Jeff Dunham: Difference between revisions

[[File:jeff_dunham.jpg|frame|Clockwise from Jeff: Achmed, Peanut, José Jalapeño [[Funetik Aksent|onna Steek]], Walter, Melvin. Not Pictured: Bubba J and Sweet Daddy D.]]

 

{{quote|''"You're [[Title Drop|arguing with yourself!]] And losing!"''|'''Peanut,''' ''Jeff Dunham: Arguing With Myself''}}

Jeff Dunham is a popular [[Stand Up Comedy|comedian]] and [[Talking to Himself|ventriloquist]]. He often proves himself capable with traditional stand up schtick, but he knows that people watch him for the puppets.

 

 

'''He's had four specials on [[Comedy Central]] so far:'''

 

'''His cast includes:'''

* '''Peanut''' -- a [[Winnie the Pooh|Woozle]], which is a [[Keet|hyperactive]] [[Funny Animal|furry animal]]...hybrid...thing. He has purple skin, white fur, has green hair, big feet and wears only his left shoe. He is apparently from an island in Micronesia and stowed away on a cruise ship, where he met Dunham in Florida.

* '''Melvin the Superhero Guy''' -- A goofy superhero wannabe with an extremely big nose (which looks like a penis when viewed sideways). Has no actual powers to speak of, but he is really enthusiastic about it.

* '''Bubba J.''' -- NASCAR lovin', beer swilling [[Deep South|redneck]]. Wholeheartedly embodies every trope associated with being a back woods country redneck.

 

 

* [[Affably Evil]]: Achmed

* [[All Men Are Perverts]]: All of Jeff's puppets are male, and they all fit this trope to varying degrees.

** As far as Peanut is concerned, Jeff and Guitar Guy.

** {{spoiler|AJ, Achmed's son}}

** During one of his televised events, an audience member named Mike gets up and walks out (to use the bathroom) ''in the middle of the show''. The audience ragging on him was a given, but Jeff and Walter -- ''especially'' Walter -- really let him have it.

** In one blooper, Peanut's hair falls off during the show. Ignoring the reaction of Peanut ("I look like ''that guy''", pointing to a bald audience member), Peanut (Jeff in tow) then goes down and ''hugs'' said audience member... then offers to sell him his hair.

** In yet another blooper, Jeff accidentally lets go of Walter enough that his hands fall down from their normal crossed arm position. Since this is going on one of his DVDs, he shouts out "Edit" to mark it and then Walter just goes [[Off the Rails]]. During all this, Jeff forgets where he was in his act, and someone in the audience tries to help. [[Crowning Moment of Funny|Mistake!]]

** And then Jeff honestly forgets where he is in the act, and they have to ask the guy to help again.

** In several shows, the audience has helped Jeff deliver lines for Bubba J, occasionally delivering the entire routine.

'''Bubba J''': This is like a weird version of church! }}

* [[Blatant Lies]]: During the ''Sparks of Insanity'' special, Jeff does a bit of traditional stand-up, and talks about his life and his daughters.

** Peanut brought the lotion up in an entirely different special.

** Jeff to the rest of his puppets, for any number of reasons, including his powder-blue Prius, his {{spoiler|ex-}}wife's "yippy chihuahua", and his sexual prowess... not to mention the lotion thing.

'''Walter''': Oh, I get it! Exciting at first but it ends in disaster! }}

* [[Catch Phrase]]

** Achmed: "SILENCE! I ''keel'' you!" and "Good evening, infidels!"

* [[Character Development]]: Peanut especially. Contrast [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VWERNT33Vo this old Peanut] with [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZjMgbRUsZM the modern one.]

* [[Cluster F-Bomb]]: There's a ''lot'' more profanity in live shows than on the specials. Peanut and Walter in particular curse frequently.

