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| Questions | Answers |
|---|---|
| Best crowd heckle you've ever heard? | Heckles are never good, unless the comic asks for it. |
| My buddies and I were at a show in college at Standup NY. The comic asked my fried Chris where he was from, and he said "LA". Three minutes later, he asked him again. Chris said "Still LA" and the crowd lost it. | |
| The lesson? Don't try to go into the crowd unless you have a plan, or are any good at ad-lib. | |
| What's up Steve? I am a comedian from Texas who has followed you for the last year or two. I am looking to move to NYC to further my career. I plan on having a substantial amount of money saved before I move but I know that I will have to get paid work in the first year to make it work. If I have been doing comedy for 5 years and built a solid feature set how long do you think I could reasonably expect to do open mics before getting paid work? Lastly, how has your youtube success impacted bookings? Have you been able to leverage that to negotiate better deals with clubs? Has your increased success correlated with better turnouts at the shows? | First of all, do NOT move to NYC unless you're the best comic where you live. NYC is comedy mecca - unless you're killing it, and i mean REALLY killing it in your home city, you will be starting from the bottom of NYC. The best comics in EVERY scene move to NYC. Maybe you're that - but make sure of it. Don't just uproot your life because you're bored. Do it because its a smart decision. NYC ain't cheap. Recommendation is important, but it depends on who. There are some comics who are great on stage, but their eye for talent is terrible, or they're very nice and will recommend anyone. I have my guys who I listen to - everyone else doesn't really effect me. But a booker's rec is very important. "How long do you think I could reasonably expect to do open mics before getting paid work?" A long time if you're asking that question. Because, and I say this with love, it demonstrates a lack of knowledge of how NYC works. Paid work goes to the big guns, the headliners. Most of NYC is guest spots. And even the paid work pays very little. The road is where you make your money - NYC is where you showcase and where you hone your awesomeness. It usually takes 6-12 months to become a paid regular at ONE club, and that's if you're killing it. YouTube has changed me as a comic, because now I don't need clubs. I play rock venues and small theaters, and when I do play clubs, I get paid from ticket sales. When you have people coming to see you, you are no longer at the mercy of the club, it's the other way around. This business is, at its core, a business. And when a venue knows they'll sell $2K worth of drinks on a Wednesday with little effort, they're happy to have me. |
| "Most of NYC is guest spots" If you destroy on a guest spot would a club generally ask you to come back and do it several times before actually booking you? | Yes. Destroying once doesn't mean you're a reliable comic - it means you have the possibility of being one. |
| Hi steve. On YouTube I watched a whole playlist on you handling hecklers. You are a boss, how do you comeback at the hecklers so fast? And what is you're best/favorite heckler story? Thank you, big fan :) | Thanks! I hope I'm not too bossy. |
| The heckler tricks: 1) don't censor yourself. If you're funny, let yourself be funny. That guy in your head who says "don't say this"? Kill him. 2) Make sure the audience hates them more than you do. Then they'll let you get away with anything. Don't pounce too quickly - give him the rope to hang himself. 3) Be witty. That one can't be taught. You just have to be a quick thinker. But the more you're on stage, the quicker you get. | |
| What is your writing process? what do you think of comedians like bill burr or louis ck who never write anything down, they just work it out on stage? your favorite known comedian? up and coming? | I doubt that's true about either one - we all jot down ideas. But I also develop most of what I do on stage (after I write down the germ of an idea). |
| My process is WAY different than it used to be. Now I write down points - just basic things I want to communicate to the audience, and then I write jokes around them. Like my 10 minute opening bit just came from me jotting down the words "being a parent doesn't make you special" - and then I just started talking about it. | |
| Would you rather fight a hundred Daniel Tosh-sized Chris Farleys or one Chris Farley-sized Daniel Tosh? | That is amazing. And nice King of the Hill reference in your screenname. |
| I'd rather fight one Chris Farley sized Daniel Tosh. Because not only is Tosh a pretty big guy anyway, but the Daniel Tosh sized Chris Farleys would all be pretty coked up. And zombies. | |
| So you're saying i'd have won the album if i wasn't such a pussy, is what you're saying. | Yup. That's a good lesson in life. If you want something, the best way to get it is to try. |
| Hey there Steve! I only have one quick question for you: if you could get a robot arm tomorrow for free, would you have your arm surgically removed to get it? Now this arm is like Luke Skywalker robot-arm level. Like it's not just a hook or something and it's pretty badass looking. | Oooh. Probably.As long as I couldn't feel the difference. Like, if I tried to masturbate and it ripped my dick off, I would not want that. But if it could just make pullups easier, sure. Then I might actually ever do a pullup. |
| Have you and Larry the Cable Guy buried the hatchet and had beers together yet? | Well, I do not drink and he's a fictional character, so that would be difficult. But Dan Whitney and I have never spoken, aside from when we were ambushed on the same radio station at the same time. |
| I would be happy to sit and talk with him with absolutely no animosity. I never meant to cause him (or anyone else) any personal trauma. I just wanted to VERY publicly disagree with what he does. | |
| What makes you laugh? | I love clever. When I don't see something coming, that's what makes me laugh. Usually I can tell where a joke is going by the time it gets to the premise. But when a comic surprises me, that gets me almost every time (unless they surprise me by just how hacky they are). |
| Are you ticklish? If so where and are your feet ticklish? | Thanks! I love college humor too - mainly because without them, who knows if I'd be stuck at a desk somewhere (no offense to those of you asking me questions from your office) I am not ticklish because I choose not to be. Being ticklish is in your mind - you can just grit your teeth and deal. Also, I'm married and 34, so I no longer need that sort of stuff to flirt with people. |
| Have a wonderful weekend! Jo X. | You have a wonderful weekend as well! |
| You have to name your pinky finger, but you can't name it pinky. You call it...? | The Brain. |
| Have you ever had a heckler that you destroyed try to contact you / wait for you outside the club / etc? | My pleasure. Thanks for A-ing Qs! |
| I have never had one wait for me. I had one threaten me a few times. My favorite was in Lansing, Michigan when one got kicked out. He yelled "I'll wait for you outside!" I said "It's December in Michigan, and I have another 40 minutes left. Go ahead and wait, asshole." | |
| Two other times, I had security walk me to my car. I can tell when someone takes it too seriously. | |
| Why do you think people heckle? | It's a combination of ego and alcohol, but mainly ego. It's the mistaken belief that what they have to say is more important than anyone else in the room. When it's usually the complete opposite - they're yelling for attention because what they have to say is worthless. |
| The people who can quietly know that life will come back around to them? They're the ones with the best stuff to say. | |
| What ever happen to that National Lampoon sports comedy account that you use to run? | It was a syndicated radio short on 170+ stations, and an accompanying newspaper column. I ended it after four years because it just wasn't making the money I needed to run it. Too bad - that was a ton of fun. |
| Wasn't there [at ever happen to that National Lampoon sports comedy account that you use to run]some companion sports minute podcast or something too? | The Times was pretty cool. We were able to get a general announcement, but then they liked our story enough that not only did they give us another few paragraphs, but they also produced a video about us (Link to www.youtube.com.) |
| What's it like having your wedding announcement in the New York Times? | When on vacation in Budapest, we had someone come up to us. I assumed it was because they recognized me as a comic. Nope - they were a devout reader of the Times wedding section and recognized us from that. Which, if they're not married, is sort of sad. |
| What serves as inspiration for your material? | I write most of my stuff these days on questioning status quo - I like to find things that other people have accepted as truth, and find the reason why they're wrong. My main job is to notice things that other people don't. My mother used to call me with ideas for jokes. I had to explain to her that if she saw it, so did other people. My job is to find material 8 layers deep. |
| But really, its just about paying attention. When people ask me where I get my material, I wonder why other people don't have theirs. Material is everywhere. | |
| When people ask me where I get my material, I wonder why other people don't have theirs. Material is everywhere. This is one of the best ways I've heard this idea expressed. Comedic irony is a result of detecting inconsistencies with how things could or should take place. Anyone that thinks critically should have a few jokes up their sleeve. Are you coming to Vegas anytime soon? | Thank you. No Vegas plans as of now, but all I need is a bar or a rock club that wants to sell drinks on an off-night or before the late rush, and I'm happy to. |
