By Eva Trieger
SAN DIEGO — It is the generally accepted modus operandi of stand up comedians to react to hecklers with quick jabs and caustic barbs. Well, Steve Hofstetter was at the top of his game at Riley’s Bar and Grill in the Point Loma neighborhood last Saturday, April 20.
On a small stage, before a crowd of 35, Hofstetter received a good response for his tales of plane travel with a chatty seat mate and a robotic and annoying flight attendant. He exercised his quick wit and knowledge of regional stereotypes to offend a man from North Carolina, and any Republican in the audience.
Nearing 6’2”, the red-haired bespectacled thirty something, held the crowd’s attention with observational humor, anti-kid jokes and liberal use of the “f-bomb”. While kids are often the butt of his jokes, I later learned that this comedian has just written his third book, targeting a youthful audience.
Hofstetter is Jewish and this fact is not made evident in his routine…until he was asked about it. At the end of one show, Hofstetter invited audience members to ask questions. “Are you really Jewish?” to which Hofstetter replied, “Are you really Black?” The questioner retorted, “I’ve just never seen a redheaded Jew. You don’t look like a typical Jewish person.”
This led to a harangue from Hofstetter including “Just because I’m not eating a bagel on stage or drinking the blood of little Christian children, I don’t fit your neat stereotype?” “Yes”, Hofstetter countered further, “I’m the rare Irish McJew. They’re always after me lucky star” he quipped with a brogue.
His intellect and tongue are sharp and Steve Hofstetter is quickly being discovered by late night television hosts, including Craig Ferguson, and by college audiences around the country. His East Coast roots (Hofstetter hails from “Essex County, NJ, a suburb of New York”) and sardonic humor appear to be a hit with his audiences.
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Trieger is a freelance writer who focuses on the arts. She may be contacted at eva.trieger@sdjewishworld.com