I am in a packed auditorium in Leicester square theatre in London on the final day of Reginald D. Hunter’s tour.
Irish gay comedian, Al Porter is the first comedian to grace the stage. He is on his come back tour after being cancelled during the Me-too movement because of alleged in-appropriate behaviour towards other men.
Having left Ireland in 2009, I had not heard of him before but he was absolutely hilarious throughout his act. He references growing up as a gay boy on a council estate in Tallaght in Dublin, doing his Tom Jones act on his 9th Birthday. He involves a of couple guys from the front row in a hilariously affective way. He compliments this burly guy’s tattoos, remarking that he didn’t know whether he wanted to ‘ride’ him or read him. The man’s wife is clearly enjoyed her husband being the butt of the jokes. The audience break out in rapturous laughter throughout his performance.
At the end of his act he explains why he was cancelled telling us he owns his past mistakes. He was contrite and genuine in his explanation. He then tells us not to google him. Naturally the first thing I do at the interval is just that.
After the interval, we are graced with Reginald’s presence. I saw his standup over a decade ago in the Bedford in Balham and found him hilarious back then. He first tells us why he was asked to give Al Porter the opportunity to be his supporting act and tells us of the backlash he got from his Irish supporters for doing so.
There are many people that should remain cancelled, but when someone owns up to their wrongdoing and shows real contrition like Al Porter has done, I think they should not be condemned for life. I think it was very admirable of Reginald to give this guy a platform again because Al Porter is a hilarious talent. I would definitely want to see more of him.
Reginald remarks that he knows some of the audience are here for the humour. However he suggests that others might be here to take offence at the less “politically correct” humour. His anecdotes about Camilla and Charles might be mildly offensive to royalists, considering the recent health situations going on in the Royal family, but it is clear from the audience laughter that there was no offence taken.
He said that people suggesting Donald Trump is the white working class people’s Martin Luther King Jr, is like saying Amber Heard is the Rosa Park’s of “shitting on her ex-husband’s bed”. This joke got a huge response of laughter throughout the auditorium.
I don’t go to comedy nights very often. I usually review theatre. It is interesting to see how careful comedians have to be now in the climate that is today. Both these comedians gave excellent performances tonight. I would definitely advise people to go see them.