| Steve, what advice would you give someone who is just starting with writing and telling jokes? I've been up at open mics recently and I really dig the rush of getting a laugh. | Get on stage as much as possible. There is no substitute for stage time. If you want to be a comic, then be a comic every day. |
| Also, produce a show. Find a bar with a basement or a back room and promote your own night there. You will not only learn way more about being a comic when you're not worried about getting rebooked, but you'll be creating stage time for other people, which is both good karma and good for networking. And you'll learn about what goes into a good lineup - which will help you refine your own set. | |
| If Rob Ford showed up at your show, front row, what would you say? | I'd ask him not to record the show, because once that stuff gets out on the web, it's there forever. He'd understand. |
| Who was the worst audience you ever performed for? | Well, here's a story about doing a show for the KKK: Link to www.youtube.com |
| But really, its any show that the crowd has just decided they dont want to be there, which happens a decent amount. Or a terrible amount. I did a show recently where one comic brought friends - which would have been great, except the second she was off stage, they all started talking and texting. I finally had to say "look, whether or not you laugh at my jokes does not effect how funny your friend was. You're already here, so pay attention and fucking enjoy yourself." | |
| I'd like to say it worked. I'd like to say. | |
| Did you know anyone in the entertainment business before you got started? | I got started in improv when I was 13, so thats a resounding no. But over the years, I've met plenty of people who have helped me here and there. Eddie Ifft introduced me to the Sirius exec that gave me my show. Jim Gaffigan recommended me to the booker of The Late Late Show. But that's how the business works - you get more opportunity from your colleagues than you do from your agents and managers. So the quickest way to advance as a comic is not to just be funny, but be a generally good person to be around. |
| Do you find that, because of your notoriety for calling out hecklers, they are becoming more common at your shows? | This is a question I've gotten a lot - I find it doesn't change anything. The people who enjoy my heckler videos want to see me destroy someone, but who wants to be that someone? I've had many people come up to me after a show and tell me they love my videos and it was great to see it happen live. I have never once had a heckler tell me they did it on purpose, or show any signs of knowledge of what I do. 100% of the time, hecklers are people who don't know who I am before the show starts, whether they came with a friend who does, or they just came to see "comedy" and didn't care who was on. Hopefully, that remains the case. |
| Yeah, that would really suck if people showed up just to heckle you. | Yup. But I like to think I'm experienced enough to figure that out when its happening, and then just get the bouncers to bounce em. I keep their ticket money, and they lose their little quest for fame. |
| What is your favorite tvshow/movie? | Currently, Game of Thrones. I also really love the Good Wife, despite their advertising making the show look like it's a silly soap opera. My favorite all-time is Seinfeld, nothing even comes close. |
| Movies, my favorite is Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I used to watch it every time I stayed home from school sick. That's why I named my 4th album Steve Hofstetter's Day Off and titled all the tracks with Ferris Quotes - it's my tribute. | |
| I met you after your show at the Hard Rock and while you were extremely gracious and kind I was a gigantic drunk douchenozzle. So, 1. Sorry. And 2., What is your least favorite thing about the comedy club circuit and why is it people like me? | You'll have to narrow that down. I play a lot of Hard Rocks and meet a lot of Douchenozzles. But I'm sure its worse in your head than it was in real life. Unless you were the guy who kept yelling mean shit at me at the late show in DC. Then, yes, thanks for the apology. |
| Actually, the thing I like the least about the circuit is how poorly some clubs treat their talent. That's part of why I play the Hard Rocks. I've done over a dozen of them and there was only one where I didn't immediately feel welcome. They go out of their way to make everything perfect for their talent, and its appreciated. What some comedy clubs don't realize is that if you spend $100 on food, drink, and basic hospitality, you'll get a comic's loyalty. And when they're big, you'll save about $5K on the price they charge other people. Seems like the math is worth it. | |
| So, what's your favorite kind of dog? Any breed that you've never owned but want to someday? | While both my dogs are small (actually, one is tiny), I LOVE pitbulls. They are completely misrepresented and are NOT dangerous. You are WAY more likely to get bitten by a small dog, and most dogs classified as pitbull-type dogs aren't actually American Staffordshire Terriers, they just look like em. |
