Gripes Over Growth, Not Comedy

Read Time:5 Minute, 37 Second

TV SERIES REVIEW
Sebastian Maniscalco: It Ain't Right
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Genre: Stand-up, Comedy
Year Released: 2025
Runtime: 56m
Director(s): Paul Dugdale
Where to Watch: premieres Friday, November 21, 2025, on Hulu, and Hulu on Disney+ for bundle subscribers, in the US, and on Disney+ internationally

RAVING REVIEW: Sebastian Maniscalco’s latest stand-up special, filmed at the United Center in Chicago, feels like an artist out of sync with the world he’s performing in. For a comic who once thrived on observational precision—mocking modern quirks and social absurdities with sharp hits—IT AIN’T RIGHT instead comes across as a relic from an earlier era of stand-up. The polish is there, the energy is undeniable, but the content feels more like a time capsule from the 2000s than a reflection of 2025.

This hour leans hard on familiar targets: his wife, his kids, the supposed downfall of society through smartphones and laziness, and even trashing the city he’s performing in. The problem isn’t just that these jokes are old; it’s that they’re delivered with a smugness that makes them feel condescending rather than observational. When Maniscalco jokes about the “state of the world,” it sounds less like a comic holding up a mirror and more like a dad yelling at the reflection for existing (in more ways than one).

There’s always been a cranky charm to his style—an animated frustration that once bordered on endearing—but here it crosses into caricature. The exaggerated body language, the eye rolls, the mock indignation—all of it lands like a reenactment of bits he’s done better before. It’s an act built on irritation, but now the irritation feels real, not performed. Instead of laughing with him, you start feeling like he’s scolding you for living in the present.

The material about family life and generational differences feels especially stale. There’s nothing wrong with revisiting domestic comedy, but IT AIN’T RIGHT doesn’t offer any new perspective on it. Every bit about “kids these days” being glued to their phones or “wives being impossible” sounds interchangeable with jokes that were old even in the early 2010s. You can almost predict the punchlines before they land, and that predictability saps the energy from a performer who’s otherwise known for keeping audiences on edge.

The show’s scale only makes the disconnect more obvious. The United Center is massive, and Maniscalco paces the stage with confidence, but the venue's size only amplifies how small the material feels. His delivery is still physical and animated—few comedians can commit to a facial expression the way he can—but all that effort serves material that doesn’t deserve it. The visual performance stays impressive, but the substance never matches the spectacle.

It’s not that every moment falls flat. There are flashes of the old Maniscalco buried beneath the outdated framing—his knack for mimicking awkward human behavior still sparks a smile here and there. When he slips into physical storytelling instead of complaining about cultural change, you catch glimpses of what made him so popular in the first place. Unfortunately, those moments are scattered between long stretches of material that feel like half-hearted rewrites of his own past hits.

The tone also veers uncomfortably close to a worldview that feels out of touch. There’s an undercurrent of cultural resentment here that reads less as humor and more as complaining just to complain. The audience in the arena seems to love it. Still, for viewers expecting evolution or insight, the jokes about laziness, kids, and “soft generations” sound like the kind of nostalgia-tinged grievance comedy that once dominated cable specials twenty years ago. It’s not offensive—it’s just tired.

That’s what makes IT AIN’T RIGHT frustrating. Maniscalco is clearly talented; his delivery and stage command are still among the best in stand-up. But the material hasn’t evolved with him. Where he once dissected social awkwardness with wit, he now defaults to easy targets that don’t challenge him or his audience. It’s the kind of set that might kill in a Vegas residency or local theater crowd, but on a global streaming platform in 2025, it feels stuck in the past.

There’s an audience for this style of comedy—people who find comfort in hearing their own frustrations echoed back at them with volume. And to be fair, the crowd reaction suggests many of them were in the room that night. However, for viewers seeking something with sharper edges or a fresh perspective, the special is more exhausting than entertaining. The themes feel recycled, and the anger starts to sound less like exaggeration and more like genuine disdain.

By the time the credits roll, it’s clear the title isn’t just the name of the show—it’s an accidental summary of the performance itself. Nothing about it feels right: not the tone, not the topics, not the sense of humor that once made Maniscalco stand out in a crowded comedy landscape. IT AIN’T RIGHT is a reminder that being loud and confident doesn’t automatically make something funny, and that staying relevant in comedy means evolving, not echoing the past.

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[photo courtesy of HULU, DISNEY+]

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