This is Dr. Jerry Jaffe and welcome to the first episode of this new podcast, The Comical Heathen. The Comical Heathen is the only podcast to explore the art and craft of religious satire. Every episode will feature an interview with a comedian, or some other interesting person, on the topic of religious satire. This is our very first episode and we are excited to have as our very first guest Steve Hofstetter.

  Steve Hofstetter is a YouTube sensation, his videos of him destroying hecklers have had over 60 million views. He is also known as the original host and executive producer of FOX’s Laughs. He is a comic road warrior, doing hundreds of shows every year. I was very thrilled to get this road warrior as he was passing through northeast Ohio to do a show I produce in Mentor, Ohio at Toth’s Place. After the show was over he kindly agreed to sit down with me for a few minutes and discuss religious satire.

  Here is a preview of some of the things you are about to hear about. When I brought up the topic of religious satire the very first thing Steve said was the word necessary and I’ll let him explain way. We also talk about his experiences producing Laughs, for FOX, and his experiences as a guest on Fox and Friends.  Steve, like your humble host, is Jewish so I asked him whether or not he thinks there's such a thing as a Jewish sense of humour. In fact, Steve, you may or may not know, went to the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City, although he did leave before completing and I’ll let him explain why and what experiences he got out of that. He tells a very interesting if not slightly disturbing story about crossing paths with some card carrying KKK members at a show one time. And when I asked him whether or not he thought there was any change or participation in comedy after September 11 he had some very definite opinions about that. So that is what you can expect to hear on this episode.

Interesing links:

Steve Hoffstetter's website:  http://www.stevehofstetter.com/

Steve's YOUTUBE channel:  https://www.youtube.com/user/thehofstetter

National Geographic article on the Renovation of the Tomb of the Sepulchre:  http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/10/jesus-christ-tomb-burial-church-holy-sepulchre/

Wikipedia Page on "Tomb of Jesus":  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_of_Jesus

You can contact the Comical Heathen at:  [email protected]