There are two Hunters at the Comedy Festival, as different as chalk and chocolate. One, Reginald D., is big and black, the other, Rob, isn’t. The former oozes onstage confidence, the latter seems caught like a rabbit in spotlight. Reginald D. fills a big room at the top of the Town Hall, Rob fills a small one upstairs at the Portland Hotel, but they do have one thing in common: they both make people laugh.

Rob Hunter’s portentous and ominous introductory voiceover to Moosecow, about the imminent battle between the two ungulates of the show’s title, has precious little to do with anything that follows. When Rob himself enters, he’s fragile and unassuming. He’s somewhere between bewildered, terrified and eager to please. A persona can only be maintained through confidence and capability.

Hunter tells us about the oddball things he loves and the things he hates. He throws in clever one-liners like the importance of the letter O, without which the Count in Sesame Street would have a whole new audience. He’s interrupted several times by his bearded friend Joel who tries to infuse him with a bit of confidence. Joel is a more than competent sidekick, bringing laughs of his own. He’s the catalyst of the reappearance of the long-forgotten show title but it all goes wrong, of course, and the two literally sign off with an original and funny finale.

The engaging Rob Hunter may be the lesser of the two comedy Hunters in terms of profile at this stage, but he’s on his way up and well worth an hour of anyone’s time.

Finished reading this article? You might also like:

• Reginald D. Hunter
• Reginald D. Hunter – No Country for Grown Men
• Amelia Jane Hunter is Keith Flipp (the Girl from Belkondowns Flat)