David Griffiths talks to honest comic Reginald D. Hunter.
Reginald D Hunter is late. “Don’t worry”, his publicist tells me, “he’s probably just overrun with his previous interview – he’s hard to stop once he gets going”. It’s easy to see why; Hunter is a thoughtful interviewee with a voluble charm. For a man who has been doing interviews all day, and who could easily fall back on rote answers, he considers every question with an unjaded attitude and a thoroughness that reveal a man who is using comedy as a vehicle to think about some of the deeper problems of life.
Hunter‘s reputation for controversy precedes him. Most recently, he caused an upset with a routine he performed at the Professional Footballers’ Association awards. But he doesn’t see himself as a controversial comic.
“I don’t go out of my way to be controversial. It’s just a habit, where I come from, to speak plainly. I’m often surprised when people find me controversial. But at the same time I don’t get panicked or amazed by it because oftentimes people, in those circumstances, they’re upset by words, and so, despite the alarm of their emotions, you try to keep reality firmly in your sight, and you realise that if you’re upset by a joke or a word that somebody used, your life is probably better than you know.”
But does Hunter try to engage directly with people who disagree with him? “You’d think that looking at it. You’d think ‘Wow! He likes the challenge of saying difficult things and trying to sway people.’ In actuality I’m extremely lazy and I don’t particularly like challenges unless I’m certain that it will be character-building. But the truth of the matter is I feel like I have to speak to that guy. I won’t feel like I did my work if I didn’t try to at least phrase something to him differently. It feels like an obligation.”
Throughout the interview the concept of authenticity crops up repeatedly. It’s plain that Hunter sees comedy as a vocation that places an obligation on him to be true to himself.“In a world where so much is said, and so much is put into the ether if you’re going to be trying to get people’s attention, then you want to be saying something that’s worthwhile hearing. Or at least worthwhile disagreeing with. The best you can do, you try to be as authentic as you understand the world to be, and no matter what comes, and no matter what criticism is said, what adulation you get, you can sleep at night knowing that you did the best you could with what you understood at the time.”While Reginald D Hunter is not always an easy comic, he is one of the best comedians we have, and he’s certainly an essential one.
photo: IDIL SUKAN
St. David’s Hall, Cardiff, Sat 5 Oct. Tickets: £23. Info: 029 2087 8500 / www.stdavidshallcardiff.co.uk
Princess Royal Theatre, Port Talbot, Wed 23 Oct. Tickets: £20. Info: 01639 763214 / www.nptartsandents.com
Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Thurs 24 Oct. Tickets: £10-£20.Info: 01970 623232 / www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk
WIN TICKETS TO SEE REGINALD D. HUNTER AT ST. DAVID’S HALL IN CARDIFF HERE.