you go
00:41:32
out? I mean, do you kind I do. uh early on. No, but now I I pop my calf a couple of times on stage of all things. Which bit was it or what?
00:41:43
You can't do the stealing. It was just a pivot move or you were squatting. I I went to go sprint from one side to
00:41:50
the other as I went off my right leg. It I'm like, "Wow, did did I just break my
00:41:55
leg?" Doesn't take much. You have to be at least 30. So after that, it doesn't take
00:42:03
a lot. You're like, what happened was I turn to grab the computer mouse and everyone's like, and I go, that was it.
00:42:09
I'm old enough that my my toes will spasm during a set. Like they just start going out and getting all rigid. I got
00:42:16
to I go, what the [ __ ] That's painful. I can't put any weight on it. So I just
00:42:21
go, "Not going to step over." I'm trying to stir up ticket sales on this bike. I want to see you collapse. I'm going to your show. So, did you have to ice it,
00:42:35
rest it, massage it? It It was okay. Yeah, I had to mention it to the crowd because it that definitely hampered my
00:42:41
movement. I had sciatica for two years. Uh and it really really screwed with my Oh, that's wicked. Wicked [ __ ] I don't know if you guys have dealt with that. Does that go down your back, your leg or
00:42:52
something? Yeah, it goes side of your leg into your calf. Some people get it into their ankle and foot, but uh
00:42:58
[ __ ] that debilitating. I couldn't I couldn't move. I you know, it's hard to be funny when you're in like a lot of pain. So, I
00:43:05
had to really uh work through that. It's it's gone now. I I did uh a lot to correct it. I I
00:43:12
tried everything shots. I was getting I was doing cupping, massage, whatever that was out
00:43:18
there, I was doing. And then I I fell upon this lree Pilates and all of a sudden two months in.
00:43:24
Wow. I'm Yeah. My wife had it. Same same thing. Pilates, all that kind of stuff. Could I
00:43:31
ask you what special when you were in massive pain did you record? Just what was the name of that
00:43:37
special? When you're in pain. Oh, that was the last one. Is it me in the tuxedo? Really?
00:43:43
You probably decided not to record this. What is your last one called? Is it me?
00:43:49
Yeah. Or I thought it ain't right. No, it ain't right. Is the the tour tour. The tour. Yeah. Yeah. And then is
00:43:55
it me? Yeah. Yeah. Is it me? And how would you What time is it? What time is it?
00:44:03
I'm running out of special names. Sebastian, you have one called Give It a Rest. Give it a rest.
00:44:09
Mine's called Beep Bop Boop. I mean, they go, "Are you is this a real one?" I'm like, "I don't know." That's He had a special that even What? He had
00:44:16
a special. He named it. The name was so nondescript that for two years in this podcast, neither of us could remember
00:44:23
couldn't remember the name of his current special. What was the name of it? Always like either two words or just
00:44:28
something kind of cutesy. But question, aren't you embarrassed? What's wrong with people?
00:44:34
Yeah. Get your facts straight. Oh yeah, I got sciatica. It's uh if you name a special, do you have to say the name in the act? That's a great question. I uh
00:44:54
you know, people go, "I'll watch your special and give you a name." I'm like, "You won't." Because there's not some running theme of like, "I was abused by
00:45:01
my father the whole special." They're like, "Oh, I got one." You're like, "No, it's just all goofy dumb jokes and it
00:45:06
makes no sense." So, I'm going to have it a special name. Like when I heard Rock named his Tambourine and I didn't
00:45:13
get it at all, but I just like that it was different and spelled different than And then he said, "When you're married,
00:45:19
sometimes you're the lead. Sometimes you play the tambourine and let them shine." And I was like, "Oh, okay." So, it has
00:45:25
some thought to it, you know? So, I like that. But I liked it anyway because it was just weird. And uh and it's always
00:45:30
fun to think of a name and then no one really cares. I had one good one and one terrible one. The good good one was the '9s.
