Comedians You Should Know: Reginald D. Hunter

December 4, 2010 Features 2

Hey, sorry this one’s late, all! I think you won’t mind the wait when you see this week’s Comedian You Should Know. He’s American, but lives and works in England now after having trained as an actor in London. I’m very glad he switched to comedy, though. We need to build up his fan base so he comes back to the US more often. But in the mean time, there’s plenty of Reginald D. Hunter to go around!

Reginald D. Hunter (from Guardian.co.uk)

Here’s a good sample of Reg’s stand-up. He plays a lot on being the lone American in a room full of Brits and looks at British cultural idiosyncrasies from an outsider’s perspective. (Standard warnings apply.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuq8ZU2Uf_0

But living in Britain has had an affect on him, too. His family thinks he’s gone all British, so he uses what he’s learned in the UK against them (a bit of overlap with the first video):

Being an African-American, whether in the UK or not, Hunter still has plenty to say about race in the US. Here’s a bit about Serena Williams and other black role models:

And here he is talking about the first time a white British woman asked him out, as well the idea that gay men hit on straight men as a form of intimidation:

Like pretty much every other stand-up comic of note in the UK, Hunter often appears on a multitude of panel shows. And while he largely talks race and politics in his stand-up, I think he’s secretly a bit of a geek. He’s certainly given a lot of thought to Batman’s life choices! (Notice Bill Bailey hosting Have I Got News For You!)

Okay, you see that hairstyle Reg has going on there? The pigtails? That would look funny on ANY 40-something, let alone a big black man? Yeah. He lost a bet. Must have been a hell of a bet (I think it was about Obama winning the election), because I’ve seen him wearing that hairstyle on a couple of different shows. :D

He’s American, sure, but there’s nothing on Amazon or Netflix for him. He has his first DVD coming out in the UK in November 2011 but, as you well know by now, it’ll be on Region 2 only. He’s got a decent presence on YouTube though and he keeps popping up on panel shows all the time. Check for past episodes of “Have I Got News For You”, “QI” and “Mock the Week” for more.

Some additional links: