By Adeshola Adigun
“If you get offended by a joke you’re not thinking clearly. You’re doing it wrong,” says Collegehumor.com’s Steve Hofstetter on his latest comedy album “Pick Your Battles.”
In a culture where watching reality shows like “Jersey Shore” and “The Real Housewives of Orange County” to make fun of the cast has become a national pastime, Hofstetter, “The Thinking Man’s Comic,” hopes to educate people while still entertaining them. “Unfortunately, there are people who want to shut their mind off to be entertained. You shouldn’t have to shut off your brain to be entertained,” he said.
And even though he jokes about how bad things are, he is optimistic about the future and how the youth will take on the social issues at the forefront of our culture. “Every generation thinks that the generation after them is apathetic,” he said of the younger generation being referred to as passive. But once people have had enough of the way things are they will make a change. “Revolution is never created by people who have everything. We’re miles further than we used to be but we’re not at the finish line.”
Aside from his work with Collegehumor.com, Hofstetter is well-known for selling out college shows. He made a visit to Savannah Jan. 29 for a show he had at The Wormhole, and was surprised by the lacking comedy scene in the city. He now plans to produce a monthly show at The Wormhole that will bring himself and other comics Savannah on the first Saturday of every month starting in April. (But he’ll only be the act for one of the 12 months in the year.)
On his new unapologetic 17-track album, Hofstetter puts a comic spin on topics that range from abortion, censorship and the war on drugs to “Twilight,” Wonder Woman and even himself.
Hofstetter has picked his battles, and he’s ready to fight. “I don’t fight with guns, or bombs or tanks. I fight with words. My thoughts are my bullets, my mouth is my gun. We are all loaded weapons—it is our choice where we aim, and when we pull the trigger. We are at war, and I choose to fight.”
Which fight will you choose?
“Pick Your Battles” is only available for pre-order and comes out on Feb. 15 yet it has already broken the top 100 on iTunes’ comedy charts. His previous works include his second live album “Cure For the Cable Guy,” which reached No. 20 on Billboard’s comedy charts; “Dark Side of the Room,” his third album, and the first ever pay-what-you-want comedy album, since people were going to pirate it anyway; and his fourth album is an hour’s worth of ad-libbed material (but will be sold for a fixed price).
