For ‘answers to life,’ check out Hastings


By John Benson

The comedian will perform at the new Funny Farm Club in Niles.

Just because longtime stand-up comedian and Ohio native Drew Hastings has slowed down his touring schedule and recently bought a farm just outside Cincinnati doesn’t mean the comedian is being put out to pasture.

“I guess you get a little older and quality of life starts to get important,” said Hastings, calling from his farm. “You start to say, ‘What the hell is all this about?’ So I take some time off and I attempt to farm. I stumble through it, and I know enough to be dangerous.

“It’s been good for writing. It’s kind of been therapeutic in a way. Instead of going to a therapist once a week over angst and this and that, I just go chop wood or some [expletive] like that. That solves the same problem.”

For more than two decades, Hastings has been traveling the country with his brutally honest brand of comedy.

While he was involved with multiple television sitcom pilots (Fox, NBC and HBO) and is touted as one of the very few comedians who has received a standing ovation on “The Tonight Show,” it wasn’t until earlier this decade when Hastings became a regular on the syndicated “Bob Tom Show” (which airs locally weekday mornings on WNCD-FM 93.3) that his career attracted a wider audience.

Hastings, who often headlines “The Friends of the Bob and Tom Show” tours, has a busy spring. Not only does he have a television special airing April 26 on Comedy Central, but a DVD/CD of that show is being released nationally a week later.

“Except at Wal-Mart because they have some language restrictions,” Hastings said. It’s his Wal-Mart stance in the name of free speech that truly epitomizes what kind of comedian he is.

“I can tell you in other people’s minds they’d say, ‘Oh, he’s an intelligent comedian,’” Hastings said. “‘He’s known for doing very smart material.’ I personally don’t think I am. I think I’m bright. I’m kind of Readers Digest intellectual. I know a lot about a little. My stuff definitely has an edge to it and is cynical.

“I do a fair amount of stuff on farming, which is really fish out of water, ‘Green Acres’ material. And I tend to look at the human condition, mostly using me as an example, whether it’s love or relationship or religion or anything else. One of my typical sayings is healthy is just a pre-cancerous condition. To me, that sums up my attitude for a lot of things in life. “

While Hastings likes playing gigs in his home state, he’s hoping his returns to Northeast Ohio on Friday and Saturday at the brand-new Funny Farm Comedy Club Restaurant and Bar in Niles is different from his last visit years ago when the area was struck by a massive snowstorm.

Nevertheless, the funnyman is ready to give audiences something special.

“The answers to life,” Hastings laughed. “But life is not that difficult. Now farming, that’s a [expletive], but I don’t know if I’d print that.”

By using this site, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use.

» Accept
» Learn More