Before Sebastian Maniscalco became one of the highest paid comedians in the world — selling out five shows at Madison Square Garden and earning his own Sirius XM channel — he was a waiter at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills, spending seven years serving nuts to celebrities while bombing at open mics. Then Mitzi Shore, the legendary owner of the Comedy Store, saw something in him that the rest of the industry had missed. In this deeply personal conversation, Sebastian sits down with David Begnaud to share the story of the woman who believed in him when he barely knew her, and how she gave him the one thing he needed most: a place to belong.

Sebastian opens up about the moment Mitzi grabbed him after his audition and said the words that changed everything: Come back for 10 minutes next week. He talks about skipping straight to paid regular status, getting hot spots one week and 1:30 a.m. slots in front of four people the next, and how Mitzi manipulated lineups to build his thick skin without him realizing it. His relationship with her was never verbal — her love came through the stage time she gave him, and his came through never letting her down.

There's also a raw reflection on family and work ethic. Sebastian's father Cecilion, a 79-year-old hairdresser, still cuts hair and refuses to retire because he believes stopping means dying. He rented Sebastian a lawnmower as a kid to teach him about business expenses — making him cut grass while allergic to it — and after a quadruple bypass, his first question from the hospital bed was when he could go back to work. Sebastian bought his parents cars last year, because the journey was never just his. He covers a lot of ground

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Chapters ☀️

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Intro: The Woman Who Gave Him a Stage
• 00:03:00 Why Her? The Audition That Changed Everything
• 00:09:29 The Hulk Hogan Documentary: A Morning Cry About Family
• 00:11:20 From Anger to Disbelief: Finding His Voice on Stage
• 00:13:36 Seven Years at the Four Seasons: The Nuts That Never Got Stale
• 00:16:18 Renting the Lawnmower: Learning Business from Dad
• 00:21:40 Selling Satellite Dishes in the Ghetto: The Kiosk Days
• 00:29:54 The Photo That Made Him Cry: When They Were a Unit
• 00:33:37 AI and Comedy: Using Technology to Brainstorm Ideas
• 00:39:53 The Grind: Boxing Rings, Bowling Alleys, and Blood-Stained Canvas
• 00:42:05 The Sandman Moment: Worst Night Ever, Best Lesson Learned
• 00:45:40 From 91 People to 91,000 Tickets: The Madison Square Garden Journey
• 00:47:39 The Introvert Comedian: Steam Rooms and Recharging Alone
• 00:52:36 The SNL Sketch: When Marcello Called
• 00:53:59 Thank You, Mitzi: A Relationship From Afar

ABOUT THIS PODCAST:

The Person Who Believed In Me is hosted by David Begnaud, founder and CEO of Do Good Crew. In each episode, David asks one simple question: Who believed in you before the world did? David is also a CBS News contributor and host of Beg Knows America, airing every Monday morning.

Host: David Begnaud

Guest: Sebastian Maniscalco

Executive Producer: Olivier Delfosse

Associate Producer: Jonah Johnson

Booker: Sully Bloch

Director of Photography: Foster Parks

Live Production: Joseph Gabay & Will Whitley (Statik Creative)

Social: Mariah Maull, Maxim Trofimenko, Kylee Anderson

Theme Music: Slipstream

Post-Production: Longwave Digital

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast