Let's make no bones about it: Reginald D Hunter is not for everyone's taste. He's a loud-mouthed black comedian hailing from the southern half of the land of the mandatory middle initial who will quite happily offend anyone to make his points. If you're the kind to read a book by its cover, his shows' titles - including A Mystery Wrapped In A Nigga, Pride, Prejudice...And Niggas and Fuck You In The Age Of Consequence - should give you an indication of how he uses his RADA training to expound on his colour-centric opinions. His posters have been banned and he's been chastised by critics but he was nominated for the Perrier Award for three years running (though never won), he's a regular face on panel shows and sold out a 27-night residency at the 320-seater Udderbelly tent in 2007. For a man who was living in a Birmingham bedsit with £200 to his name 13 years ago, he hasn't done too badly.
Tonight, he's top of the bill at another tent - the Big Top at the Greenwich Comedy Festival which is running for a second year and attracting a raft of big names. His current show, Trophy Nigga, takes as its focus how black celebrities are put on a pedestal for better or worse: Nelson Mandela is a "con man"; Naomi Campbell's recent trial appearances was not down to her alleged dealings with dirty diamonds but for past crimes, namely "being a cunt" and Tiger Woods? Tiger is excused his philandering on the grounds that he would have done what any man in his privileged position would have done. Hunter castigates the press for bullying Woods and takes to task the hypocritical corporates who dropped him.
Opener Will Smith's "posh twit" schtick was amiable enough, it's just a shame Hugh Grant beat him to the same punch by about two decades. The second act, super-dweeb Angelos Epithemiou (aka Renton Skinner) is a masterly purveyor of Mr Bean-like awkward humour. Ebullient Canadian compere, Craig Campbell, was on far finer form tonight than when we saw him earlier in the week and was only second to Mr Hunter in the chuckle stakes.
The Greenwich comedy festival runs until tomorrow night and you still have a chance to see Phill Jupitus, Stewart Lee, Jenny Eclair, Bill Bailey and Adam Buxton.
Links
The Greenwich Comedy Festival website.
We caught "national treasure" John Hegley at the Festival earlier this week.
The Time Out Live's Laugh Out Loud's last outing featured tonight's compere and will be back November.
