According to Comedian Steve Hofstetter, when he entered Colgate’s address into MapQuest he was told to turn right out of his driveway and go…perform a lewd act to himself.

Sponsored by JSU, Hofstetter opened his Thursday night act in the O’Connor Campus Center (the COOP) with this traditional jab at Colgate’s remote location, following such an observation with a recommendation to construct some decent highways. Once the requisite hick jokes were out of the way, Hofstetter was free to tackle any topic of his choice, and for the irreverent comic, everything was fair game.

Throughout his roughly 45 minute long set, Hofstetter touched on themes of race, the environment, sex, drugs, drinking, religion and terrorism. Though he approached these seemingly taboo topics with humor, Hofstetter is a performer with distinct and educated opinions.

First published at the age of 15 and a graduate of Columbia University, Hofstetter is clearly an intelligent man and an entertainer who hopes to challenge his audience to discover, and possibly reassess, their stance on important and relevant issues.

Hofstetter uses personal stories, like that of his adopted African-American sister and Jewish culture to highlight racial tensions and stereotypes in our society.

Through humorous anecdotes about incompetent drivers and airport security, Hofstetter drew attention to problems still currently plaguing America, like the post 9/11 decrease in simple freedoms and unfair ethnic categorizations.

Woven throughout Hofstetter’s act were some of his own personal adages and pleas for a return to an intellectually energetic society. Challenging the practice of banning words, Hofstetter proclaimed that such actions only promote ignorance, saying that the more reasonable exercise would be to educate the public, rather than censor them.

Continuing on the theme of language, Hofstetter questioned why people are offended by the superficiality of words, rather than their meaning. Encouraging a movement away from a society that rewards blind conformity, Hofstetter implored his audience to “question everything,” deeming a reflective nature the only way to inspire change.

Though he discussed serious current events, Hofstetter wasn’t completely preachy and serious. He participated in typical college humor, which can be expected since he was the original columnist for colleghumor.com!

His innovative mixture of hilarious jokes and insightful social commentary made for an amusing and thought-provoking hour spent in the COOP.

Copies of his Comedy CDs, and Books are available on his website: www.stevehofstetter.com. Or you can become one of his 200,00 friends on Facebook!