Reginald D Hunter: Live DVD

Review by Bernard O'Leary | 14 Nov 2011

Reginald D Hunter is a big man, and if you’ve only ever seen him squeezed into small snippets on TV panel shows, then you’ve not really seen him. In this 80-minute live performance, he’s got a huge, blank stage to stroll around in as he does his thing, which is chatting in that charming Alabama drawl while digging deep into issues of race, class and sex.

Hunter is a fearless comic – as evidenced by a hair-raising story about his dad at the end – and the master of discussing race, with an endless supply of thoughts and anecdotes about racial tension. Only Lenny Bruce and Chris Rock have been so good at making the N-word sound ridiculous. Sex is slightly shakier ground for Hunter. A few jokes about the difference between men and women seem slightly tired, and one joke about rape completely splits the audience (it's actually a joke about rape jokes, but still alienates some people). His excellent dissection of Sex & The City 2 just about makes up for it.

A few missteps shouldn’t take away from a terrific performance. Hunter is a great comic, intelligent and eloquent, immensely likeable and with some punchlines as huge as the man himself.

Reginald D Hunter: Live is on DVD from 14 Nov. RRP £19.99.