00:45:37
I called it Critic's Choice with four stars. And I never talked about it on cable TV. It would come up on Comedy
00:45:43
Central. Dana Carvey, Critics's Choice, four stars. My sister would call me and says, "You got Critics's Choice again."
00:45:52
Then in 2016, I had an Irish nephew from Dublin at Stella Adler in Hollywood. And
00:45:58
it was right when wokeness was coming in. and they said this and this and this, but straight white males need not
00:46:04
apply for some class. So he goes, man, you should name it that, you know. So I name him straight straight white male 60. I don't know why cuz some people said that's going to catch you. I would click on that, you know. And then I'm on
00:46:17
the great late Nor McDonald's podcast and goes so special. I mean, what was that title
00:46:23
about? And he say it kind of has nothing to do with straight white male, right? I go, no, nothing. There's no bit in there
00:46:29
about it. It's completely just slapped on. I like that you confuse Norm with that one. I did. I know.
00:46:34
What does it mean? What does it mean? Where's the bit about that? You know, I didn't. So, we I love
00:46:40
Norm, of course. Uh, throws it in. I just threw that in case people don't understand that.
00:46:46
We make fun of Norm all the time. We love Norm. I mean, I love to do him because I'm visiting with him. But, uh,
00:46:52
so the bookie is what your PR is. Is that why you're on right now? Besides besides,
00:46:57
he's on because he likes he's a big fan. No, it's uh um I watched one of the the first
00:47:04
episode today. It was It's very cool. I mean, you had Ray Romano on on it, you know, and you were in that movie with
00:47:10
him somewhere in Queens. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah. So, yeah. I mean, I the whole acting thing for me has been a struggle to kind of wrap my head around coming off, you know, standup comedy and
00:47:21
getting that immediate, you know, gratification on stage and then all of a sudden you're acting and now it's uh
00:47:27
we're going to do that again. We're going to move the cameras and this and that. Just for me, it's like I get like
00:47:32
I get impatient. It's like, "All right, come on. Let's uh it's not really fun, is it?" Unless it's
00:47:39
documentary style, but if it's like we're coming around, you know, we're moving we're moving in. Oh,
00:47:46
really? Do you hate yourself when you start um repeating the way you did a joke over and over on different takes? It's makes
00:47:53
me sick to be honest. Oh, you I keep doing it and they go, "Do it again." I'm like, "It's just It's not
00:47:59
funny." And they go, "Now do it again. This is the one we're probably gonna use." I'm like, "Now it's 48 takes in.
00:48:05
I've been giving it my all." Hi. Hi. And then I got to do it again. And the people across me are like, "Oh, so all
00:48:12
that that was all planned." That little throwaway adlib. I'm like, "Yes, you get it now. Sorry."
00:48:18
But in your act, you do it once and you keep moving. Everyone's like, "Oh, hey." They do the master shot at 8:00 a.m.,
00:48:23
right, David? They do the best shot, then a second, a third master shot. By the time you get to the money shot on
00:48:29
you, it's like 8 n hours later. You've actually said the words over 200 times. It doesn't even sound like English at
00:48:35
that point in the reviews. The the comedian, the impressionist, struggles with his acting skills. No [ __ ] get
00:48:43
put do Larry David with me. Just shoot everything every second. One time to just bring it back to us. Um Sebastian, we were on a when we did Tommy Boy, Brian Deni came
00:48:54
in to play to play Farley's dad. We all love him from [ __ ] true, you know, first blood or whatever
00:48:59
and so we were all excited. So, we didn't realize because it was our first big movie or any movie that we were Pete
00:49:06
Pete the director who's a great guy. We love him. But to make sure because we were new, I think Paramount told him
00:49:12
just make sure you get it. So, we're doing 15 masters, you know, forget about the over the shoulder and then a two
00:49:18
shot and then a over the wide shot and then a loose two closeup. So, we're doing that's what we're taking all day. And then Brian Deni after three takes of the master goes they go, "All right,
00:49:30
going in." And he goes, "What the [ __ ] What are we doing? What are we doing here? We got it. Go. Move on. Move on." I love it. We just did three. How we're going to be
00:49:36
on this a second at the beginning and a second at the end of the What are we doing? And I was like, "Are you allowed
00:49:41
to say this? What what's going on?" And then and because you know, Farley gives it 1,0%. I gave it about 64. And
00:49:49
so at the he's just so burned out and drinking coffee and we're like, we haven't even pushed in for the stuff
00:49:56
we're going to use. So he was sort of trying to protect us a little bit. in a very loud voice.
