Joseph Patrick Santagato  is an American YouTuber and podcaster. He is the co-host of the podcast The Basement Yard and is also commonly seen on “Santagato Studios” and “The Picky Boys.

Early life

Joe Santagato was born and raised in Astoria, Queens, New York, United States. He is of maternal Irish descent and paternal Italian descent. His mother, Elizabeth, was a public school secretary and his father, Joseph, was a firefighter for the New York City Fire Department. He has three older siblings, Thomas, Shannon and Keith. Thomas is a former Team USA athlete and national skeleton champion, and Keith had a gaming YouTube channel from 2015 to 2017 with over 100,000 subscribers.

Santagato attended the St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School, Louis Armstrong Middle School, and St. Francis Preparatory School. Santagato later attended Queensborough Community College but dropped out, instead working as a pizza delivery boy and waiter while growing his YouTube channel.

Santagato began to produce video content at the age of 13, focusing on short movies, sketches and song parodies. He joined YouTube after a suggestion from a friend to post videos online, using the moniker "SantagatoTV".

Santagato has credited comedians like George Carlin, Richard Pryor, and Robin Williams as his major comedic influences. He has also named Jenna Marbles as an early influence on his YouTube channel.