Reginald D Hunter

Often described as controversial. And he was this night too.

Let me just say I like Reginald a lot. And not because he is the funniest laugh a minute comic. Rather because he is thoughtful. One enjoys his stories, even if you don't necessarily fall about laughing. He is interesting. He also has a very pleasant way of speaking. Respectful.

And this evening I had seats in the third row, which is obviously very nice at the huge Apollo. Intimate.

But this gig ended rather uncomfortably. Some people (Jimmy Carr say) just annihilates hecklers. Reginald felt the need to listen to them. And this was a mistake. After a long joke about a platonic friend of his being raped, who had tried to get on with her life and not make a fuss and not call the police, he apologised to her on behalf of all men. She said he didn't need to do as she knew he wouldn't ever have done anything like that, to which his punchline was, but I never knew you wouldn't call the police.

"That's not funny called one woman." Problem was, after 1100 people have just laughed, well it really was. What she meant was she didn't like it, but in common with all the self-righteous, personal views aren't personal but are objectively right. Really he shouldn't have let the "debate" continue. We don't come to gigs to listen to ignorant members of the public. We can go down the pub for that. Reginald was visibly a bit upset by the whole thing, and while it made for a memorable end, it wasn't quite the way you want a comedy gig to finish.

But if you ever get the chance, do go to see Reginald. Unless you are the sort of person who can't tell the difference between jokes and advocacy, or who desperately want to be offended.