* [[Corpsing]]: One bit where Achmed tells the audience how his life (that is, the "life" he has after dying) pretty much sucked. He went to the doctor one day because he thought he had scoliosis, so the doctor recommends an X-ray, which is completely pointless because Achmed is a skeleton. This causes a bit of corpsing (you can definitely hear the strain in Jeff's voice as he tries to do Achmed's voice without laughing). Achmed's story then goes on to say that he thinks he has polio too, and the strain of trying to keep a straight face catches up to Jeff, causing him to ask Achmed about "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW_BrgXJ2k4 poliosis]", causing Guitar Guy to just give up the act and start laughing, and Jeff tries his darnedest to hide his laughing, covering his mouth with his hand and shouting "Don't look at me!"

** Achmed: "[[That's What She Said|That's what she said.]]"

* [[Deep South]]: Bubba J.

* [[Dem Bones]]: Achmed

** Sweet Daddy D and Melvin

** Bubba J. only had a cameo appearance in the latest special.

* [[Didn't Think This Through]]: In ''A Very Special Christmas Special'', Achmed slams Jeff for giving him phlegm without an esophagus with this exact line.

* [[Does This Remind You of Anything?]]: Achmed's death:

** Also, a knock-knock joke by Achmed is told in two separate specials.

'''Achmed:''' Me, I keel you! }}

 

'''Achmed:''' Me, I keel you again! You're such an idiot! You keep answering the door! Where I am from, the game we teach our children is when someone says "Knock, knock", you shut the fuck up and hide! }}

* [[Don't Explain the Joke]]: Walter pulls this in ''Spark Of Insanity'' with an audience member.

** made even better if you recall in the earlier Christmas Special Achmed actually requested some Duct Tape after his legs started flailing around.

* [[Escalating Punchline]]: Walter

** Walter reminds one of the original [[Statler and Waldorf|cranky old puppet guys]].

** Bubba J is inspired by [[Edgar Bergen|Mortimer Snerd]].

* [[Get Out!]]:

'''Walter''': My ''wife'' is there! I go in and all I hear is '''GET OUT...''' }}

* [[Grumpy Old Man]]: Walter. Part of the reason this is so funny is because ''everyone'' knows somebody like him!

* [[Happily Adopted]]: Jeff says in ''All By My Selves'' that he was an adopted child, but that he always knew he had been, never had a problem with it, and that his parents are great.

** This leads to a [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]] when his first daughter was born and he realizes that she is the first blood relative he ever knew.

** Jeff's {{spoiler|ex-}}wife, who decided to breed their pet chihuahua, producing Rusty, the runt of the litter who Jeff claims will urinate on his wife in the middle of the night whenever the two have an unresolved argument.

** Achmed could be considered a victim of this too, as his incompetent suicide bombing attempt resulted in him being the only one killed by his own bomb.

* [[Hypocritical Humor]]: During the Christmas Special, Achmed asks Guitar Guy to play some inspirational music for Achmed's Christmas song. As a joke, he plays a Muslim (?) tune on his guitar. Achmed scolds him with, "You racist bastard."

** And then follows this with, [[Completely Missing the Point|"I]] ''[[Completely Missing the Point|hate]]'' [[Completely Missing the Point|Irish music!"]]

* [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain]]: Achmed, who wants people to think he is dangerous but is also deathly afraid of Walter and once asked Jeff for a hug.

* [[Is That What They're Calling It Now?]]: Walter's reaction to Jeff's argument diffusion method by thinking of something different:

'''Jeff''': ...um, "If you choke [[The Smurfs|a Smurf]], what color does it turn?"<br />

''(Walter's eyebrows raise slowly)''<br />

'''Jeff''': Yes.<br />

'''Walter''': Is that what they're calling it now? }}

* [[Jerkass]]: Peanut. Most of his routine consists of mean-spirited jokes, belittling and antagonizing Jeff, and tormenting José.

* [[Keet]]: Peanut. Holy freakin' crap, '''''Peanut'''''.

* [[Lampshade Hanging]]:

** In another bit:

'''Peanut''': Picture if you will! }}

* [[Littlest Cancer Patient]]: Parodied with Achmed, who has <s>Polio</s> <s>Scoliosis</s> Poliosis much to his confusion.

* [[Medium Awareness]]: Peanut seems to be the only puppet who is consistently aware of his "true" relationship with Jeff, and even comments on the various portions of Jeff's mind that his puppets must represent. Peanut is disturbed by the implication that Jeff could create something [[Hypocritical Humor|as odd as Peanut]].

