Earlier this summer, the comic Sebastian Maniscalco received a note from his father that expressed pride in his son’s achievements but also encouraged him to double down on writing more jokes. “I appreciated the letter,” Maniscalco said with a sigh, sitting in a small, empty room at the Comedy Store. “But I’m 46 and he’s stillon me. I called my sister and said, ‘This card is something you send someone who is struggling.’” Then he flashed a tight smile.

In January, Maniscalco sold out Madison Square Garden four times in two days; less than a year earlier, he sold out five shows at Radio City Music Hall. He made the Forbes list of the top 10 highest-earning comics three years in a row, and after appearing in the Oscar-winning “Green Book” last year, he plays the gangster Joe Gallo in the most anticipated movie of the fall, Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman.”