Silke Jasso
Comedian Steve Hofstetter has gotten used to people heckling him during his stand-up sets. It happens so frequently that Hofstetter began sharing these encounters on his social media pages several years ago. Hofstetter has a particularly quick way of dismissing hecklers, and the hilarious encounters frequently go viral.
Videos by Rare
In recent months Hofstetter has seen some backlash in his crowds as he cracks jokes about the newly elected president, Donald Trump. Hofstetter makes it clear throughout his act what his politics are and does not try and hide that for comedic purpose.
“Some comedians see their role as a court jester, to distract you from your problems with laughter. I see the role of a comic as someone who should help you get through those problems,” Hofstetter explained to Rare on Saturday afternoon.
On Friday night, Hofstetter’s set was interrupted by a woman who didn’t take kindly to a joke he made about President Donald Trump.
Hofstetter joked about how he used to be so passionate about telling people to get out the vote.
“Then this election happened and I was like ‘not everybody’ maybe like 40,000 fewer people in Pennsylvania,” Hofstetter said.
That elicited claps from the crowd and one long “boooo” from an audience member.
RELATED: After a woman tried to heckle him about parenting, Steve Hofstetter’s comeback shut her down
“How small of a person do you have to be to boo the people who lost?” Hofstetter asked the heckler.
Rather than immediately ripping into them, Hofstetter said that he wouldn’t put down their opinion because he had respect for other people.
“The next time someone disagrees with you, fucking respect them, O.K?” Hofstetter asked.
As the encounter continued, Hofstetter questioned the heckler, made some solid jokes and then moved on to his next bit.
In a conversation with Rare, Hofstetter explained why he isn’t running from political topics and prefers to hit them head on.
“I am a professional speaker – so I speak. That’s why I became a comedian in the first place” Hofstetter explained. “I find it so discouraging when a comedian purposefully avoids politics so they don’t have to ‘divide their crowd.’ We have such an opportunity to affect positive change. Ask the wizard for some courage and lean into it.”
