Reginald D Hunter no longer on Manchester festival bill
Outspoken comic may have been cancelled — but not clear by whom
Jenni Frazer is a freelance journalist
Mystery surrounds the disappearance of the controversial comedian Reginald D Hunter from the Manchester Laughterama festival line-up, due to run in the city next month.
Hunter, who was due to be on stage on Saturday September 7, has already run into trouble in Glasgow when the East Renfrewshire Council, which owns the Eastwood Park Theatre on the city’s outskirts, cancelled his September 28 performance.
The council spokesperson said: “We’ve taken the decision to cancel Eastwood Park Theatre’s scheduled show featuring Reginald D Hunter on Saturday, September 28, due to controversial comments made during a recent performance. All customers who have purchased tickets for this show will receive a full refund.” East Renfrewshire is home to the largest Jewish community in Scotland. The theatre is in Giffnock, the most heavily populated Jewish area.
The “controversial comments” relate to a heated exchange between Hunter and two audience members at his Edinburgh Fringe show. Mandy Blumenthal and her husband, Mark Lewis, had a fierce altercation with the comedian after Lewis heckled one of Hunter’s jokes relating to israel, declaring it not funny.
What happened next has been the subject of fevered social media comment, with Lewis and Blumenthal supporters saying the couple had been “hounded” from the theatre, while Hunter himself simply posted on Twitter/X saying “They lie and they lie” repeated over and over again after being accused of anti-Jewish remarks.
Manchester City Council owns, but does not operate, the Castlefield Bowl venue where a starry line-up of comic talent is due to entertain in a series of shows from September 4-8. Both the Manchester Jewish Representative Council and the North West Friends of Israel wrote to the city authorities asking them to follow the example of East Renfrewshire.
Between Tuesday and Wednesday, August 20 and 21, Hunter’s name first appeared on the roster of comedians, and then disappeared.
But no-one from Laughterama or Castlefield Bowl was available to explain who had made the decision to remove Hunter from the line-up. The city council’s head of events was still trying to get a response by close of play on Wednesday and Hunter himself, usually an outspoken presence on Twitter/X, was uncharacteristically silent.
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