Who Is 2019 MTV VMAs Host Sebastian Maniscalco?

1 He's Come a Long Way Since His Earliest Performances

Today, he's hanging out with VIPs at baseball games and huge venues. When he first started out, he told the LA Times, he was literally performing in bowling alleys — on half-hour breaks from his waiter job. "So I would have a full section and I would tell whoever the other waiter was working that area that I'm going... I didn't know any of the wines of the day or the soup of the day, but I knew how to do this," he said.

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2 His Comedy Specials Have Reached Millions

Along with his live-comedy tours, he's had five comedy specials taped for TV broadcast. His most recent, Stay Hungry, was released on Netflix in January 2019.

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3 He's Italian-American

As you might have guessed from his name, Maniscalco comes from an Italian-American family. Born in a Chicago suburb, he's the son of a Sicilian immigrant, making him a first-generation American.

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4 He's Lived All Over the Country

Born in Illinois, he's lived and worked all across the country, including Los Angeles and New York City.

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5 His Wife Is in a Creative Industry, Too

Lana Gomez, who married Maniscalco in 2013, has a successful career in her own right. She's a visual artist, specifically working in paint.

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6 He's a Proud Dad of Two

Maniscalco and his wife are the proud parents of two kids. Their daughter, Serafina Simone, was born in 2017 (and named after his grandmother and his wife's mother), and their son Caruso was born in June 2019.

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7 He's a Published Author

In 2018, he published Stay Hungry, a collection of personal and autobiographical essays that follow his life and career from his small-scale beginning to his current success.

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8 He's Not Ashamed of His Geek Side

I mean, if posing at Comic-Con with four superheroes doesn't scream proud nerd, what does?

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9 He Was in an Oscar-Winning Film

Maniscalco had a supporting role in Green Book, the race-relations drama that controversially took home the best picture Oscar in February 2019.

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10 He's More Than Just a Comedian

Following his successful role in Green Book, Maniscalco is continuing to explore acting. He had a role in 2018's comedy Tag, and up next, he'll be playing real-life gangster "Crazy" Joe Gallo in the Martin Scorsese crime drama The Irishman.

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