After last year’s Pride, Prejudice, and Nigger, Reginald D. Hunter is back on the Fringe with another selling-out show, this time entitled “F**ck You in the Age of Consequence”.
The comedian uses the same features that have made him so successful in previous years, namely his honesty towards the use of language, his foreign (American) take on British culture and, of course, his very opinionated criticism of sexism and racism. All of this is delivered with so much intelligence and sharp, thoughtful remarks, that it is a challenge not to burst out laughing (sometimes hysterically) at least twice during this brilliantly organised show, structured like an A+ essay – self-referential jokes included.
The first part of the show, however, sounds a bit too forced; Hunter makes sure he shocks and shakes the audience with over-crude and over-done language and situations. But then, his real comedic skills resurface, reaching absolutely delightful moments. With an exceptional sensibility, the comedian manipulates the audience’s feeling through his (supposedly) real life-based stories, where he uses relatives and ex-girlfriends as examples of the absurdities surfacing in contemporary Britain.
Using widely shared stereotypes or his recent understanding of Eastenders, Hunter’s genius is to base his stories on life and encounters, turning his stage persona into an approachable person saying out loud what everybody thinks; he does not pretend to be smarter than anyone, good-willingly admitting his flaws to show things the way they are, eventually bringing the audience to consider their own stereotypes. There is no excuse to miss this show.
5/5
Adeline Amar
