Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024: Reginald D Hunter still packs a punch but shows his more "fluffy" side

The 55-year-old American has lived in the United Kingdom for more than half of his life, delighting thousands of fans with his stand-up and television appearances over the past 20-30 years.

The proud left-winger isn’t one to pull his punches when ridiculing the right-wing press and far-right, but in his latest Edinburgh show he showed he has clearly matured, slightly, with a sometimes more reflective chat about his life with the audience.

And, given that this show took place in a university classroom, it did at times feel a bit more like a lecture about the comedy great’s life than a straight forward stand-up performance.

However, Hunter unsurprisingly went straight into a joke about the recent far-right riots in the UK. He told the audience at Assembly George Square Studios how people staying in his luxury accommodation block in Edinburgh were startled when they bumped into him in a lift due to his skin colour, leading him to joke: “Surely I should have been the one that was scared!”

Reginald D Hunter is on at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this month with his new stand-up show, ‘Fluffy Fluffy Beavers’. | Gaby Jerrard PR

While most of his material was a bit too risque to repeat here, he kept his famous hard-hitting jokes coming, including about the “Trump fake assassination attempt” and a lady friend pathologist and her experiences of funny deaths.

There were also jokes about ‘Uncle Fluffy’, grooming, the spread of the far right and misinformation, politics in general and identity.

Asking the audience if they, like him, had struggled to sleep since the pandemic, he ventured into the surreal. With Hunter revealing a reoccurring dream he has had about him as superhero 'Blackman', involving famous people including Kevin Hart, Michelle Obama and a hilarious finale about him battling the Kardashians and their butts.

There were also quips about Israel, Joe Biden and a monologue about him being expected to comment on everything about black people, including the BBC asking him about Will Smith punching Oscars host Chris Rock in 2022, leading to him labelling himself, 'king of the blacks'. While Hunter is still not for the faint-hearted and easily offended, he does seem a lot more reflective in middle-age, talking about memories of his parents and growing up in smalltown Georgia.

And it was these moments that seemed to connect more with a mostly young audience, who are perhaps not as ready for the full throttle comedy that first made him famous at the turn of the century, with younger Fringe-goers perhaps more easily offended at some of his most cutting material.

For me personally, seeing Hunter live on Saturday for the first time in about 20 years, I could definitely see a slightly fluffier side to the American comic as he relaxes into middle age. But at the end of the day I still laughed a lot, so he is still in my eyes doing a great job on the Fringe stage.

Reginald D Hunter, Fluffy Fluffy Beavers, at Assembly George Square, Studio One, 9.30pm, until August 26 (not 14th or 21st). Tickets £16, are still available online.