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American standup comedian Reginald D Hunter has found himself at the centre of an antisemitism row after two Israeli people were heckled and booed at his Edinburgh Fringe gig on Sunday (11 August).
Hunter, 55, who is from Albany, Georgia, but has lived in the UK since 1997, is currently performing his standup show Fluffy Fluffy Beavers at the annual comedy festival.
Dominic Cavendish, The Telegraph’s chief theatre critic who was at Sunday night’s show, reported that the audience “erupted into vocal animosity at an Israeli couple who had briefly heckled Hunter”.
Hunter reportedly made a “crude” gag in which he compared the state of Israel to an abusive partner. He referenced a documentary containing a scene about an abusive wife who accused her husband of abuse, which made him think: “My God, it’s like being married to Israel.”
The journalist said there was laughter in response to the joke, but a couple in the front row – who said they were from Israel – shouted “not funny”.
This reportedly sparked an outburst from several audience members who shouted “you’re not welcome” and “genocidal maniac” at the couple and booed them. The pair reportedly left the venue, the Assembly George Square Studios, in Edinburgh.
Hunter allegedly told the couple: “You can say it’s not funny to you, but if you say it to a room full of people who laughed.”
The Independent has contacted Hunter’s representatives for comment.
The Assembly Festival, which runs the venue, said in a statement that an audience member chose to leave Hunter’s show on Sunday.
“The venue front of house team attended and supported the member of the public upon exiting,” the statement said.
In response to Cavendish’s account of the show, the Campaign for Antisemitism called the alleged events “extremely concerning” and a “sickening low that cannot be disguised as comedy”.
“Comedians are rightly given broad latitude, but they also have a responsibility to their audience,” the organisation said.
The incident comes months after London’s Soho Theatre banned comedian Paul Currie from performing at the venue after Jewish audience members claimed they were “subjected to verbal abuse” and made to feel “unsafe” during his hour-long show Shtoom.
In it, the Belfast does not speak in what was described on the theatre’s website as a “unique, surrealist, Dada punk-clown, non-verbal experience”.
One Israeli attendee said they were made to feel unsafe when they did not stand and applaud when a Ukrainian and Palestinian flag was unveiled during the show.