| They are sweet and loving and wonderful, and the only reason why they get put into fights is because they are so loyal to humans, they'd do anything to please you. | |
| They are the most maligned and misunderstood. And every dog, regardless of breed, should be defined by how it acts, not how it looks. | |
| In other words, fuck Michael Vick. | |
| Have you been able to pull new sorts of material from becoming a dog owner the last few years? | Yup. Been working on a chunk about pitbulls. |
| Agh! I hope I'm not too late in asking my question. I've been looking forward to your AmA for a while (you're the first comedian I saw live!), and I'm just now able to get on Reddit. | Thanks, and you are not too late. |
| I've always admired your skills with hecklers. Did you ever have a heckler get physical with you? I had my first ordeal happen last week, and it's gotten in my head a bit. Has a heckler ever made you rethink an approach or a joke in your arsenal? | I have never had a heckler get physical (I told the story of when it got close on another Q thread). But part of that is because I don't push it too far. I am VERY careful to read body language - and while I hit hard, I hit in a way that the audience is with me. Once someone yelled "I should kick your ass" and I replied "good luck getting through the 200 people who will kick yours for me." |
| Thanks so much Steve. Long time fan of your material and style, and I really look forward to seeing you perform again. | Every reaction I've ever gotten has made me rethink my approach - some major tweaks, some minor. If you're not constantly re-evaluating, you'll get stale. |
| You're to be executed at high noon tomorrow, whats your last meal? | Grilled cheese, a bagel with cream cheese and lox, a good steak, and a piece of cheese cake. Also, don't execute me please. |
| How often do you feel not funny? | Pretty often. People often forget that comedians are real people, with real shit in their lives. I know that when I'm in a good mood, I'm funny. And when I'm in a bad mood, I'm REALLY funny (because I'm way more cutting). But its when I'm in the middle, when I feel that sense of blah, that its hard to get to a funny headspace. My job is to push that aside when I'm on stage. But I certainly have days where its harder than others. |
| When are you finally gonna pull the Lehigh university energy shower handle?? | Sometime in my life, I will pull that. When you get famous enough, petty crime is chalked up to "a publicity stunt" or "eccentricity". I will get there, dammit. And that handle will be pulled! |
| Do you like licorice? | I used to enjoy red licorice, but I've pretty much cut out extra sugar, so I don't do candy anymore. But black licorice was always terrible. Seriously, calling that candy is an affront to candy. How dare they. |
| How'd you get so many twitter followers even though you've never had a TV special before? | I've been "internet famous" for about 12 years. The original writer for collegehumor.com, the guy who broke the record for Facebook friends, etc. TV is not everything - its just a force multiplier. |
| Will you be joining the Reddit Secret Santa this year? | Nope. Hate Christmas. Always have, always will. When I was a kid, I was visiting my grandfather in the hospital. And a Santa came in to the playroom (you know, the place where children get distracted while their relatives die). He asked for all the good little Christian boys and girls, and then gave them presents. I figured as a good little Jewish boy, I was next. Nope! He walked away. He was proselytizing by bribing children. In a FUCKING HOPSITAL. My mom reamed him out something fierce, and got me a Shirt Tales game. Yes, Shirt Tales, that's how long ago this was. |
| So in summary, call me the grinch, but I hate me some Christmas. | |
| looks up proselytizing... Oh. Wow. Um, sorry? That got sad. | Hah - yes, if done right. My family is not the Martha-Stewart-Wasps that have everything perfect for thanksgiving. Usually there's a lot of yelling, and then my mother crying about how great the year has been. But one year, we were on our way to relatives when we got stuck in traffic, and with a car full of hungry kids, my parents decided to stop at a diner. It was the best Thanksgiving I ever had. Football on the TV, food that came all at once instead of drawn out courses, and we didn't have to clean up. |
| Uhh...but Thanksgiving though- it's great!, right?!? | As an adult, I've made that my favorite holiday tradition. Try a diner thanksgiving some time. You're welcome. |
| How did you get through the early days of being an open-mic-er who didn't get much stage time, or did you begin with a lot of time per week? | I was never an open-micer. For my early stage time, I was a barker in NYC, where I passed out flyers in exchange for being on the show. Pretty quickly, I realized that I could flyer people in to my own shows, and instead I started producing comedy instead of working for other people. In the first 3 months as a comic, I was on stage about 100 times, because I ran shows almost every night. |
