JH5 Who to Watch: John Hastings

JH5 had already been a fan of Hastings, as noted in our “Top Ten Male Comedians”.  Hastings was born in Toronto, but grew up here in Ottawa.  He began his stand up career in Montreal, and then moved back to his birthplace where he continues to reside.  Hastings has his own has received his own Comedy Now Special, (not yet aired).  He is also the 2010 Irwin Barker Award at Canadian Homegrown Comedy Competition as part of the 2010 Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal.  All this, and he is only 25 years of age.   

John Hastings

The first thing one notices when John Hastings take the stage is how very white he is.  A tall blond white comedian.  His first joke...is about being a tall blond white comedian.  The audience is immediately in sync with him, secretly thanking him for stating the obvious.  John Hastings is a great comic, and definitely “Who to Watch” this weekend in Ottawa! Hastings celebrates his fifth anniversary in comedy this weekend!  The lucky audience members of Yuk Yuk’s Ottawa will help him celebrate as he demonstrates his excellence at the Elgin St. location.  Five years ago Hastings was performing theatre in Montreal, and realized that it pays a ridiculously low amount of money.  He was out with his then girlfriend at an evening of stand-up comedy, and said “I could do this.  He did, and he has never looked back.  After his first night on stage, of which he does not remember what jokes he told, he knew this was for him.  He loves the electricity of the instant gratification of the acceptance or rejection of the audience!  He began using his theatre background by adding some physical comedy into his act, which helped until the writing became solid enough to stand on it’s own.  

Hastings writing is sharp, to the point, and one can tell that much of his act is spontaneous.  He believes in writing jokes just short of his time, to allow time for “spritzing”, and uses his wit to keep every performance just a bit different, which challenges himself as a performer, and leaves the audience feeling like they are part of the show!  He learned this skill by hosting Comedy Works in Montreal, where his comedy began.  When hosting that room, they MC’s are unable to perform any written material; all their time is to spent in audience engagement, on the spot humour.  He is able to do this with ease, an enviable talent among comedians.

When Hastings moved to Toronto he met with Mark Breslin, yes, THE Mark Breslin, and they both came to a shared vision of where Hastings wants to go as a comedian, and that Yuk Yuk’s was the right vehicle.  As Yuk Yuk’s only chooses the best comics for their roster, it was a great match for Hastings to get steady work and enhanced exposure, and for Yuk Yuk’s to get a strong performer.  Hastings does not search for fame or fortune;  he will take it if it happens, but he does not seek it from movies and television, which is a normal jump for comedians.  He truly loves the stage, and wants to do this the rest of his life.

When asked who he admires as comedians, he states Steve Paterson, Rob Pue among others. He also cites some of the local people in Ottawa, Mr. Matt Carter and Trevor Thompson specifically.  He feels the comedians in Ottawa are like him, they do this for the love of the craft, and realize that they will never make any money at this; they are true artists.  He admits at this time in the interview that he must sound like a douche.  He stops the interview and makes sure we write the word “douche” down, and asks to be sure that his statement of sounding like a douche makes it in the article, which he admits is also douchey.

As his career progresses, he wants to keep doing stand up comedy, but would like to be in a position to pick and choose his shows more.  His main goal though is to keep growing as an artist, and keep performing until the day he dies.

Hastings states that he believes anyone can be funny if they work hard at it.  Even for those to which humour is natural, they will have to work hard.  The only training that will work is continued stage time and hard work.  He learns from writing, performing and by watching others.  He encourages any newcomer to give comedy a try, but realize success does not come overnight.  After five years, he as a comedian is really just finding his voice.  Tonight he says he is going to walk on stage, sit on the stool and begin talking to the audience, and he promises it will be funny.  It was, and will continue to be.  Hastings is definitely Who To Watch, and lucky Ottawa folks can watch him this weekend at Yuk Yuk’s on Elgin St. from Thursday -Saturday.  Call 236-LAFF to get tickets, and tell them JH5 sent you.in Montreal