Michael Roccia
Staff Writer
Basement Dwellers Comedy Show was back in action on Friday with a sold out show coming to guests live at The Fret House in Covina, California.
The event took place from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. and had about 100 people in attendance. Abundant amounts of comedic talent were ready to make their mark on the guests and make them laugh incessantly throughout the night. There were seven comics performing all together at the event, including six featured comedians and one headliner.
One of the featured comedians who performed at the show was Alex Durazzo, who is also a part of the team that produces the Basement Dwellers comedy show and brings the hilarious events to life.
Durazzo wanted to create a comedy show that was different from others in and around the Los Angeles area. He wanted to create a show that was appealing to audiences but that gave more of an east coast feel.
“I had a friend who worked at The Fret House and so that was my in,” Durazzo said. “It just seemed like the perfect venue to do comedy. I really loved New York comics growing up and so when I saw the venue, I thought the low ceilings kind of give it a New York vibe. I was just like heck yeah.”
The look of the venue created an intimate atmosphere where people could come, let loose and get away from their real world worries to smile and laugh. That is one of the main reasons Durazzo loves to get up on stage and do comedy.
“You don’t know what people are dealing with throughout the day,” Durazzo said. “I think there’s a lot of power in laughter and I think that getting to provide people a space where they can just check out and have a good time and not worry about what’s going on, that’s what makes it really important to me. That’s why I love getting on stage.”
Durazzo was not the only one on stage killing it on Friday night. One of the hosts of the event was Greg Sanchez. He got the crowd warmed up and set the tone for the rest of the night. Sanchez was not only a host, but a comedian himself and is also the other producer of Basement Dwellers.
Sanchez said that their show offers a more authentic feel to the comedy scene. He believes people respond to the chemistry and genuine friendships that they offer on stage and thinks that is part of the reason their promotion is so special. It shows in their ticket sales as well.
“We book people who we are friends with and I think that kind of shines through to the audience,” Sanchez said. “It’s special because we have a legitness to us where we can make the audience genuinely laugh, and I think that’s why it sells out every time.”
It is not just the comedy that people flock to Basement Dwellers to experience. Guests at the show were also treated to a musical performance by the band known as Tall, Dark and Handsome. The band was on stage and performing as the doors opened on Friday. Once the comedy started, they took a backseat to the comedians but accentuated jokes with their instruments and timing.
The lead singer of the band Justin Gastelum liked the idea of being on stage and working with the comics. He said it adds another dimension to the show and is another reason Basement Dwellers is a fan favorite.
“It feels cool, kind of like we are a house band for a late night show sort of thing,” Gastelum said. “Seeing the band be included by the comics and getting some jokes in, and doing rim shots or drum rolls and everything, it’s awesome. …We get everybody is there for a show so they see us and they like it, and then I feel like it works the crowd good for the rest of the comedy show.”
One of the guests who attended the show was a resident of Pomona, Adrian Sandoval. He has been to multiple Basement Dwellers productions and believes people keep coming back simply because of the vibe.
“It feels like a grassroot movement,” Sandoval said. “It feels very homey, It doesn’t feel corporate. It’s down, dirty and everybody’s just like, ‘you know what, let’s just hang out and have a good time.’”
People interested in the Basement Dwellers Comedy Show can go to their Instagram page @basementdwellerscomedy for more information about when they are performing next.
Michael Roccia can be reached at michael.roccia@laverne.edu.
Michael Roccia is a junior communications major with a concentration is public relations. This is his first semester as a staff writer for the Campus Times.
