Sebastian Maniscalco Sets Venue Record At Boston’s TD Garden

Brian Babineau – Conquering TD Garden
Team Maniscalco celebrates a record-setting night at Boston’s TD Garden. From left to right: TD Garden’s Eric Staufer, Bill Blumenreich Presents’ Taylor Blumenreich and Bill Blumenreich, Sebastian Maniscalco, TD Garden’s Amy Latimer, Levity Live’s Judi Marmel and UTA’s Nick Nuciforo.

Sebastian Maniscalco continued his mammoth year with a record-setting performance at Boston’s TD Garden earlier this month.

The comic’s Oct. 4 show grossed $1,733,860, setting a venue record for the highest-grossing single-performance comedy show.

“We’re thrilled to announce that Sebastian Maniscalco broke TD Garden’s record for highest-grossing single comedy show performance,” said Eric Staufer, the venue’s vice president of programming, in a statement. “Our fans absolutely loved him, and the energy he brought to the stage made for an unforgettable night.”

Moreover, Maniscalco’s single-night tally rivals the highest-grossing TD Garden comedy box office reports in Pollstar‘s database – even though the competing reports multiple events. The only comedian to gross more at the venue, per Pollstar Boxoffice data, is Dane Cook, who staged two-night stands that grossed $2.02 million and $2.17 million, in 2006 and 2007, respectively. Those per-show grosses, of course, come in well below Maniscalco’s mark.

It’s another packed arena for Maniscalco, who appeared on Pollstar’s cover in March after he sold out Madison Square Garden four times over in one January weekend, grossing $8.28 million.

“I look at [my shows] like I’m hosting, and I’m really happy that you came out and, when you leave my party, I’m going to say goodbye to you,” he told Pollstar. “Obviously, I can’t do it for 20,000 people. But when I was doing the clubs, that was kind of the method to the madness.”

In 2018, Maniscalco was one of a handful of comedians to appear on Pollstar‘s Year End Top 100 Worldwide Tours chart, grossing $21.5 million; only Kevin Hart, Jeff Dunham and Steve Martin and Martin Short grossed more.

Meanwhile, Maniscalco’s career has blossomed in other ways, whether hosting the MTV VMAs in August or appearing on the silver screen, in the Oscar-winning Green Book and Martin Scorsese’s forthcoming The Irishman.

Nick Nuciforo, head of comedy touring at UTA, which represents Maniscalco, appeared on Pollstar‘s inaugural Impact 50 list earlier this year. “Sebastian’s ticket sales were explosive out of the gate,” Nuciforo said in a statement.  “It is exciting to work with an artist with a highly engaged fanbase that only continues to grow.  We are adding multiple shows everywhere from Albany, N.Y., to Charleston, S.C.”

For more about Maniscalco, revisit Pollstar‘s cover story.