RENOWNED stand-up comedian and TV panelist Reginald D Hunter is about to embark on his UK tour and Coventry will be the first place in England he visits.
He will be at Warwick Arts Centre on November 3 with his latest show ‘The Man Who Sees Through Stuff’.
Ahead of his tour, the Observer’s Tristan Harris caught up with him.
Reginald revealed this would be his last tour for a while as he was heading back to the US after 20 years living in Britain.
He said: “I haven’t been home since my father died and I do need to get back.
“But before I do that, I want to make sure I say all I want to say about the world today.”
He added he could not wait to get out on the road and visit venues all over the country he has made his home for the last two decades.
“When you’re on the TV, you have to wait for the reviews afterwards, but when you’re live on stage you know straight away how people feel about you.”
He said most of the time it went well, but there were occasions when that was not the case.
“I did one show in Edinburgh and it did not go well – I heard one voice at the back of the room who I recognised as one of my big fans. He said in a disappointed tone: ‘Oh Reggie’.”
But he added, because comedy was subjective, some material would go down well in one part of the country and then go the opposite way in the others.
“Overall though, I do love the British people – everyone is so lovely.”
And he has taken his adopted home to his heart, complete with the culture and the language.
“I was down in London and I said: ‘It’s a bit parky’ – meaning ‘cold’ as they say in Yorkshire.
“People looked at me as if to say: ‘What are you saying?’
Speaking about the differences between the UK and America he said: “Tone is one of the biggest things – when I was last in America, my sister said something to me and I said to her ‘I don’t care for your tone’.
“Another time in a bar in America, a man grabbed me and I told him: ‘I’m not to be trifled with’ – he just looked at me.
“I now sound just like a British dude from the past.”
He joked one of the things he would miss about Britain when he returned to America was ‘the chance for intellectual thought and conversation’.
How it all began
Reginald said had always been ‘silly’ and back in school was ‘the class clown’.
“I’ve always wanted to be the one who lighten the mood – the stand-up comedy definitely suits my character.”
And he said there was nothing better than the buzz he – and other stand-ups got – when shows were going well.
“Whenever the jokes are going good, it makes food taste better, you sleep better and there is more colour in the world.”
When asked about Coventry, he said: “I lived in Birmingham for a while so used to go to Coventry quite a lot.
“It was where I was when September 11 happened.”
And this tour?
Reginald said he hoped there would be plenty of laughs at all the venues – both from himself and the audience.
“What I love about stand-up is the observational comedy – when that goes well.
“Very often it starts when I have what I think is a radical thought and share it with the audience – then it transpires they have felt exactly the same thing too but no-one has mentioned it.”
He said, with the way the world was at the moment there was a lot to be said and he wanted to ensure he conveyed all he wants to say to his British audiences before he goes back across the pond.
Visit reginalddhunter.co.uk for more information and tickets.
