Comedian Steve Hofstetter Talks His Favorite Rising Stand-Ups, Louis CK, and His Next Book
When it comes to touring artists, Montana often benefits simply from being on the way to somewhere else. In that vein, the VFW is welcoming comedian Steve Hofstetter on a Sunday night, where the nationally known stand-up and YouTube star with 100 million clicks will bring his act to a venue that holds a fraction of the people he’s used to — and probably more Keno machines than usual.
Finishing off a monster tour that will encompass over a dozen countries, all 50 states and 150 cities, Hofstetter is busy creating material for his next special and promoting his YA non-fiction memoir, Ginger Kid. And, of course, he’s shutting down hecklers with his famously quick wit — something for which he’s gotten a reputation. I chatted with him about the tour so far, what comedy he’s watching now and what’s next.
Any highlights or lowlights from the tour so far?
Steve Hofstetter: A highlight was getting to go to Europe and doing two weeks in Edinburgh, performing at the Fringe with a lot of comics that I really respect and a bunch of new ones that I hadn’t worked with before.
Lowlights? We got to the venue in Knoxville, and you know how sometimes someone will convert an old warehouse into a cool bar? This was more of just an old warehouse.
Any good hecklers?
SH: There’s no such thing as a good heckler. I do a joke in my act that has a historical reference in it, and in Burlington, Vermont, this guy tried to correct me, but he was wrong. I asked him what he did for a living, and he said he was a librarian. So I said, “Oh — then you should know to shut the fuck up.”
Do you think you get more hecklers because you are known for responding to them so well?
SH: No, I get fewer because of that. If you like videos of snipers shooting targets from far away, it doesn’t mean you want to be shot. I’ve had people come up to me after the show and say, “It’s too bad no one tried to start with you today,” and there have been two or three times that people have brought a mouthy friend in hopes that they would start. But, people who know my stuff know to behave.
What’s your material like right now? What should people expect?
SH: I have a new hour every two years or so. Because of where I am in the development cycle, I do a lot of ad lib right now. I don’t want someone who’s seen my last special to know all the stuff. There might be five or ten minutes in there from Secret Optimist, but there’s a bunch of new stuff, and I’m just letting it fly and seeing what happens.
Montana is the last state in the continental U.S. that I haven’t been to. We had a couple days off, between Spokane and Fargo, and I thought, well, we could fly, or we could find a reason to stop in Montana.
This is how we get a lot of our comedy acts: people driving across us. What are you expecting from Montana?
SH: Missoula is a college town, so I expect it to be forward-thinking people, and a smart crowd. But I don’t decide on material based on where I am, because I don’t want my audience to be prejudiced, so I shouldn’t be either.
What kind of comedy are you really enjoying right now?
SH: My favorite contemporaries are John Mulaney and Hannibal Buress. My favorites that people won’t necessarily know are Taylor Tomlinson and Danny Jolles. The two of them have been crushing it and are so much fun to watch. Jolles just did Colbert for the first time, and Taylor was just on the new season of Netflix show, The Standups.
What’re your thoughts and feelings on Louis CK’s return to comedy?
SH: I think that I am not entitled to have thoughts and feelings on that because it doesn’t affect me. I think that more male comics need to shut up and listen to the female comics because it affects them way more.
What other projects are you up to right now?
SH: I’m still promoting my book, and starting to formalize a second one.
Are you saying what it’s about yet?
SH: I don’t know if I’ve been public with that yet.
Want to break it in Missoula, Montana?
SH: [Laughing] Well, the first one was the highs and lows of growing up, and the second will be five years in the future of where it left off. It’s the first six years of being a comic, and what went well and what didn’t. It’s the struggle of figuring out what to do with your life.
What’s your advice to stand-ups who are just starting out?
SH: There’s no substitute for stage time. But with that said, there’s also no substitute for life experience. You can’t write if you’re not living. There’s this belief among a lot of new comics, “Oh, I did 40 open mics this week!” But what the hell did you write about unless you were just doing jokes about open mics? Your experiences, whether you write about them or not, will inform your opinion.
Steve Hofstetter plays the VFW on Sunday, Sept. 16, at 8 PM. $25/$20 advance at stevehofstetter.com.
Extras:
Here’s the link to the Facebook Event page.
Here’s the up-and-coming comedian Hofstetter mentioned, Taylor Tomlinson, working her tight five on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
And here’s a good video of Hofstetter owning a heckler:
