Comedian stuck at airport performs on speakerphone

Steve Hofstetter didn’t let his fans down when his flight to Ottawa was cancelled

Determined not to cancel his comedy show in Ottawa and stranded in Toronto because of a flight cancellation, Steve Hofstetter did something he’d never done before — performed an improvised set over speakerphone from his hotel.

“Part of what was going through my head was not how I was upset about it but how upset everyone else would be,” said Hofstetter, who is based in Los Angeles.

Hofstetter was scheduled to perform Saturday at City At Night at 7 p.m. on Slater Street. He had just flown from L.A. to Toronto on Saturday afternoon and was about to hop on a connecting Air Canada flight to Ottawa when things began to fall apart.

“My flight was delayed seven times with two gate changes,” Hofstetter said. “There was no hint that (the plane was) not going to take off.”

By 5 p.m., the flight was officially cancelled. With no other choice, he booked a hotel in Toronto and called fellow comedian Sam Norton, who was opening for his show, to tell him the bad news.

Norton and Hofstetter scrambled to come up with a solution. Hofstetter called the venue and asked if he could do his set via Skype, but staff said it was not possible. Norton had another idea. “I had a silly set one time where I recorded a bunch of one-liners on my iPad and plugged (the iPad) into the sound system,” said Norton, who is originally from Wichita, but now resides in Toronto.

“I figured if I could do that with my iPad, I could do it with my phone.”

Norton set up the venue and explained the situation to fans as they arrived. They were offered refunds but none took them.

“I did about an hour of material and it was a fantastic show,” Norton said. “At the end, I surprised everyone by calling Steve over the phone.”

Norton called Hofstetter for a Q&A period, which Hofstetter usually does during his shows to help him connect with his audience.

One of the questions Hofstetter was asked was if he was happy he didn’t have to go through what happened on a recent United Airlines flight, when a passenger was physically removed from his seat due to overbooking.

“(I said) that guy got a couple million bucks, I’m out $300,” Hofstetter said.

Hofstetter took to Twitter to vent after Air Canada’s handling of the flight cancellation.

In a statement Wednesday, Air Canada noted it can be “frustrating when schedules change,” but that safety is its top priority.

“We are sorry this customer was dissatisfied with his experience, but his flight was cancelled due to weather and air traffic control issues in Toronto beyond our control (more than 20 flights were cancelled/significantly delayed that day),” said spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick in an email. “The customer has since received a refund for the unused portion of his ticket and we have also offered him a goodwill gesture.”

Talks are underway for another Ottawa show, Hofstetter said. Norton has also been invited to open for him.

My flight was delayed seven times with two gate changes. There was no hint that (the plane was) not going to take off.