At this show, comedians handle the humor and crowd control.
In the basement of a Prospect Lefferts Gardens restaurant, comedians Charlie Kasov and Tyler Fisher have created a community phenomenon. Big Break Stand Up, which happens on the second and fourth Saturday of every month at Bluebird Food and Spirits, has been drawing people into the barren room for the last year. The basement’s lack of cell phone reception means that people pay attention to the show, and the downstairs bar keeps them in place. Just after the show’s one-year anniversary, we spoke with Kasov about the unique performance space, bouncing rowdy patrons, and dealing with an overflow crowd.
How did you get the manager to let you use the basement?
I convinced him that I had experience and I wasn’t going to run an “ambush show.” An ambush show is where people are having a good time at a bar catching up with their friends — and then the microphone in the corner that they didn’t notice suddenly turns on and somebody starts telling jokes into it. Those are very frequent around the city.
What makes the show unique?
I think it’s the fact that we have almost created a community with our crowd. We have a mailing list [charl
Does it get rowdy in the basement?
We had a night where it was three degrees outside — back in February — and the bartender happened to be running a really inexpensive bourbon shot special. We had that deadly combination of people not wanting to leave and being s—-—faced. I ended up bouncing four people from the show while on stage. I asked them to be quiet and they didn’t so I said “Get the hell out of the show.” They put up a defense, but these two comics who were booked on the show, they’re both 6-foot-3, and if you don’t know them, you just see two 6-foot-3 men coming up to you saying “Leave.” I almost lost it on stage, I was laughing so hard, because these are normally two of the biggest gentle giants.
What has the audience reaction been?
In both March and April we had to turn people away because we had reached capacity. People love good entertainment and they love not having to ride the subway. There’s a lot of people in our neighborhood who love being able to walk to a great show — and forcing their friends to come down from other neighborhoods to see the show.
“Big Break Stand Up” at Bluebird Food and Spirits [504 Flatbush Ave. between Ocean Avenue and Lincoln Road in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, (718) 484–9494, www.blueb
