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Promotional art for Why Would You Do That?
Cover image credit: Promotional image via Prime Video

Why Would You Do That?

Sebastian Maniscalco

Showtime · 2016 · 63 min

A physical comedy set targeting the absurdities of modern life.

Watch it free on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sebastian Maniscalco spends much of his time on stage looking as though he has just witnessed a public health violation. His physical style is highly expressive, full of lunges, grimaces, and theatrical pacing that make his irritation with modern society look less like a complaint and more like an athletic workout.

The performance was captured during a seven-show run at the Beacon Theatre in New York City, marking a point in his career where he was transitioning from working comic to arena headliner. Famous faces like Jerry Seinfeld and Tony Danza are visible in the crowd, watching a set that centers on the friction between Maniscalco’s old-school Italian-American upbringing and contemporary life. He targets the modern logic of rideshare apps, the culture of high-end grocery stores like Whole Foods, and the awkward social contracts of modern dinner parties where guests are asked to remove their shoes.

The performance relies heavily on these physical set pieces. He plays up the sheer physical absurdity of his reactions, moving across the stage to mimic an uncomfortable guest at a party or a confused driver in traffic.

The set list

5 bits

  1. Modern ridesharing and transportation services like Uber

    Ridiculing the business concept of getting into stranger's cars and asking why anyone would participate in it.

  2. Home party etiquette and removing shoes

    Expresses irritation and bewilderment toward hosts who demand that guests remove their shoes upon entering.

  3. Unfiltered honesty in Italian-American families

    Contrasts his family's utter lack of secrets and blunt assessments—such as immediately telling relatives they stink—against cultures that suppress emotions.

  4. Answering the door as a couple and dodging neighbors

    Highlights antisocial reactions to everyday neighbor interactions and couples who answer the front door together.

  5. Old-world thriftiness, grandparents' nicknames, and giving 'parent prices'

    Examines generational frugality, odd family nicknames, and charging parents discounted rates.

How it plays

Tone
Observational, perplexed, skeptical, relatable, and clean without leaning on heavy sexual or violent material.
On stage
A perplexed, skeptical, and demonstrative Italian-American traditionalist pointing out modern absurdities with animated physical flair.
Pace
High-energy physicality, flailing arms and legs, dramatic vocal modulation from shouting to whispering, and highly expressive, demonstrative facial reactions.
About
Italian-American family dynamics and blunt communication, Skepticism of modern services and sharing economy (Uber, Airbnb), Social etiquette, house party rules, and dinner parties, Parenting, child behavior in restaurants, and modern childhood, Everyday consumer absurdities and grocery shopping at Whole Foods

What the critics said

Highly lauded by critics as proof of Maniscalco being one of the most consistent and physically gifted stand-up comedians working, skillfully turning observational perplexity into accessible belly laughs.

In the room: Triumphant and raucous; he enters through the aisles under full house lights high-fiving the audience like a champion prize fighter in front of a sold-out theater crowd including Tony Danza and Jerry Seinfeld.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: thefutoncritic.com, netflix.com, themoviedb.org, tvguide.com, thecomicscomic.com, decider.com, queue.co, letterboxd.com, en.wikipedia.org, billboard.com.

Backstory

Grounded in his traditional Italian-American upbringing and working-class Chicago roots, opening with vintage 1950s family home movies from Cefalù, Sicily, where his immigrant father worked as a hairstylist.

Details

Released
Taped
Beacon Theatre, New York City
Runtime
63 min
Where
Showtime
Director
Joe DeMaio
Honors
2016 Just For Laughs Stand Up Comedian of the Year
Topics
Before
What's Wrong with People? (2012)
After
Stay Hungry (2019)

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