Michael Novogratz
$3.5 Billion
Sebastian Maniscalco has an estimated net worth of $45 million, built through two decades of sold-out arena touring, seven comedy specials, a growing acting career, and a podcast that reaches millions of fans weekly. Born and raised in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois, to Sicilian immigrant parents, Maniscalco spent seven years waiting tables at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills before breaking through as one of the top-grossing stand-up comedians in the United States.
Updated March 2026: According to Pollstar’s 2026 Comedy Special report, Maniscalco ranked No. 2 among all comedians in 2025, grossing $43.5 million across 58 shows and selling 425,273 tickets — placing him behind only Nate Bargatze on the annual chart and cementing his position as one of the highest-earning live performers in comedy history.
Sebastian Joseph Maniscalco was born on July 8, 1973, in Arlington Heights, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. His father, Salvatore Maniscalco, immigrated to the United States from Cefalù, Sicily, at the age of 15 and worked as a hairstylist. His mother, Rose, whose family has roots in Naples and Sicily, worked as a secretary. Maniscalco grew up Roman Catholic, serving as an altar boy at St. Cecilia Catholic Church in suburban Mount Prospect, Illinois. He attended Rolling Meadows High School before enrolling at Northern Illinois University, where he earned a degree in communication studies in 1995. At NIU he served as president of the Sigma Pi fraternity chapter, a role that sharpened the public-speaking instincts he would later bring to the stage.
After graduating, Maniscalco moved to Los Angeles in 1998 with aspirations of becoming a stand-up comedian. For seven years — from 1998 to 2005 — he worked as a waiter at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, performing at open mics in bars and bowling alleys during his off-hours. He accumulated roughly $8,000 in personal debt during this period while honing his act. His breakthrough came in 2005 when he began performing regularly at The Comedy Store in West Hollywood, the storied club that served as his primary platform for building an audience.
Maniscalco’s ascent from The Comedy Store to arenas unfolded steadily across two decades. His first major exposure came in 2005 when he was one of four comedians featured in Vince Vaughn’s documentary-style road show Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights – Hollywood to the Heartland, which introduced him to national audiences. A half-hour Comedy Central Presents special followed, and his debut long-form special, Sebastian Live, was released on June 2, 2009.
Three Showtime specials consolidated his reputation: What’s Wrong with People? (January 5, 2012), Aren’t You Embarrassed? (November 14, 2014, taped in Chicago), and Why Would You Do That? (2016, taped in New York City). By 2017 he had appeared on Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee with Jerry Seinfeld — a significant endorsement from one of his idols — and debuted on Forbes’ list of the highest-paid comedians, earning $15 million between June 2016 and June 2017. That same year Forbes reported he averaged $238,161 per performance, selling roughly 4,000 tickets per show.
His Netflix era began with the January 2019 release of Stay Hungry, which accompanied the publication of his memoir of the same name (February 27, 2018). A second Netflix special, Is It Me?, dropped December 6, 2022. His seventh special, It Ain’t Right, filmed in Chicago, was released on Hulu in 2025 and sparked a major tour cycle. On the Pollstar year-end comedy chart for 2022, Maniscalco ranked No. 1 with $44.9 million in gross from 84 shows. In 2024, Billboard ranked him among its Top 10 Highest-Grossing Comedy Tours of the year, with $36.5 million from 53 shows.
On the television side, Maniscalco starred in and executive-produced Bookie, a comedy series that debuted on Max on November 30, 2023, and ran for two seasons through 2025. He played Danny, a veteran Los Angeles bookie whose livelihood is threatened by sports-gambling legalization. He also co-hosts The Pete and Sebastian Show podcast with comedian Pete Correale, which airs on Sirius XM’s Raw Dog Comedy channel.
Maniscalco transitioned into film beginning in 2017 with a small role in the New Line comedy The House. The following year he appeared as Johnny Venere in Peter Farrelly’s Academy Award-winning Green Book (2018). His most prominent dramatic role came in Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman (2019), in which he played real-life mobster “Crazy” Joe Gallo alongside Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino. He secured the role after auditioning on tape and impressing Scorsese, who reassigned him from a smaller part to the Gallo role.
