After more than a quarter-century in the business, Sebastian Maniscalco has clawed his way to peak stand-up status, a man who worked hard to get where he is by perfecting his onstage put-upon Italian immigrant persona.

With six stand-up specials under his belt, Maniscalco, 48, is on his second major arena tour. He is a big enough deal that celebrities show up to see him. He sometimes quietly scans cameras pointed at the audience before the show to see if he sees anybody familiar to possibly make fun of.

In 2022, he spied Scott Stapp, lead singer of Creed, in the audience.

“I cried to one your songs,” Maniscalco told Stapp, “coming back from Vegas. I broke up with my girl.” Then he fake weeped and sang a snippet of Creed’s signature song “With Arms Wide Open.”

“I recently put that Creed clip up from that show” on social media, Maniscalco said. “It got 11 million views. I do stand-up and those clips do like 4 million. Creed! Who knew?”

Maniscalco has also been doing his fair share of acting in recent years. He starred with Robert De Niro in “About Your Father.” He just finished shooting the second season of “Bookie” on Max where he plays the title role.

The comedy, coproduced by “Two and a Half Men” and “The Big Bang Theory” producer Chuck Lorre, received excellent reviews.

Maniscalco originally pitched a show about his own life to Lorre. “I liked his idea better and I’m glad we went with it,” he said.

His Danny character, he noted, isn’t the type who breaks legs if you don’t pay up. “This guy has a sensitive side to him,” Maniscalco said. “I relate to him because I can be really sensitive and emotional. I’m the type who cries at movies and my wife is, like, nothing. We went to see ‘IF’ and I was bawling. (He voiced a mouse who likes magic in the movie.) My daughter looked at me and said ‘Dad! Get it together!’ ”

Maniscalco was an early adopter in the podcast world in 2012 with the launch of “The Pete and Sebastian Show,” teaming with his stand-up buddy Pete Correale. More than 600 episodes later, he is still at it.

“Pete and I did the podcast out of the joy of our phone conversations,” he said. “We didn’t initially have any intention to monetize it. ”

They each had a mutual admiration for actor Andy Garcia, which became a running joke, so it was quite the miracle, he said, when Garcia made it on the show in April.

And while Maniscalco might have gleaned some career advice from the award-winning actor, he will always remember this life lesson: Garcia would apply his grandfather’s cologne to a handkerchief in his inside suit pocket.

Throughout the day, “he’d give himself a refresh by rubbing his handkerchief on his neck every two or three hours,” Maniscalco said. “It’s a cologne refresh. That’s a nice move. I now carry around a little handkerchief sprayed with cologne. It’s amazing!”

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