(Review originally written at 30 December 2010)
This stand-up comedy special made me realize something; I can probably become a rich, popular and famous comedian as well! Because if it's so easy to make an audience laugh with so little funny moments or good jokes, everybody can be a comedian I guess.
Seems that Jeff Dunham is only known and popular thanks to his use of puppets. At first this was still being something really original and new but it is getting old already by now. Jeff Dunham still would had been OK with me if only he was able to write some more clever and funny material to go along with his gimmick.
Really the problem with this show is that it's just shockingly not funny at all. None of the writing or any of the jokes are ever being clever ones. Every joke and reply is incredibly predictable and incredibly unfunny because of this. Seems to me that Dunham wrote this show on one rainy afternoon at the kitchen-table and just wrote down everything that first came up into his head and wrote it down, without trying to further expand on it or try to give some twists or in-depth jokes to any of his material.
Still incredibly amazing to see how the crowd is still cracking up as if it's the funniest thing they had ever heard or seen in their lifetime. Where did they get this people from? This guy should had been booed of the stage the first moment he was telling a lame and predictable joke. Its their fault other people now can see this 85 minutes of 'comedy' torture on DVD or TV.
But the audience are not the only persons manically laughing. Dunham himself also cracks up lots of times when he is either telling a story or doing a routine with one of his puppets. This however seemed forced and just not naturally to me and more was a trick to get the audience laughing as well. The guitar guy gets used in the same way. He laughs and looks surprised every time a puppet makes a remark or says something 'funny' or offensive, like he doesn't known the material and this is the first time he ever heard any of it.
So perhaps it helps to see Jeff Dunham more as a ventriloquist than as a stand-up comedian. But sorry, he is not even very good at that. It's obvious and distracting how he is moving his mouth at times and his puppets are mostly being just like his material; stupid and predictable. Each one of his many puppets is basically being very stereotypical and therefor also very easy to write for. Walter is a grumpy old guy, so it doesn't matter what he says, as long as it's being something grumpy. It also doesn't matter much what Achmed says, as long as he says 'Silence, I kill you!' every now and then. Bubba J is a stupid Southerner, so he needs to say something NASCAR or beer related every now and then. José Jalapeño is your very stereotypical Mexican and Peanut is, well, being a peanut. Peanut is perhaps the most creative puppet Dunham created but I have no idea anymore what any of his material was ever about, since I had already lost complete interest in this once Peanut made his entrance. Some people even call Dunham racist because his puppets are being big stereotypes and often make racist remarks but I just call it lack of talent and creativity and the only offensive thing about it is that it's not being anything funny at all.
A very special Christmas special indeed...
2/10
This stand-up comedy special made me realize something; I can probably become a rich, popular and famous comedian as well! Because if it's so easy to make an audience laugh with so little funny moments or good jokes, everybody can be a comedian I guess.
Seems that Jeff Dunham is only known and popular thanks to his use of puppets. At first this was still being something really original and new but it is getting old already by now. Jeff Dunham still would had been OK with me if only he was able to write some more clever and funny material to go along with his gimmick.
Really the problem with this show is that it's just shockingly not funny at all. None of the writing or any of the jokes are ever being clever ones. Every joke and reply is incredibly predictable and incredibly unfunny because of this. Seems to me that Dunham wrote this show on one rainy afternoon at the kitchen-table and just wrote down everything that first came up into his head and wrote it down, without trying to further expand on it or try to give some twists or in-depth jokes to any of his material.
Still incredibly amazing to see how the crowd is still cracking up as if it's the funniest thing they had ever heard or seen in their lifetime. Where did they get this people from? This guy should had been booed of the stage the first moment he was telling a lame and predictable joke. Its their fault other people now can see this 85 minutes of 'comedy' torture on DVD or TV.
But the audience are not the only persons manically laughing. Dunham himself also cracks up lots of times when he is either telling a story or doing a routine with one of his puppets. This however seemed forced and just not naturally to me and more was a trick to get the audience laughing as well. The guitar guy gets used in the same way. He laughs and looks surprised every time a puppet makes a remark or says something 'funny' or offensive, like he doesn't known the material and this is the first time he ever heard any of it.
So perhaps it helps to see Jeff Dunham more as a ventriloquist than as a stand-up comedian. But sorry, he is not even very good at that. It's obvious and distracting how he is moving his mouth at times and his puppets are mostly being just like his material; stupid and predictable. Each one of his many puppets is basically being very stereotypical and therefor also very easy to write for. Walter is a grumpy old guy, so it doesn't matter what he says, as long as it's being something grumpy. It also doesn't matter much what Achmed says, as long as he says 'Silence, I kill you!' every now and then. Bubba J is a stupid Southerner, so he needs to say something NASCAR or beer related every now and then. José Jalapeño is your very stereotypical Mexican and Peanut is, well, being a peanut. Peanut is perhaps the most creative puppet Dunham created but I have no idea anymore what any of his material was ever about, since I had already lost complete interest in this once Peanut made his entrance. Some people even call Dunham racist because his puppets are being big stereotypes and often make racist remarks but I just call it lack of talent and creativity and the only offensive thing about it is that it's not being anything funny at all.
A very special Christmas special indeed...
2/10
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