CULTURE CLUB
Bombes Away INTERVIEW THE LEGENDARY REGINALD D HUNTER IS LIGHTING UP THE STAGE WITH HIS EXPLOSIVE NEW COMEDY SHOW, BOMBE SHUFFLEUR. MIRIAM BALANESCU FINDS OUT MORE
omedy has a long history of taking on slippery subjects, with comics regularly traipsing onto the right and wrong side of
political debate. One stand-up with plenty of experience in the firing line is Reginald D Hunter – so much so, he’s decided to name his new show after his experience navigating the culture wars. “I consider myself a bomb shuffler on and offstage,” he says. “Onstage, I will be shuffling bombs with some loaded subject matter. Sometimes, I miss or drop one.” Reginald, born in Georgia, relocated to the UK hoping to become an actor, but embarked instead on his comedy career after entering a stand-up competition as a dare. The three-time Perrier Award nominee has since appeared on Live at the Apollo and Have I Got News for You . He has, however, not been immune to controversy – and is known for railing
ROCK AND ROLL TV’s Reginald D Hunter has already graced the Junction in the past month – now you can catch him at The Cresset in Peterborough on 13 April. But be warned, his ever-morphing routine might have a new edge
about cheeseburgers, I’m going to take on Palestine or ginger politics. It’s like a video game. Each level you succeed at makes you want to go to the next.” Expect Bombe Shuffleur to be markedly more dangerous than Reginald’s previous shows: the pandemic has reshaped the landscape of laughter, he asserts. “The last few years, we’ve all had to deal with the concept of invisible, growing global death going around. Since that, I don’t think there’s anything where I can say, ‘that’s too dark’ any more.” Ready to return to Cambridgeshire, Reginald has fond memories of the region. “I remember there being particularly good listeners. When the sound is great and people listen in a particular way, it raises your level of oratory and your game.” Describing the rolling laughter of his audience as “like jazz”, Reginald warns his first performance of Bombe Shuffleur may be different to his final gig. His material tends to shapeshift, depending upon experiences on the road. If you caught him at the Cambridge Junction, be prepared for a revolutionised version of the set in Peterborough, where he will be performing at The Cresset on 13 April.
I have some idea of what I think and feel about a subject,” he says of his first tour since the pandemic. “There’s such a newness to how the world is shifting politically, financially and sociopolitically, that it’s hard to know what you think and feel about something in order to write about it. You can go on stage and say: ‘Social media, I don’t know yet. LGBTQ: I
don’t know yet. I don’t know!’ But it wouldn’t be very funny. Because of this tour, I’m just now replugging into the world.” Famous for his unbridled takes on
against topics some would rather avoid. “Stand-up comedy is in a transitional period. What we’re becoming is not entirely clear yet,” Reginald suggests. “Comedians are aware more than ever that something you say or said several years ago can injure your
I’M JUST REPLUGGING INTO THE WORLD
contemporary culture, Reginald will make no exceptions with Bombe Shuffleur . The show promises laughs juiced from the spectrum of doomsday topics of today: climate change, mass unemployment, the rise of fascism and (unsurprisingly) pandemics. “I go from the things I enjoy saying, not just emotionally, but physically – what words do my lips most enjoy wrapping around? Then I get bolder and more curious. I think: I made everybody laugh
career. It’s made them a little reticent and toothless. Once the world settles and the new rules gel, comics will get our swing, our grooves and our balls back. But right now, a lot are struggling to maintain income and their balls.” Lockdown, a period of reflection for many, was a chance for Reginald to catch his breath. “I tend to write best when
18 MARCH 2022 CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK
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