Steve Hofstetter is more than just a comedian. He’s first and foremost a writer, and after speaking to him ahead of his upcoming appearance at the Keswick (this Friday, August 20th at 8:00 p.m. – tickets), we found his ability as a wordsmith unbridled.

We talked to Steve via phone about his Keswick appearance and to learn more about him and his 20 plus year career. We also had an opportunity to talk to him about baseball, and although Steve is a Mets fan, we won’t hold that against him.

GL: Are you excited to be performing at the Keswick?

Steve: Oh, absolutely, it is a gorgeous venue. The idea that a just couple of years ago I was excited to sell 75 tickets on a Thursday and now to be able to play a venue of that size and stature is incredible.

GL: Do you make it to this area often?

Steve: I play the Philly area probably about once a year, certainly not last year, but in non-pandemic times Philly is an annual stop. Actually Philly was the first place after just under 400 days off [that] I performed after the pandemic. I did a couple unannounced drop-ins because Philly started opening up before Pittsburgh did and so it allowed me to kind of shake the cobwebs off.

GL: What inspired you to get into comedy? Why did you choose it as your profession?

Steve: I didn’t intend to. I intended to be a writer and I started doing stand-up to to kind of pass the time while I was looking for a job and the way I say it is: “I was thrown into the ocean and found out I was a fish”.

GL: “I was thrown into the ocean and found out I was a fish”…Can I use that? That’s great…

Steve: Absolutely…you can use any of this.

GL: Do you have any comic idols or maybe comedians that helped you on the way up?

Steve: Well those are certainly two different categories…my comedic idols, people I grew up listening to, early on were George Carlin and Dick Gregory and then as I kind of came into my own as a comedy fan, Bill Hicks and Mitch Hedberg. And then people who helped me along the way…there’s a ton of people who helped me along the way. I’ve had sage advice from people like Jim Brogan to great opportunities from Craig Ferguson. Any comedian who’s doing anything with their career had people help them along the way.

GL: I was introduced to you through the You Tube videos of you owning the hecklers…and there’s something I’ve always wanted to know – Do you find that because you put those videos out and you own hecklers that it deters people from doing it or do you think some people try to look at is as a challenge?

Steve: It deters people from doing it. I refer to the heckler videos as the “gateway drug to my comedy” because it draws people in but what gets them to actually buy tickets and be a fan is the actual stand up and the rest of what I do. I found that I had fewer hecklers these days the more popular those videos get. There was only one time, you know it’s been ten years since those videos were popular, and there’s only been one time when someone specifically came to a show to heckle…and followed through with it. I bet there have been a couple of times where people thought they were going to and once they saw the environment…a lot of people deep down are cowards and that helps. But the only time someone actually did it, I kicked them out of the show and I deleted the footage. I will not let anyone ever get infamous by interrupting someone else’s evening.

GL: How did you know it was premeditated?

Steve: First of all, no one who is dumb enough to do that is a good enough actor to pull it off. It’s pretty apparent. You can tell if someone knows what they’re doing or someone is out of it…the same way you can tell if someone’s drunk or not. It’s just part of what I do for a living is being able to read a room…to me it’s obvious…the same way that I can tell the difference if someone, whether they know my videos or not, if someone is trying to interrupt or someone just can’t help themselves from interrupting.

GL: It’s like a particular skill you have.

Steve: (Laughs) Yeah, you lift the same weight enough, it starts getting lighter.

GL: I like that one too…I like the fish one better but that one is good too!

Steve: I appreciate it…the fish one I’ve said before – that one’s new.

GL: I’m calling this an exclusive interview and now it definitely won’t be hyperbole.

Steve: Perfect

GL: I was looking at your bio, and I see that sports weaves in and out of your history in your television spots, radio, columns you’ve written…what makes sports such an important part of your repertoire?

Steve: I grew up listening to ball games. Going to some…watching some on TV, but the biggest memories for me would be just listening to them in the car with my Dad. And it was a huge part of who I was as a kid. It’s how I made friends as a teenager and it’s still an interest as an adult. I think that a lot people look at sports without understanding just what they do for us. Sports teach us how to lose. Sports teach us adversity. Sports teach us tolerance and integration. Jackie Robinson debuted 17 years before the before the Civil Rights Act. I don’t believe the Civil Rights Act would have been passed when it was had Jackie Robinson not been who he was. And I think that a lot of people don’t realize just how important they [sports] can be in society. Now also, a lot of people go overboard and my belief is if you’re not having fun as a sports fan, get out, you’re doing it wrong. They are very important to who I am and where I come from.

GL: Speaking of sports, you probably hear me smiling as a Phillies fan, but what happened to the Mets?

Steve: What happened to the Mets is their best player [Jacob deGrom] is not playing right now and when your best player is a pitcher, that really affects a team. He was a slump breaker, and when you don’t have a slump breaker you stay in a slump. I’m hoping [Noah] Syndergaard ends up coming back. I hope [Carlos] Carrasco becomes who he was. Right now they are riddled with injuries, and even some of the players who are playing don’t seem to be themselves so I hope they figure it out, but if they don’t they don’t and that’s how it works.

GL: It’s [the NL EAST] such a weak division that it’s anybody’s game.

Steve: It is. After the Phillies swept them, the Mets were in third place and one game back. They don’t look good right now and they have a really tough schedule the next couple of weeks but then they have a bunch of cupcake games against the Nationals so I’m hoping that will bring them back.

Tickets are still available to see Steve Hofstetter live at the Keswick Theater this Friday, August 20th at 8:00 p.m.

Interview edited slightly for clarity