If you spend even a slight portion of your day on social media, then chances are you’re familiar with Joe Santagato and his podcast, “The Basement Yard.” However, you can get even better acquainted now that he and co-host Frankie Alvarez are hitting the road with their “From the Basement to the World Tour.”
“It’s its own show. We didn’t think that sitting in chairs and just recording a regular podcast would be worth people’s time and money, honestly, for them to come out and just watch us sit and talk to each other. That didn’t really feel like the thing we wanted to put out in a performance,” he told TheWrap. “So we waited until we figured out what this would look like. Once we came up with something that was pretty concrete and felt like something new and not a show that I’ve ever been to, we did the tour, so we’ve been learning about it every single time.”
“The show is obviously structured and there are some things that are similar in every single show, but for the most part, we can get creative, we can experiment and find out what works and what doesn’t work,” Santagato explained. “So the show changes over time, which is nice, because a lot of people come to multiple shows, so there are elements that they’ll see that they’ve never seen before. So it’s nice, it’s kind of ever-changing and people can enjoy it no matter what.”
“I think if you plan too much or try to perfect something before even trying it, then you’re kind of setting yourself up for failure,” he added. “Because no matter what, once you start doing it, it never goes to plan so you have to kind of figure it out. But being on stage, every single show is helpful for what we’re doing in the moment. We’re always trying to experiment in little ways and try to make each show, in its own way, different than the last one. So with that experimentation, you kind of learn a lot too.”
The pair’s second comedy tour is even set to stop at Madison Square Garden after selling out two nights at Radio City Music Hall last time around — and Santagato already has an idea for what he’d like to do next.
“We don’t only do podcasts, we don’t only do YouTube videos or anything like that. I definitely want to get into stand-up next year or after this tour is over. It’s all kind of within entertainment, I would be open to trying things that maybe I’m not even interested in today at some point,” he shared. “Ever since I started making content in probably like 2010, 2011, I’m always trying to keep a comedic tone with everything.”
“The Basement Yard” is a Top 10 podcast with 1.1 million subscribers on YouTube, and that’s not to mention Santagato’s own 2.45 million subs. So what’s the secret to his viral soundbytes with Alvarez?
“Our show is pretty accurate of our personalities. When you’re talking to one of your friends and you’re in a conversation, that’s how we are, that’s how we talk to each other,” he said. “Even when the cameras aren’t on, to the point where people make fun of us. If we’re out at dinner with a big group and we start joking around about something, people are like, ‘Are you doing the show now?’ This is just what we’ve been doing our entire lives.”
And while Santagato considers himself an overall entertainer, the podcaster and YouTuber doesn’t necessarily participate in the platforms that made him famous outside of his work life.
“I don’t consume content in that sort of way, to be honest with you. There’s no podcast that I listen to, nor is there specific YouTube channels that I keep going back to,” he admitted. “I like to think that I’m a very social person, I have a lot of friends and I like hanging out with them. That’s how I like spending my time.”
“It’s kind of like I turn this thing on where I’m at work and I’m in this world and making sure that I’m up to date on what’s going on and creating, but then once I’m away from it, it feels like a completely separate life,” Santagato further noted. “I don’t hang out with a bunch of influencers or people who do what I do, not because I don’t like them, but just my friends aren’t those people. They have regular jobs. So it’s a nice change of pace to go from one world to the other.”
But ultimately, the man behind Santagato Studios is just happy to be able to do what he loves with one of his best friends. “It’s unbelievable,” he concluded. “It’s a testament to our fans just being very supportive.”
“The Basement Yard: From the Basement to the World Tour” will hit 24 cities across the country before culminating in NYC on Nov. 13 as part of the 2025 New York Comedy Festival.
