Jeff Dunham/YMMV

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/wiki/Jeff Dunhamcreator

• Acceptable Ethnic Targets: Achmed, Bubba J, José, Sweet Daddy D...for that matter, it's probably easier to list the puppets who aren't Acceptable Ethnic Targets.
• Acceptable Inevitable Targets: Walter.
• Crosses the Line Twice: The aforementioned Audience Participation scene:

Walter: (reading question) "Dear Walter, why do I gag when I brush my tongue but not when I give my boyfriend oral sex?" (to the girl who asked the question) Well obviously, your toothbrush is bigger.

• • Likewise, Peanut's story about ordering food from a Chinese restaurant is so offensive that it becomes purely hilarious. (And in case you didn't catch it, Peanut will remind you several times!!) It gets even funnier when Jeff tries to get Peanut to apologize for the joke and read a letter from an Asian fan.
  • There was a bit at a live show in Winnipeg where Peanut finds the idea of a vomiting giraffe hilarious.
  • At one show, there was no roof and an airport nearby. Achmed was on stage...

Achmed: Not yet, idiots! After the show!

• Crowning Moment of Heartwarming: Dunham was adopted, which wasn't a big deal to him. He mentions he doesn't have an interest in finding his birth parents. The moment of heartwarming is in his autobiography when he has his first child and as he holds his infant daughter he realizes this is the first blood relative he's ever met.
• Ensemble Darkhorse: Achmed, Walter.
  • Brian Haner, AKA Guitar Guy.
• Harsher in Hindsight: Half of Walter's shtick is how much he hates his wife. Then some time between the third and fourth comedy specials Jeff got a divorce.
• Just Here for Godzilla: Even Jeff acknowledges that people aren't here to see the traditional stand up he does.

Jeff: (after opening applause dies down) Well, you can't fool me. I know every bit of that is for the little guys in the suitcase!

• Love It or Hate It: Oh, so much.
• Older Than They Think: Jeff's been doing ventriloquism his whole life - started in elementary school (fourth grade), high school, college and on. He's done local commercials in Texas, and bits for churches, groups and corporates. When he was in college he toured nationally with the Broadway variety hit Sugar Babies in 1984-1985. The only character he had from then he still uses is Jose Jalapeno, but many people have had a moment of "Wait, I remember this guy!" when he pulled Jose out.
• Pandering to the Base: Dunham has been doing this in recent years by featuring Achmed more often and doing more humor to appeal to Southern conservatives.
• Periphery Demographic: According to Arab-American comic Ahmed Ahmed, goofy acts like Achmed the Dead Terrorist are actually a big hit in the Middle East.
• Special Effects Failure / Throw It In:

This happens a lot with Achmed, as his skeletal body is unusually flimsy compared to the rest of the puppets. During a few of his specials, Achmed's entire lower body will have to be repositioned, much to Achmed's chagrin (including one incident where he reacted in horror when Jeff accidentally pulled his arm off). To Jeff's credit, he rolled with the incident, making up a story about how his pet chihuahua used Achmed's dislocated arm as a chew toy.

• • One show at Penn State saw Achmed's ribcage getting caught on his spine, starting off 40 minutes of hilarious improv. The same thing happened during Controlled Chaos (the uncut DVD performance), but Jeff actually pulled Achmed's ribcage off trying to get it unstuck.

During Spark Of Insanity, Melvin whipped his body around too fast, and his entire head of hair came flying off. Granted, everyone else thought it was funny, but Melvin wasn't really thrilled ("I look like Lex Luthor!"). This also happened to Peanut in Arguing With Myself and he wasn't happy about it, because it hurts trying to stick it back on.

• • The DVD extras reveal that that one was planned from the get-go.
  • The Achmed arm thing from the Christmas special was also planned. This troper saw that same gag the January before the Christmas special came out (they filmed the DVD in July or so), almost word for word in the Billings, MT appearance. It may have been a mistake at first, and the audience response was so good that he kept it. Though he also truly did throw in a very well-received Montana joke.

Walter: So where are we again? Jeff: Billings. Walter: Montana? Is this the entire population of the state? Audience: *HUGE applause*

Though Jeff is quite good on keeping his lips still with the other puppets, sometimes he slips up. In particular, his skits with Peanut have them bantering back and forth too quickly and he can't always keep up.

• • In a more general sense if you look closely you can see Jeff's adam's apple bouncing up and down when he talks.
• Tear Jerker: One moment in his biography, All By My Selves, has him telling a story of how one of his daughters put a suitcase with two dolls and her blanket beside his luggage, and he had to take the suitcase back to her room and tell her she couldn't go, and she was crying as he was leaving and Jeff himself started, too.
• Uncanny Valley: Zig-Zagged. Many of Jeff's earlier puppets, especially if you see his school pictures, are more realistic and as a result look incredibly weird. Thankfully the ones he has now are stylized and he's good enough moving them that they don't make any strange movements that are often associated with ventriloquist dummies.
  • However, Achmed Junior falls head-first into the valley.
• Unfortunate Implications: Some of Jeff's material, and especially aspects of several of the puppets.
• The Woobie: Achmed, during the Christmas special:

"...is that Aqua Velva?"

• • If Walter's farts are really that bad, you might start to feel sorry for poor Achmed.

Achmed: Saddam's mustard gas is nothing compared to a Walter fart!

• • • Of course, Achmed uses the eyes of his deceased father to scare Walter at night, so it may be justified.