Subsequent film credits include Somewhere in Queens (2022), voice work as Foreman Spike in The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023), a co-written autobiographical comedy About My Father (2023, co-starring Robert De Niro), a role in Netflix’s Unfrosted (2024), and voice work in IF (2024). In April 2025 it was announced he would voice the title character in Apple’s scripted podcast Easy Money: The Charles Ponzi Story.
Maniscalco met his wife, artist Lana Gomez, at a gym in Los Angeles in 2009. They married in August 2013. Gomez, a professional painter whose work has been exhibited and sold widely, is described by Maniscalco as “the heart and soul” of their family. The couple has two children: daughter Serafina Simone Maniscalco, born May 12, 2017, and son Caruso Jack Maniscalco, born June 15, 2019. Serafina’s first name honors her paternal great-grandmother, while Caruso’s first name is a nod to the legendary Italian tenor Enrico Caruso, reflecting the family’s deep pride in its Italian heritage.
The family resides in a guard-gated mansion in the Beverly Hills Post Office area of Los Angeles, originally purchased from pop singer Gwen Stefani for $21.65 million in 2019, per the Los Angeles Times. The approximately 12,000-square-foot estate sits on two acres and includes an infinity-edge pool, lighted tennis court, guest house, and a separate gym. Current estimates value the property at approximately $22 million.
Maniscalco’s comedy is rooted in his upbringing: the strict but warm household of his Sicilian immigrant father, old-school Italian-American customs, and his own bewilderment at modern social behavior. He frequently features his parents, wife, and children in his material, giving his act a consistent autobiographical thread. He cites Jerry Seinfeld, George Carlin, Bill Burr, Andrew Dice Clay, and Don Rickles as major comedic influences. Fellow comedian Bill Burr, whose work Maniscalco has cited as an influence, is also a prominent figure in the stand-up world. Other contemporaries including Bert Kreischer, Tom Segura, and Kevin Hart have risen alongside Maniscalco to define the current era of arena-scale comedy tours.
Sebastian Maniscalco’s net worth is estimated at approximately $45 million as of 2025–2026. His wealth is derived primarily from live touring — he has grossed over $40 million in multiple individual years — supplemented by comedy specials, acting fees from films and television, podcast revenue, and real estate. His peak single-year gross was $44.9 million in 2022, according to Pollstar data.
Sebastian Maniscalco’s wife is Lana Gomez, a professional visual artist. The two met at a gym in Los Angeles in 2009 and married in August 2013. Gomez’s paintings have been exhibited and commercially sold, and she frequently appears in Maniscalco’s comedy material. The couple has been married for over 12 years and continues to reside together in Los Angeles with their two children.
Sebastian Maniscalco was born on July 8, 1973, in Arlington Heights, Illinois, making him 52 years old as of 2025. He grew up in a traditional Italian-American household in the Chicago suburbs, the son of Sicilian immigrant parents. His birthday falls under the zodiac sign Cancer.
Sebastian Maniscalco stands 5 feet 9 inches tall (175 cm), according to his IMDb biography. His physical presence and animated delivery style — including exaggerated gestures and rapid movement across the stage — are central elements of his stand-up performance style.
Sebastian Maniscalco’s annual earnings fluctuate with his touring cycle but have ranged from roughly $36 million to $50 million in peak years. In 2025, Pollstar reported he grossed $43.5 million from 58 shows. His per-show average has been cited at approximately $238,161, with typical arena shows selling close to 4,000 tickets each, per Forbes. Acting fees, podcast revenue, and brand deals supplement his touring income.
Sebastian Maniscalco lives in a guard-gated estate in the Beverly Hills Post Office area of Los Angeles, purchased from pop singer Gwen Stefani for $21.65 million in 2019, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. The property spans approximately 12,000 square feet on two acres, featuring seven bedrooms, ten bathrooms, an infinity-edge swimming pool, a lighted tennis court, and a separate guest house and gym. The current estimated value of the estate is approximately $22 million.
Yes. Sebastian Maniscalco and his wife Lana Gomez have two children. Their daughter, Serafina Simone Maniscalco, was born on May 12, 2017. Their son, Caruso Jack Maniscalco, was born on June 15, 2019. Both children regularly feature in Maniscalco’s comedy material, particularly his observations on modern parenting versus the old-school upbringing he experienced.