Comedian Reginald D Hunter Speaks To Isle Of Wight Radio As He Prepares For Shanklin Theatre Gig

Three-time Perrier Award nominated comedian Reginald D Hunter is heading to Shanklin Theatre next weekend.

The American star will visit the Isle of Wight on Sunday April 3 as part of his Bombe Shuffleur tour.

In the lead up to the show Reginald chatted to Isle of Wight Radio about his love of Islanders and how he came to conquer the British comedy scene.

Hello Reginald, you grew up in Georgia (USA) and wanted to be an actor, so how did you end up becoming a successful stand-up comedian in the UK?

I told myself that if I'm going to be an actor, at some point I'm going to have to move to New York or Los Angeles, which I was reluctant to do because I don't sing or dance.

But I thought if I went and got 'credentialised' by the English, it would buy me five minutes somewhere in New York or LA, and my backup plan was to go to chef school.

Along the way I ran into an unanticipated mistress called stand-up comedy and she said "hi, if you just stick with me I'll take you to all those places", and I replied "sure!"

Is it true the first set you ever did was part of a drunken dare?

'Dare' is a strong word, it was more like a challenge.

I was in a pub one night — I'm hilarious when I'm vaguely annoyed and drinking, so people were laughing and someone pointed to an open mic sign.

It was only when the MC called my name that it dawned on me I didn't have any jokes, and I came up with my first one on the fly heading to the stage.

I walked home that night realising I might have a chance to be pretty good at this, so I promised my stars that if I could excel then I would serve (stand-up) first.

Have you been to the Isle of Wight before?

Yes, it's a nifty little place but I've never been able to stay for more than a couple of days so I don't feel I've ever fully penetrated it.

I would be surprised if I had a chance to stretch out while I'm on the Island this time, but I certainly aim to.

I want to go home with a person from the Isle of Wight, I want to see what the inside of one of your houses looks like and what it's like when y'all eat dinner!

I want the basic 101 experience — to sit around a campfire and listen to some old Isle of Wight stories.

You have a daughter, does she ever watch your shows and what's her feedback?

She has a respect for what I do but I can't say she's been overly impressed.

She hopes to be in entertainment and doesn't want to use my name to get breaks in the industry. I admire that tenacity, but even Tom Hanks got his kids their first acting gigs.

Do you still get butterflies before gigs after more than 20 years on the circuit?

When I don't perform for three weeks or more I get tight, so when I started this tour I was terrible for the first gig. I still got plenty of laughs, but felt like I'd got away with it a bit.

The second gig I was still terrified, but by the third one I went beyond remembering the jokes and my body started remembering how to be funny.

For anyone starting out in comedy what would be your advice?

Work!

You can sit around reading books, going to classes and talking theory but nothing beats stage time.

This is quite a long tour, do you find every night you adjust things?

For any comedian worth their salt, if you're touring for five weeks or more, the show you start with is not the show you end up with.

It evolves and you get into a rhythm where you find better ways of phrasing things.

If you're doing it right, by the time you finish you've half-written your next tour.

What can people expect from Bombe Shuffleur at Shanklin Theatre?

Hilarity, pathos, ethos, some intellectual investigation and they can definitely expect constant, relentless demon dog pressure!

I will tell you, and I'm proud of this, when I performed in Limerick two people in the front row were fast asleep in a room full of people who were laughing.

I looked back at them 15 minutes later and they were sucking each others' tongues like teenagers in the back of a car — I take a little credit for that too!

You warmed them up...

Reg can make you laugh, he can make you comfortable to fall asleep, or he can make you comfortable enough to start foreplay right in front of him!

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Tickets for Bombe Shuffleur are available to purchase online or by calling the Shanklin Theatre Box Office on 868000.