| The way you get stage time in this business is to do anything it takes for it. And once I did more for the show on stage than off, I didn't have to flyer anymore. | |
| You own/part own the Laughing Devil (or used to, sorry I can't remember). What is it like running a comedy club? | I still do (I also own part of Morty's in Indianapolis). Owning a club is a TON of hard work - but its wonderful because it lets you really understand what goes in to the other side of the business. Also, the connections are amazing. Caroline Rhea recorded a video for my Fund Anything campaign, and that never would have happened if I didn't meet her through Morty's. |
| The toughest part is dealing with egos. There are 52 weeks a year, and there will never be more than that. Yet many comedians think they deserve to be booked constantly. You could be awesome, but we can't book everyone - the math of it doesn't work out. When a club doesn't book a comic, they shouldn't take it personally, ever. | |
| I see you are in the Seattle comedy competition, do you have to use different material for each show in the same round at the different venues? (Also congrats on getting 1st place so far) | Thanks! No, they let you do the same set, over and over. But the further you go, the longer your set. By the finals, you're doing 20 minutes so the rookies die off. Well, not physically, but you get my point. I mainly did the same set each night in the 1st round because it worked, so no need to change it. In the semi-finals, I'll be doing an expanded version of it. |
| The Seattle International Comedy Competition is a kill-fest. Not much room for experimentation. | |
| What's your opinion on the serious decline in quality in Collegehumor in the last couple years? I haven't watched in about a year but the last time I watched, Collegehumor had gone from one of the funniest channels on youtube and funniest websites on the internet to a mediocre website/youtube channel that had seemed to be past it's prime. Any thoughts on this? | I've been asked this question for the last 10 years about collegehumor.com and about my own writing. Whatever you liked about the site when you first liked it has changed, and that's the case for you, and for everyone. You have also changed. It's also the case for every mode of entertainment you like. Art reaches its prime for each viewer at a different point - depends on your taste and their arc. But I'd bet you anything that there are still elements of it that you'd love. (And I say that having only written for them a handful of times in the last few years) |
| Hey Steve, I've been a fan for years and was lucky enough to see you live when you came back to the Laughing Devil a few months ago. As a comic just starting out and trying to gain some footing, how do you know which clubs to try and maintain a relationship with and which clubs aren't worth trying to stick with? | The two things that make a club worthwhile are if they have good shows and how they treat people. The first one you can tell just as an audience member. The second one you can figure out pretty damn quickly when you're submitting to them. |
| Hey Steve, I've been following your videos for quite a while now, and I'm surprised that the format you chose to further your career has been working out so well for you. Why did you choose to pursue the "witty comebacks to hecklers" route? Thanks. | I didn't - it was totally organic. I post lots of videos, but the heckler ones get a TON of views. I dont post current material I'm doing (so that people dont get disappointed at live shows). So I post outtakes - and hecklers are just that. |
| Will you ever perform shows in the Netherlands? I hope to see you one day! | I would love to. It's not a super easy thing for American comics to get over there, as the travel alone is more expensive than most gigs pay. But if you know a promoter, club owner, college booker, etc that is down, I would enjoy the trip. |
| Are you the most heckled comedian of all time? Because of your multiple heckler videos, do people now come in more often with intent to heckle? | I am not heckled any more than any other comic. But I tape every show, and I also don't steamroll hecklers (when I hear something, I address it). That adds up to a lot of videos). |
| I talked about the "do people come to heckle you in another answer, but lemme know if you want me to elaborate. | |
| What's a story you've always wanted to tell, but haven't had the space to tell it? | I've been using the web regularly since 1994, so I've thankfully always had a forum for my ideas (Compuserve represent!). I have a bunch of short stories, poems, and oddities on my blog if you're curious: Link to stevehofstetter.com |
| Thanks for the reply man, I'll have another look through for your non-heckler ones :) | Agreed. |
