Sebastian Maniscalco: Is It Me?

Sebastian is one of the great stand-ups but no stand-up can catch 'lightning-in-a-bottle' every time. Maybe he lost a little form through the lockdown, maybe he got a little flabby through playing stadium gigs. Or maybe not - comedy is an elusive art-form and there's no formula for making it work every time.

There are great moments but it's quite far into the show before it starts to catch fire; such as when Sebastian nails the absurdity of his local schools' inclusivity policy. He also has a lot of fun playing with the audience's over-sensitive reaction to an ethnic reference, and the story of his trip to see "Hamilton" is a reminder of how good he can be. But on the whole the show never really takes off.

Disappointing, but he'll be back one day with a killer show - he's one of the best and great performers like him don't stay down for long.

I've been a big fan previously. This one was way, way below past stand-up specials. Bits start and seem to not go to a real punchline moment. Feels like he forgets where it's going midpoint. Sebastian's stand-up has typically been laugh out loud loudly funny, this one was good for snickers. His eyes appear red and many have suggested maybe he was stoned for this performance which may explain how the bits end with a whimper and no good punchline. The greyhound bit just seemed to evaporate after the visual bit, that was all there was? Disappointing. Giving it a 5 might even be generous for me. I'm almost surprised Netflix deemed this to be suitable for streaming, everything felt unfinished. I hope this is not what to expect in the future. Had I paid to attend this show I'd have been rather irritated.

The start is poor, he comes in with his usual mentally challenged voice doing very slow, very banal jokes about "my wife / my dad". He's done this countless times, I was hoping for something new and better.

The special picks up steam near the middle, though, and has its moments and fun stories, although not a single one to actually make you audibly laugh, like someone like Bill Burr or Patrice Oneal can...

Sadly the ending is as poor and generic as the beginning, just once again - yet another "my dad" tale that wasn't even a joke, just a story without really a punchline.

It feels about as bad, overdone and generic as Jeff Foxworthy and Jim Jefferies' last specials. Speaking of Jim Jefferies, at least one joke here felt like it was copied from Jim, which is some Inception stuff, because Jim himself is quite the joke stealer. Another two jokes felt pretty similar to Bill Burr bits.

So this wasn't really worth the excitement I felt for finally getting a comedy special on Netflix from someone recognizable and generally good.

I think it's time to change things up, Sebastian.

Didn't really feel much like a stand up special. Just some guy who tells stories and is a little funny. Lacked punchlines. Some of the stories even cut short. I was waiting for the Asian punch line and got nothing, it's almost as if he forgot the joke, "it matters he's Asian" then he gets dude tracked by another story and forgets to go back to that one. But the hardest part was the ending. Like a soda can without the bubbles is the best way to describe it. Genuinely bad climax and just random with no point. In all honesty I would have given it a two, but some of the stories gave me a couple of chuckles. But yeah that's about it. No good.

Not sure what's going on with Sebastian but geez that was painful to watch. I'll be honest with you, i only made it half way through and i FORCED myself to even get there.

I will say that i loved all 3 of his previous specials and have watched them multiple times each. It was such a gut punch watching this - i didn't laugh once. Even the people in the audience didn't seem all that into it. It seems like maybe the fame got to his head, he was very low energy. It's like he thinks he doesn't have to work for it anymore - you're an entertainer...you have one job...be entertaining!

This one really just missed the mark, much like Bill Burr's last special, this was cringe inducing.

Do yourself a favor and skip this one. Sebastian should take his own advice and "Stay Hungry".