Unwelcome break can't stop Hunter in his tracks

This year's Edinburgh show was possibly the best hour we'd seen from Reginald D Hunter: just the right blend of lucidity, rhythm, provocation and fun. With this London transfer, it's less easy to guarantee such a great night.

There is an unsurprising but unwelcome interval: not good for a comic who works best immersing his audience in stories and his Atlantan drawl for the full hour. There's also a support slot; on terrible form on Wednesday. That Hunter managed to rule the room after those two energy and momentum-killing distractions is hugely impressive.

F***You In The Age Of Consequence is mostly about how he's learned to handle himself: how he behaves in confrontational situations; how to deal with the opposite sex, racial intolerance, the N word; handling the fact that relations between his parents weren't always what they seemed.

As his approach to the idea of Anne Frank being racist and the Jewish population being a barometer of disaster reveal, Hunter's imagination when he's straying from a theme can take him to daft and stirring places.

But as ever, the beauty is in Hunter's pace and build-up. He's at his most enthralling when he's relating lulling, analytical stories that have a socially conscious message, and nailing them, as he does with this show's fine finale, with a devastatingly silly punchline.

Not the best way to see Hunter but a night full of rich rewards, nonetheless.

Until Oct 27, Arts Theatre, 6-7 Great Newport Street WC2, Tue to Sat 9.30pm, Sun 7.30pm, £10 to £15. Tel: 0870 060 1742.

Reginald D Hunter
Arts Theatre
Great Newport Street, Covent Garden, WC2H 7JB