Sebastian Maniscalco Says ‘Stand-Up Comedy Is Thriving’ Amid Writers Strike

Sebastian Maniscalco is altering the Italian American stereotypes in motion pictures together with his new comedy About My Father.

The stand-up comedian co-wrote and stars within the new household comedy, which is loosely primarily based on his personal life. Drawing on his personal experiences as a second-generation Italian American, his onscreen father is performed by Robert De Niro. He hopes About My Father reveals that Italians are “way more” than the “mob” illustration we often see in motion pictures.

Maniscalco makes his screenwriting debut, together with Austen Earl, with About My Father. Regardless of his foray into writing, he says the continued Writers Guild of America strike is not affecting his day job.

“It does not pertain to stay efficiency, so it hasn’t affected me as a humorist one bit,” Maniscalco advised Newsweek hours earlier than he went to carry out stand-up on the Comedy Retailer in Los Angeles. “So yeah, stand-up comedy is flourishing.”

Forward of the film’s launch on Friday, Might 26, Maniscalco spoke to Newsweek about his personal father’s response to seeing De Niro play him in a film, and chest-bumping Kim Cattrall.

An Italian American Household Comedy

The Godfather, Goodfellas, The Sopranos, and Boardwalk Empire—simply a number of the motion pictures and TV reveals which may come to thoughts when you consider Italian Individuals onscreen.

Maniscalco and About My Father are difficult the mob narrative that has turn out to be synonymous with the nationality. The change in status was unintentional on his half although.

When requested about this, the filmmaker advised Newsweek: “I’ve by no means actually considered this film shedding a constructive mild on Italian Individuals that we sometimes do not see in cinema to your level with regard to ‘it is all the time mob-related killing’ and all this. I simply suppose Italians are clearly way more than all that.”

He continued, “On this film, it is the life I grew up in, with an immigrant father who instilled this work ethic in me and introduced that previous world, old-fashioned mentality from a small city in Sicily to america. So it really feels actually good to have this sort of illustration regarding the Italian neighborhood as a bit of our tradition, and the way we grew up versus what we usually see within the mob.”

“And hear, all of us love the mob motion pictures. They’re enjoyable to observe. However, for me, to have this as a bit of what Italians are all about, which is just about ‘household’, I really feel happy with it,” he stated.

That is to not say the stereotype is not addressed with humor within the movie itself. The trailer reveals the character of Sebastian and his father burying the physique of a peacock at his in-laws’ household property.

Robert De Niro

Maniscalco and the staff behind About My Father scored a legendary actor to painting the titular patriarch. The comic first met De Niro on the set of Scorsese’s film The Irishman the place Maniscalco performed “Loopy” Joe Gallo.

“I had such excessive nervousness doing that movie as a result of I am working with arguably a number of the finest people who have ever completed it—Scorsese, [Joe] Pesci, De Niro. However I undoubtedly felt accepted.

“The primary day I did the primary scene with De Niro and Pesci, they have been extraordinarily useful. I believe they have been conscious of my nerves, and people have been quickly quelled proper after I met them on set.”

This collaboration ultimately led to Maniscalco casting De Niro to play his father Salvo Maniscalco in his comedy. Behind the scenes, the pair have developed a mentor/mentee relationship.

“I realized so much simply being round him within the 10 weeks that we shot in Alabama—how he behaves as an actor, the little issues he does on set. I might undoubtedly name him a pal. He is a person of few phrases, however being round him in an expert atmosphere, you possibly can’t measure what it did for my confidence as an actor. After working with top-of-the-line, I now have the flexibility to deal with myself in any state of affairs.”

Sebastian’s real-life father, Salvatore Maniscalco, has now seen himself portrayed in movie by the Oscar-winning De Niro. Salvatore has joined his son on the press tour and was current on the Chicago premiere of the film earlier in Might.

“I believe he was emotional. I am unable to actually clarify what he was going via whereas watching the film,” Maniscalco stated. “It is gotta be surreal for him to see Robert De Niro enjoying him. We grew up watching De Niro in all these totally different movies, after which right here we’re, and he is in a film with me, and he is enjoying my dad. I believe my dad was undoubtedly touched by all of it.”

Kim Cattrall Because the Mom-in-Legislation

About My Father sees the characters of Sebastian and Salvo head to the luxurious home of Sebastian’s girlfriend, Ellie, performed by Leslie Bibb.

There we meet her dad and mom, Invoice and Tigger, performed by David Rasche (Succession) and Kim Cattrall.

Maniscalco admits his mother-in-law was flattered that Cattrall was forged to play the character’s potential in-law.

“The film has hints of fact in it. Kim did not discuss to my mother-in-law to get an essence of who she was. The household simply represents the form of rich atmosphere that my spouse got here from.”

Hijinx ensues on the household residence, because the Italian American males really feel like fish out of water of their ultra-posh environment. Throughout a aggressive tennis scene, Sebastian and Tigger are paired collectively, and the celebrations received momentarily awkward.

“I believe we did two chest bumps, and that is all we would have liked. It felt very natural and really pure for us to offer one another a chest bump,” Maniscalco chuckled. “I imply, when you would have advised me I might be chest-bumping Kim Cattrall in a film 10 years in the past, I’d have advised you, ‘You are loopy.’

“I got here out to Los Angeles in 1998, simply to do stand-up comedy for a dwelling and all the things else that is occurred on prime of that has been gravy. So you recognize, that is one in all these experiences that I am really form of slowing down and actually having fun with,” Maniscalco stated.

About My Father is out in film theaters on Friday, Might 26, 2023.