Sebastian Maniscalco can find the funny in anything. This quality has propelled him to stardom on the stage, TV, film, podcasts and, more recently, the DJ booth. Maniscalco, who is back at the Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas this weekend, has a new song with EDM superstar Steve Aoki. This mini-masterpiece is titled “Does Your Father Know You Dance Like That?” The wide release will be announced soon.
The two premiered the song during Aoki’s show at Omnia Nightclub at Caesars Palace during the comedian’s most recent Las Vegas visit on Feb. 9 and 10.
“I did two shows, then I went to shoot a music video, then I went to the nightclub with Steve and we debuted our song there,” Maniscalco says during a Zoom chat. “I’ll probably be opening with that material next weekend, because there’s always comedy fodder for a 52-year-old male at a nightclub.”
The video skewers the industry in which Aoki has become a legend.
“This is the first time, I think, that a comedian and a DJ have gotten together to do a song,” Maniscalco says. “So the song is comedic; it’s basically poking fun at the nightclubs. Steve liked it, and he wanted to get behind it.”
Shark-infested memories
Maniscalco said in a previous interview that his first visit to a Vegas nightspot was in the early ’90s, at the old Shark Club on Harmon Avenue and the Strip.
“The nightclub scene is crazy, compared to how I used to go to the nightclub,” Maniscalco says. “I asked Steve, ‘You take requests?’ You know, I used to give the DJ a little piece of paper, ‘Can you play ‘Billie Jean?’ And you’d wait for ‘Billie Jean’ to come on.”
Aoki informed the comic, “Requests are a little different now.”
Maniscalco observed the new club request protocol.
“What they do is, they hold up their phone with the name of the song, and they just sit there and, like, hop up and down,” the comic and recent club dweller says. “Then he looks at the screens to see what people want. It’s quite a different vibe.”
Expect these references in Maniscalco’s stage show. He’s developed Las Vegas-specific material over the years (his shock at being charged thousands of dollars to “hang out at the pool” is classic).
The Chicago native originally worked the Vegas circuit, playing 14 shows a week at the Riviera Comedy Club, opening for Andrew Dice Clay at the Stardust, and working the long-defunct Playboy Comedy Club at the Palms.
Maniscalco premiered at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in 2017. He moved across the Strip to Wynn’s Event Pavilion at the resort in October 2020 for pandemic safety. He settled in the Encore Theater in 2021 and has since played more than 80 shows.
The Vegas ascent
Through this arc (and to use a weathered but appropriate term), Maniscalco has become a Vegas icon.
“Every time I see Vegas on the calendar, there’s an excitement I have that’s different from any other city,” says the co-star of “The Irishman” and “About My Father” with Robert De Niro. “This time around, a couple of my buddies are coming out from Los Angeles. We’re going to enjoy some golf during the day, and then check out a restaurant Thursday night.”
The city is a headlining stop and a vacation.
“There’s a lot to do around the shows. Sometimes you go to a city, and it’s just, you know, you do the show and you hunker down in your room,” Maniscalco says. “But with Las Vegas, there seems to be an excitement that I don’t really feel anywhere else in the country.”
Maniscalco has crisscrossed the United States as an arena headliner, packing New York’s Madison Square Garden, the United Center in Chicago, Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, the Prudential Center in New Jersey, UBS Arena in Long Island and Hertz Arena in south Florida. He was the first comic to headline the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.
Instant classic on ‘SNL’
Maniscalco has also achieved “SNL”-level fame. He was the subject of a stunningly on-point impression from cast member Marcello Hernández in the Nov. 15 show, hosted by Glen Powell.
Maniscalco said Hernández did a “fantastic job,” though he questioned why the cast member’s wig was so gray. The two appeared together at the Critics’ Choice Awards on Jan. 4.
“We had kind of fun with his impersonation of me on stage. I just didn’t expect that thing to go as viral as it did,” Maniscalco says. “He’s kind of taken off himself as a comedian. I know he had a special come out recently on Netflix, and he’s on his way. It’s like, anytime someone does a parody of you, especially on ‘Saturday Night Live,’ which is so historic, it feels great.”
Maniscalco then reminds, “I’d just love to be on.”
The comic actor has never hosted “SNL.” This is an overdue booking. He says only, “We’ll see what happens.”
We predict Maniscalco will host and also perform as musical guest with a famous Las Vegas DJ.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.