Sebastian Maniscalco's kids are his world. But he's not their friend.

Yahoo

a day ago

For Sebastian Maniscalco, few sounds are sweeter than an audience's laughter. Though validation from other parents also ranks pretty high.
'Once you start hearing that what you're doing at the house is working outside the house, it's incredible,' says the 51-year-old comedian, who is dad to Serafina, 8, and Caruso, nearly 6.
The son of Italian immigrants, Maniscalco regularly riffs on his childhood in his routines. His experiences growing up in an old-school Italian family have become a hallmark of his comedy style — and his parenting style too. He'll be the first to admit he's the disciplinarian in the household.
'I pride myself on teaching my kids manners,' he says. 'I don't want my kid growing up like some entitled brat who just expects everything to be handed to them. I'm not my kids' friend. I'll say no and be firm with it and not cave in.'
But Maniscalco and his wife, Lana, balance each other well. 'She has a lot more patience,' he tells Yahoo Life. He refers to her as the gentle parent, but he draws the line at gentle parenting.
'That takes it to a new level where the kid is basically running the house,' he says.
That's certainly not the case at the Maniscalco abode, where the kids make their beds, clean their plates and handle other chores. Never one to shy away from a teachable moment, the comedian will call out bad behavior in public: 'If I see it and my kids see it with me, I'll pull them aside and go, 'You see the way that kid behaved? We don't do that in our family.''
Maniscalco had some time to figure out his approach to parenting: He became a father in his 40s. That wasn't on purpose, he says — he just spent his earlier years building his career. And he wouldn't have it any other way.
'The wisdom and the maturity have benefited me as a father in ways that I never could imagine,' says Maniscalco, whose acting credits include Bookie, The Irishman and About My Father. 'I have lessons that I could pass down to my kids because I've lived a bit more of a life than a man who has kids in his 20s or early 30s.'
He's had to find ways to juggle fatherhood with his career, and likes to build his schedule in spurts: a few days on, a few days off. A week on the road, a week at home.
'I love to work, but I also love my family,' he says. 'It's nice to go on the road for three days, do what I love to do and then come back.'
That's because being a present dad is a nonnegotiable for him. When he's home, he's a mainstay at his son's Little League games and takes his daughter to gymnastics, calling their car rides 'some of the best times we've ever had' because it's just the two of them, distraction-free. As a family, they recently took in their first baseball game together and love hitting farmers markets. They're also big travelers and are headed to France and Italy this summer.
Importantly, Maniscalco gets that parenting doesn't come with a script, so he's happy to pivot when needed and defer to Lana when he's been away.
'There are no egos here when it comes to getting stuff done around the house,' he says. 'It's not like, 'That's not my job' [or] 'I don't do that.' It's very much, 'What do you need?' [It's] very active.'
He often jokes about his family, but Maniscalco, who is currently on his 'It Ain't Right' tour, isn't out to put his family on blast.
'I'm just looking to share stories that I find humorous,' he says. 'I feel like whatever I find funny is the type of humor that people are going to enjoy, and that my kids, if they ever look back on it, are not going to be embarrassed [by].'
He also stays relatable by sharing too-real parenting moments on his socials, like the time his wife had to sit in their impossible-to-uninstall car seat (don't worry, it was in the back seat), or the realities of having two dogs (a house that 'smells like beef jerky and wet tennis balls.').
Alas, his kids may be some of his biggest inspirations, but they're also some of his toughest critics. Case in point: In December, Caruso fell asleep at one of his dad's shows. Still, Maniscalco wasn't offended.
'I don't blame him,' he says with a laugh.