DVD review: “Jeff Dunham’s Very Special Christmas Special”
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
“Jeff Dunham’s Very Special Christmas Special”
Popular ventriloquist Jeff Dunham and his zany puppet pals stir up hearty laughs with their first Christmas show, a punchy brew of pointed topical humor, madcap antics and twisted original holiday songs.
The special’s premiere earlier this month on Comedy Central drew 6.6 million viewers, the highest ratings ever for the channel.
While the TV version runs an hour with commercials, the DVD offers 85 uninterrupted minutes of Dunham’s performance. The funny puppet-less opening in which Dunham shows off his sharp standup skills is a highlight on the longer edition.
The special includes hyper purple imp Peanut, dryly amusing Jose Jalapeno (on a stick), white-trash Bubba J and hilariously grumpy old man Walter. But the funniest is the spiteful and insecure Achmed the Dead Terrorist, who sings the droll “Jingle Bombs.”
Dunham sometimes goes for the too-obvious joke – imagine a redneck crooning “Roadkill Christmas” – but his delivery never falters. You forget he is surreptitiously voicing the characters, especially when he cracks up at their shenanigans or jokes about touchy subjects such as immigration, religion and political correctness.
DVD features: Behind-scenes featurettes, “Ask Santa” with Walter, Christmas tips from the characters.
- BAM
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The highlight of this show for me was seeing Jeff try to crack up “Guitar Guy.” It was interesting to see him interact with another person on stage. It made it even easier to forget that he IS the puppet.