| Hey man i invited you to play a gig at WVTech a few years ago, i doubt you remember me but you where a pretty cool guy when we talked before and after the show. :D. | Couldn't pick you out of a police lineup (TERRIBLE with faces) but I appreciate you for bringing me in. It does get very hard to travel - which is why so many of us are alcoholics. As John Pinette said, "when you have half a bottle of Jack in you, it doesn't matter that you're in a motel in Topeka". I am fortunate to be a pretty grounded guy with no vices (other than email). So I spend most of my day working, and the tough part of travel for me is just the physically exhausting piece of it. I can be very happy in a hotel room on my laptop. Like today, for instance. |
| Any thoughts on Lou Reed? | I think Walk on the Wild Side is a great song. And that is the extent of my thoughts on Lou Reed. |
| Are you enjoying Eugene? | Not yet, since I'm still in Portland. But I will be enjoying the hell out of it in about two hours. |
| Looking forward to the show! Hopefully they'll still be selling tickets at the door. | They will - we're about half sold out right now. |
| You had a bit in one of your videos about how you used to be obsessed with fighting games; are games still a guilty pleasure for you? | I did? I think you may be remembering a different comic. I played street fighter as a kid, but that was it. I did talk about old school video games and how much I loved Contra, but I was never huge into fighting games. |
| I stopped gaming when they got too good. I have so much to do on a daily basis - if I also played video games, I wouldn't have time to eat. One day when I have a huge staff doing everything for me, I'll get back into em. But for now, I have to choose between food and games, I'll take food every time. | |
| Well, if you still remember the konami code I count it as obsession :p. | Sure, its just not a fighting game (which is what confused me). I assumed you meant stuff like Mortal Kombat, etc. |
| When i saw you in memphis i didn't expect you to use it in so many of your videos. what was so special about the memphis show? | I was very loose that night, and the videos I post are when I'm off the cuff. I only post my rehearsed material after I do it on an album or TV. So when I did 45 minutes of ad-lib, that turned into a few solid videos. Part of it was the mood I was in, and part was that the crowd was into it (and I feed off your energy. As Scoot Herring says, a comedy vampire). |
| Off that topic, have you seen the pictures around the internet saying you look like edward snowden and you are him undercover? | Its an AMA. Everything is off-topic. |
| I have. After I did a sketch parodying Ed Snowden. Three sketches, actually. | |
| If crazy people want to write crazy things, they're welcome to it. If someone tells me the sky is green, I don't bother addressing it. | |
| So are you edward snowden? | Yes. I am a guy I only look sort of like. |
| Sorry to bug you, but I just had one more question. Was that lighting terrible or was it just me? I'd try to latch onto a premise but suddenly the dark blue would shine on your face and I'd sort of get disconnected from the bit. | Yeah, it was rock lighting - but as today is Diablo's last day of existing, I wasn't going to complain that they took some of the lighting down. |
| Have you ever sharted? | No. But every time I drive through Shartlesville Pennsylvania, I giggle. |
| What lead you to become a writer at collegehumor? | I was writing a column that I emailed to a few friends. I googled the words "College" and "Humor" and they came up. They were about 4 months old and had no original content at the time. I sent them my column and they published it. The other 10 sites I sent to didn't reply. And all of em are gone now, and CollegeHumor.com is worth many many millions of dollars. Just sayin. |
| I just thought of another question : Who's your favorite comic to watch live, here in LA? | Don't really have a favorite as there are so many wonderful ones and if I name a few, there's a hundred others I'd feel bad for leaving out. I can tell you that consistently, the shows where you can see some amazing talent are Comedy Juice (Weds at 8 at the Melrose Improv) and Chris Spencer's show at Inside Jokes (Fri at 9PM). And of course, my rStandup show (RStandup.com) |
| What's your opinion on the assman? | It has been well documented: Link to www.youtube.com |
| This is an FOIA request for further information. | That information is classified. |
| Have your videos production value gone down ever since the new YouTube layout? | Why would their layout change the production value of my videos? I'm a bit confused by the question. Has the layout changed the videos somehow? |
| Well, the new layout makes it harder to view your subscriptions. | Yes. But I'm not sure what that has to do with the quality of the videos themselves? |
| Sorry I was just wondering if your view count had gone down.. | Oh, yes, everyone's has since some people left the site after the changes. Huge jump when the changes were made (people were curious) and then a steep drop off. Happens every time there is a big change. |
| I was just confused by the words "production quality" because that usually means the quality of the video itself, not the traffic it gets. |
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