By CELESTE BAUMGARTNER
Ohio Correspondent HILLSBORO, Ohio — Comedian Drew Hastings was in a diner one day and saw a 50-acre farm advertised for sale in the newspaper. He decided he liked it, and, although he had never sat on a tractor, he bought the farm.
Since then, his comedy routine has evolved from edgy social commentary to farming misadventures. “I had no idea what I was doing (in farming),” Hastings said. “I just asked a million questions and talked to farmers up and down the road who I think felt sorry for me because they thought I was going to end up dead if they didn’t help me.”
Hastings began doing standup comedy when he was 31. He spent 12 years in Los Angeles, did “The Tonight Show” and other comedy specials. Then, he turned 50. He had never liked Hollywood, so he decided to get into something new – farming.
“I had a large tour fan base in the Midwest,” he said. “I decided to go back to the Midwest where I was originally from. I’ve always lived in a city. So I thought, ‘I’m going to buy a farm. I don’t know anything about farming I’ve never even sat on a tractor, but I’m going to buy a farm.’
“I put all my stuff in You Store It and I locked it and I drove around southern Ohio, farm country.”
After he found his Highland County farm, Hastings developed a small cow/calf operation. Farming started to get into his act (he once said the county agent told him the only thing he should plant on his farm was a For Sale sign).
“I would tell a story about a tractor misadventure, or a story about trying to pick out cattle at an auction. I never intended to, but I ended up with all this farm material; round baling versus square baling,” he said. “I started getting this audience of farmers and ag people and extension agents, crop production salesman and everybody else. I thought, ‘Well this is odd.’”
This year he started the “Farmageddon Tour – No Shirt, No Shoes, No Soybeans” about his farming experiences. It takes up about half of his show. His clientele began to change, as the agriculture and livestock business took note.
“I was the keynote speaker at the state of Ohio FFA Convention this year,” he said. “I do a lot of industry, private shows that I never would have imagined – for a guy who was playing Los Vegas four years ago and now I’m doing the Corn and Wheat Growers Association. I like the people better in farm and agriculture. They’re just more my type of people.
“I’ll be in a very jazzy type comedy club in Bloomington, Indiana, off campus and a week later I’ll be at the no-till farm conference doing a show. It’s very odd, but I love doing it.”
When he’s not on the road with his act, Hastings is in his Carhartts, he said. He is doing rotational grazing on his farm and is working on fence lines. He is also developing springs on his farm, called Spring Hill Farm, to provide water for the cattle.
And, he’s running for mayor of Hillsboro.
“I traveled around a lot of Midwest towns and cities for 20 years, touring,” he said. “I’ve been on an inadvertent fact-finding tour. I’ve seen a lot of towns fail and I’ve seen some succeed. The ones that are succeeding, I’ve seen what makes them succeed. I can take that expertise and use that in my own town for economic development.
“I think America is in trouble; I can’t make a difference nationally, but I can help fix my one corner of America, which is the small town where I live.”
For information about Hastings, visit www.farmageddon.biz or contact John MacDonald at john@macdonald entertainment.com or 818-760-3300. |
