Reginald D. Hunter appeared to be a bit drunk. His material was half written and shaky, he dropped jokes mid-sentence in preference for another story. There didn’t seem to be any continuity.

It’s a testament to his skill as a comedian that despite all the ingredients being wrong, the cake he delivered on stage wasn’t half bad. The audience reacted the way he wanted to, the laughs were substantial, and by Hunter’s standards he offended an acceptable number of people enough for them to leave the show early.

Hunter has a reputation of being openly sexist (he was proud of this claim) and his brand of comedy isn’t for those who are easily offended. His show this year feels inadequately planned and strung together – to the point where he didn’t try and give it a name. It’s just him, on stage, doing ‘his thing’.

‘His thing’ is what saves it though. Wry observations, a generous amount of swearing, facial expressions and a willingness to tackle the most outrageous subjects make it impossible not to laugh, even if it is in disbelief. There’s a fine line between ‘outrageous’ and ‘offensive’, and it doesn’t seem to matter to Hunter which side his material lies.

Most comics save their best jokes for a triumphant and hilarious finish, and it’s a reflection on how far Hunter has fallen that the jewel in his crown was a twenty minute retelling of the plot of Sex in the City 2. In intimate detail. Seriously, save yourself some money and just rent the DVD.

He ended the show (calling back to an earlier joke, to be fair) by saying that the evening was over, and he’d fulfilled his contractual obligation. I couldn’t help but feel that that’s all it meant to him. If he were any other comedian he wouldn’t have gotten the laughs that he did.

Reginald D. Hunter is on at the Forum Theatre, 9:45pm, until 24th April.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUAv1MkPTI0[/youtube]