Duo's Free Basement Comedy Show Thrives In The East Village

EAST VILLAGE, NY — After three years in the basement of a dark and crowded bar on Avenue B, comedians Courtney Maginnis and Tom Delgado took their free weekly comedy show to the Bowery Ballroom earlier this month.

Hundreds showed up for their show, “Let’s See, What Else?” — with longtime stand-up and actor Janeane Garofalo, Phoebe Robinson of 2 Dope Queens, among others on the line-up. The duo already has a second show at the Bowery slated for Aug. 8.

Their show, however, started — and continues — in the basement of Poco, on Ave. B and East 3rd St. every Wednesday at 8 p.m. And they don’t plan to bail on their Poco show anytime soon (though an HBO special would be nice, Maginnis jokes).

Co-hosts Courtney Maginnis and Tom Delgado at their show, "Let's See, What Else?" at the Bowery Ballroom, April 2, 2019. (Mindy Tucker)

In recent years, Poco may have drawn the ire of East Village watering hole watchdogs for its notorious boozy brunch — but since 2016, Delgado and Maginnis have hosted “Let’s See, What Else?” with a variety of established and rising comics of Netflix specials, the Daily Show, Conan, MTV, Comedy Central and more. The bar, which has long had shows in its basement, has a variety of other comedy shows and trivia nights too.

On Wednesday, dozens packed the basement, with Maginnis dragging extra metal chairs out for the audience just before the show. About half the crowd cheered when the duo asked who had seen their show before — a testament to their loyal regulars.

“Sometimes that audience gets nuts, and we’ve got very good wine specials here — there have been times where we’ve been on stage and kind of [have to] save each other," said Maginnis. At one show, the audience convinced Delgado to FaceTime a woman he had recently met during the show (she did not pick up, he says). Another time, Maginnis' aunt got into a skirmish with a comedian that she had tried to film.

The show has become a weekly staple at Poco, morphing into a late night hangout with the audience and comics.

“I think the reason people like the show so much is because we are here, and we enjoy being here and we’re not trying to springboard from here to somewhere else,” Delgado said. “We’re coming here because we want to be here on Wednesday.”

Their goal is to draw people away from watching comedy online and get them to live shows. "Any comic you see on Netflix is going to be 20 times funnier in person," Delgado said. "That's what so great about a [live] show."

Delgado, who lives in Bushwick currently, first moved to a 7-bedroom apartment in SoHo from Atlanta in 2008 after law school for a legal job he quickly decided he would quit as soon as he could.

"I hated law. I hated law mid-way through law school,” he said. Now, he’s a New York City tour guide for cash, hosts the weekly show and does other stand-up gigs in the city.

Maginnis hails from Northern Virginia and moved to New York to go to Fashion Institute of Technology in 2006. When she’s not doing stand-up or hosting her podcast, ‘Narcisistas,’ she designs lingerie. She started stand-up about seven years ago after her friends pushed her to try it.

"I've always been obsessed with comedy,” said Maginnis, who now lives in Ridgewood. "I thought it was going to be a hobby, but now it's taken over my life."

Maginnis and Delgado at Poco on Avenue B. (Jennifer Walkowiak)

The stand-ups bring about five or so comedians on each week, but the hosts themselves and the shenanigans that come from performing in a basement have turned into running jokes between the duo and their audience.

They break-up the show with trivia for Swedish Fish and Sour Patch Kids — a beloved portion of the show inspired by Delgado's time hosting trivia at Parkside Lounge on the Lower East Side and his New York City knowledge from his day job as a tour guide.

When the show kicked off a little more than three years ago, the duo had to beckon people on the sidewalk to come to the show. But within six months of Maginnis joining Delgado (who initially hosted the show with another comedian), it took off, they said.

“Back when we were barking outside, we were like, ‘Free comedy show!’” Maginnis said. But, she said, “You can’t tell people what it is downstairs. You just have to come, and you have to feel it, and you have to be in it and you’ll understand it."