Anti-Israel comedian tries out new Jewish material for Edinburgh return

‘I have to be honest. I had hoped never to hear the name Reginald D Hunter again.

But I see from a story in The Telegraph that Hunter has been released from what he called his “comedy jail “and is performing again at Edinburgh this August.

As I feel sure you will remember, Hunter was the stand-up who made a tasteless and incontrovertibly anti-Israel joke at an Edinburgh gig in 2024. When a British-Israeli couple in the audience objected, the disabled man and his wife became the butt of some of Hunter’s comments and were then heckled by others in the crowd. The Telegraph’s Fringe veteran, Dominic Cavendish who was in the room described it as the “most unpleasant comedy gig” he had ever attended.

While I have no wish to appear vindictive, and while it would be nice to think of Hunter’s offensive anti-Israelism as water under the bridge, I feel compelled to observe that based on the Edinburgh material that Hunter was trying out in London this week – as reported by Liam Kelly in The Telegraph –  the American-born comedian has moved on from anti-Israelism to something altogether darker. Several gags seem to bear the taint of classic Jew-hate and appear to incorporate the antisemitic trope about Jews “controlling media”. In another gag, Hunter seems to suggest that Judaism is more effective/powerful than “satanism” to allow you to achieve your goals,.

Kelly interviewed Hunter earlier this week for what is known in the trade as “a curtain-raiser” for the  upcoming Edinburgh show.

In the interview, Hunter told Kelly that he had moments when he thought he “messed up real bad by making that joke”. As well as being estranged from his family (his daughter has allegedly not spoken to him for two years), he had “all kinds of tax problems.”

Hunter says he has been in “comedy jail” and that some of his subsequent dates were cancelled. Although Police Scotland decided no “crime” had been committed, a private prosecution was brought by the Campaign Against Antisemitism over his social-media posts.

As well as personal revelations, the piece reported in some detail on the new Edinburgh material that the comedian was trying out at a “club” in Walthamstow, North-East London. As a former north-east London resident – I lived not far from Walthamstow and worked in an academic institution there – I might say that it was a curious choice, but as it has a significant Black and Muslim population, I am forced to wonder if maybe he thought the audience would be more receptive to sly gags about Jewish “control” and “power”. On the other hand, maybe it was all that his agent could get. Oh no, wait, I think he may have lost his agent.

At the Walthamstow gig, Hunter told the “several dozen” punters who had paid roughly £18 a head to see him, that after he told a “joke about Israel” he was suddenly “playing off-the-grid places like this, talking to mother*****s like you….”

“Take it from me, Jews cancel way better than feminists.”

He went on: “Take it from me, Jews cancel way better than feminists”. But according to The Telegraph journalist, the line was not delivered in an aggressive way, though it might “be interpreted” as aggressive “if only read or seen”.

The Telegraph writer notes that although Hunter spent “only a small amount of time on the scandal” he “kept returning” to “related themes”, such as a gag about how he was “not mad” at his treatment in the aftermath of the scandal because it was “not like Mossad had made his phone explode” – a reference to the exploding Hezbollah walkie- talkies.

Then came this: he knew, he said, that none of his reviews were “going to be good in any of the national press” because “we all know this; our national press is really controlled by Hamas.”

“Everybody knows that, OK? Just like they control Hollywood and Washington DC. It’s Hamas.”

Shortly after he closed the show with a riff on Sammy Davis Jr’s conversion to Judaism which, he told the audience, had “no punchline, yet” and was “a work in progress.”

Hunter talked about Davis, a major entertainment star in the 1950s, starting a relationship with the actress Kim Novak at a period, he reminded the audience, when “inter-racial relationships were taboo in America.” Davis’s situation, said Hunter, was “something that had been on his mind for a decade or more.”

Hunter went on: “Sammy realized this: [that] all the talent in the world doesn’t mean anything in the Western culture if you are unaffiliated. You have to have your own gang to help you get to the top. You have to have your own gang to make problems go away.”

“But Sammy was unaffiliated,” repeated Hunter, who then talked about how Davis “sought refuge” with “Black people; Irish Catholicism; Buddhism, Islam and Satanism.” According to Hunter, “Nothing worked for Davis. He needed something stronger than Satan.”

Hunter’s story then ends with this: “Six months later, Sammy announced to the world that he was becoming a Jew.” And concludes with this: “I don’t know exactly what that means, but it’s got to mean something.”

According to The Telegraph story, this line was received “much more coolly” and when, shortly after Hunter ended the show “the cheers and applause were markedly more muted than it had been earlier in the set.”

The Telegraph journalist wonders if “that bit” will make it to the Edinburgh show. If it does, Police Scotland may be able to make a case this time. Or CAA may have better luck with a private prosecution.

Footnote for Hunter or anyone inclined towards believing such ugly racism: Sammy Davis Jr converted to Judaism in 1960, several years after a serious car accident in 1954 that resulted in the loss of his left eye, an event that influenced his spiritual journey and reflection on life.