Reginald D Hunter

Born in Georgia, Reginald D Hunter was initially drawn to the stage as an actor. At the age of 27, he came to the UK to study theatre at London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, but fell in love with stand-up after being dared to perform a live set for £100.

Hunter was first noticed in 1998 as a finalist in the annual So You Think You’re Funny competition and began honing his chops on the comedy circuit soon after. In 2002, he appeared at Edinburgh Fringe in the one-man show I Said What I Said and was nominated in the Perrier Comedy Awards as Best Newcomer. His next two shows – White Woman in 2003 and A Mystery Wrapped In A Nigga in 2004 – also received Perrier award nominations, and he’s taken part at the prestigious festival ever since.

Hunter has also become a familiar face on television. In 2007, he was a regular panellist on Sir Trevor Macdonald’s current affairs programme News Knight, and he’s been seen on Have I Got News For You, QI, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, Live At The Apollo and 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown. Plus, he’s starred in two shows on BBC2 – Reginald D Hunter’s Songs Of The South in 2015 and Reginald D Hunter’s Songs Of The Border in 2018, both of which explored the musical heritage of the American south.

Hunter’s reputation for being brutally funny has garnered him a cross-generational fan base. The Independent said he is “a dangerously funny man” because of how he “keeps skillfully steering the audience into morally challenging territory”, while the Telegraph called him “stand-up comedy’s coolest customer”.

He’s performed all over the world – from comedy festivals in Australia and New Zealand to tours of North America and Europe – and in 2019 celebrated his 20th anniversary of being a comedian by taking his show Facing The Beast across the UK and Ireland.

On 27 October 2020, Reginald D Hunter announced his return to the road with the brand new show Bombe Shuffleur in 2021.