Reginald D Hunter’s Bombe Shuffleur is a stand-up show that takes on subjects that other comedians might be skeptical talking about. From Brexit to Feminism, Reginald brings his cheeky and warm personality to every subject he talks about.
The first thing I noticed was that the crowd were obviously big fans of Reginald already. The moment he walked on the audience was applauding and whistling; he could have stood there telling knock-knock jokes all night and people would have killed themselves laughing. Because of this, the energy in the room was always high, and the atmosphere was great. However, as a newcomer, I could spot the dip in energy from Reginald in the beginning. He seemed either a bit nervous or a bit unsure- he did make a few jokes about his act improving, so perhaps he had a few bad encounters this year. However, the electricity from the audience gave him confidence and brought him right up; without the encouragement, he might have plateaued.
As a self-proclaimed “comedy detective”, Reginald takes on some subject matter that others might shy away from. Although he’s speaking about controversial topics, I never felt that he was doing it from a place of malice or to cause an uproar. He seems to genuinely want to have a conversation with his audience about what’s going on in the world. For example, he had a segment talking about Jimmy Carr being cancelled after joking about the Holocaust. Reginald tweeted about the audience laughing on the clip and was met with a calvary of hate. He spoke about how he was called a racist and misogynist, but instead of being furious at these people, Reginald was hilariously confused. He put into words that “what the hell is going on” I think we’ve all felt on social media.
Reginald has a soft side, the stories about his Dad were lovely to hear- and of course hilarious. My favourite segment was a story he told about one of his friend’s journeys to find his biological father. Reginald had us hanging on every word, the room was silent as we followed every twist and turn. We were getting to the endpoint of finding the father when suddenly, he dropped it. That contrast of the beautiful words his potential father was saying and then suddenly, “weren’t him” was brilliant. He definitely has a knack for great storytelling!
If you want to have a good giggle about everything from covid to ‘jazz cigarettes’ to Phillip Schofield, come see Reginald D Hunter at this year’s Fringe.
Reginald D Hunter’s Bombe Shuffleur is playing at the Assembly Rooms- Ballroom (Venue 20) on Aug 9-14, 16-21, 23-28. You can buy your tickets here https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/reginald-d-hunter-bombe-shuffleur
Theatre Scotland 
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