00:50:01
I had Robert Locha great do that want a movie. Oh, that's another example. He goes up. The director gets in his
00:50:07
face. You're wearing out the actors. You're wearing them the [ __ ] out. And the director's like shriveling down.
00:50:13
I did Roadhouse. Yeah. I played a piano with Tom Hanks, you [ __ ] face. We shot Roadhouse in a
00:50:20
day and a half. That's Patrick sees. Was Brian Was Robert Loia and Roadhouse? I think he was a bad guy. Was he lived across the lake? Anyway, back to Sebastian.
00:50:32
All right. Well, Sebastian, thank you, bud. What else can we ask? Thank you. I uh I appreciate he's a good guy. I will see you at the store.
00:50:39
He's a brilliant standup. I think you're an excellent actor, by the way. I like watching you act.
00:50:44
And uh and and you wrote a book. I don't know what you haven't done, but you know, just keep on keeping on.
00:50:51
If we run into each other somewhere sometime, what would you want me to say to you? I have a backstage of comedy
00:50:57
store. What would you like me to say? Hey, Sebastian. We just pick it up right before we left
00:51:02
off right here. We just just go into the next question and start start about the bookie and then
00:51:08
just go from there. Are you going to run and tell your wife and kids they said I was really physical and musical?
00:51:14
Yeah. No, it's going to be at the dinner table tonight. Do you know what the they said about daddy? No, you know what they said.
00:51:20
And you're picking them up and holding them. Anyway, it was so much fun to have you on here and uh yeah,
00:51:27
thanks for letting us blab, but uh yeah, keep on doing and uh just have fun, I guess. Enjoy yourself. I mean, it's I am enjoying myself and it was a pleasure talking to both of you, the two
00:51:39
guys that I kind of grew up watching on TV. And uh you know, sometimes it's like, you know, you got to wrap your
00:51:47
head around these things. It's like uh watching you as a kid now we're doing a podcast together sometimes it's you know plays with your head a little bit going I to I had it with Martin Short and
00:51:59
Steve Martin you know like really you consider me a peer what is this where we're at now are you crazy you know but uh yeah I totally get that don't ever lose that you know and you're making a
00:52:10
lot of people happy I know that sounds really corny but from where I'm at people [ __ ] need to laugh in life and
00:52:16
so it's a good thing It's a good stock and trade to do. Hey guys, if you're loving this podcast, which you are, be sure to click follow on your favorite podcast app, give us a
00:52:30
review, fivestar rating, and maybe even share an episode that you've loved with a friend. If you're watching this
00:52:36
episode on YouTube, please subscribe. We're on video now. Fly on the Wall is presented by Odyssey, an executive
00:52:42
produced by Danny Carvey and David Spade, Heather Santoro and Greg Holtzman, Mattie Sprung Kaiser, and Leah
00:52:49
Reese Dennis of Odyssey. Our senior producer is Greg Holtzman and the show is produced and edited by Phil Sweet
00:52:56
Tech. Booking by Cultivated Entertainment. Special thanks to Patrick Fogerty, Evan Cox, Mora Curran, Melissa
00:53:05
Wester, Hillary Shuff, Eric Donnelly, Colin Gainner, Shan Cherry, Kurt Kourtney, and Lauren Vieiraa. Reach out with us any questions be asked and answered on the show. You can email us
00:53:18
at fly onthewallsey.com. That's audacy.com.