THIS was not how it was meant to be. Reginald D. Hunter was supposed to launch a brand new tour to a full house at Cheltenham Town Hall last night. Lots of laughs. No sweat.

Instead, the dreadlocked comedian found himself using the occasion to speak out about the craziness that ensued in the wake of his gig at the Professional Footballers’ Association last week.

Indeed, the audience - all of whom were fully aware and appreciative of the intelligent American’s humour and ability to use words as weapons in the fight against racism - were treated to an extra half hour ‘set’ during which he allowed himself to set the record straight. Yes, he likes to use the word “n***er” - and he does, frequently - but hey, as Hunter was keen to point out, it was a white invention in the first place! He is obviously upset about “a big corporate ass-covering”, but given that the subject of race and how it is treated is, and always has been, the cornerstone of Hunter’s material, the row has seemingly set the comic off-kilter and even after he had got a few things off his chest he appeared unsettled throughout the show.

The tour itself is called ‘In the midst of crackers’ and given the circumstances I am willing to forgive a few forgotten links and stuttered false starts for this, the first night of the run. However, I cannot say that I was overly-enamoured by the material.

Towards the end, it seemed to me that Hunter had maybe lost his way a little. He’s been through a tough time recently, a fact which he is ready and willing to share with those in the Hall, but for me it seemed that he was only too keen to turn the audience’s - and certainly my own - ambivalence towards certain morally challenging issues into a problem. I consider myself to be relatively intelligent and actually, for one night, I would have been content with a few wry observations and a laugh or two. The shame was that Hunter didn’t really seem in the mood to supply them. And I can’t say that I blame him.

I’m looking forward to coming back to see Reginald D. when he returns to Cheltenham in November, once this whole mess with the footballers has been sorted out; he is a clever, articulate man and deserves better than this. I have high hopes for this tour, and I think it will do well, especially if he keeps the hilarious Canadian Pete Johansson with him as support. No baggage required.