** Also:

'''Jeff''': Well [[Sarcasm Failure|what's José Jalapeno On A Stick]]?<br />

'''Peanut''': You're a ''sick'' man! }}

** He even tears into Guitar Guy over it, too:

* [[Must Have Caffeine]]

'''Peanut''': ''Nyquil and Red Bull!!'' }}

* [[No Fourth Wall]]: The dolls frequently mention the fact that they're just dolls. Peanut in particular - somewhat ironically given his over-the-top, hyperactive personality - is completely aware of the nature of the act and often compliments or harangues Jeff on the quality of his ventriloquism.

'''Peanut: '''Fix my eyes, asshole! }}

* [[No Sense of Personal Space]]: Peanut.

** This happened SO MUCH in 'Controlled Chaos' that his legs has to be duct taped to the table he was sitting on.

** During a live performance in South Dakota that took place outside, Jeff's skit with Achmed kept getting interrupted by planes flying overhead causing Jeff to forget the skit and Achmed to grow increasingly annoyed by the planes, whom Achmed mistakes for bombers arriving too early.

* [[Only Sane Man]]: Jeff usually plays this to his puppets' antics. It's especially hilarious when Peanut or Walter start abusing audience members and Jeff tells them off for it.

* [[Out of Focus]]: Melvin, Bubba J, and Sweet Daddy D aren't as popular as Achmed, Peanut, José, and Walter. As a result, they haven't really shown up as much in the more recent years when more people have been demanding the more popular acts. (One time, Bubba J actually [[Lampshade Hanging|told Jeff]] that the audience knew the jokes better than ''he'' did.)

** He seems to do the bit with Bubba J regularly, but perhaps not every performance. Twice he's given live performances in South Carolina where, at the end, he brings out Bubba J, has the audience help him through the act, and lampshades it.

* [[Overly Narrow Superlative]]: The Most Beloved Terrorist throughout the world. {{spoiler|Achmed the Dead Terrorist}}

* [[Power Perversion Potential]]: When Melvin claims he has X-ray vision:

'''Melvin''': I like to look at boobies!! }}

* [[Refuge in Audacity]]

* [[Running Gag]]: "Guitar Guy"'s supposed drug use, Jeff's blue Prius and The Lotion.

* [[Sarcasm Failure]]: Peanut's reaction when Jeff reveals ''he'' can't speak Spanish when Peanut & Jose were just doing so.

* [[Show Within a Show]]: A variant. In Jeff's old performances and his newest special, Peanut would perform his own little bits of ventriloquism. This resulted in a few early instances of Ugly-Ass Jeff. The character returned in Controlled Chaos. In early skits, Ugly-Ass Jeff, Jeff, Peanut, and José would banter back and forth, and at one point during some of his shows, Jeff would get out a bottle of tequila— complete with a talking worm...and a basement, somehow— and would drink while Peanut commentated on it.

** In ''Controlled Chaos'', Peanut decides to bring back his old ventriloquist dummy Ugly-Ass Jeff, who just so happens to look a lot like Jeff, hence the name. He then does a little skit basically portraying Little Jeff as an extreme example of [[This Loser Is You]]. Jeff retaliates by putting a hand puppet on his other hand which happens to look a lot like Peanut, portraying ''him'' as a hyperactive idiot. And they all argue with one another. [[Rapid-Fire Comedy]], indeed!

* [[Silence, You Fool|SILENCE (you fool)! I KEEL YOU!]]

* [[Straight Man]]: Jeff is more or less this to his various puppets.

* [[Talking to Himself]]: Jeff ''is'' a ventriloquist, after all.

** In his newest special (and some of his older performances), he has a [[Serial Escalation|five way conversation with himself]].

* [[Verbal Tic]]: Jeff's speech is constantly peppered with phlegm (such as ACHK-med and sometimes HECK-ff for Jeff and HOCK-se for Jose.) It gets passed on to his puppets, especially when they say anything with a K sound. Even Achmed points out, [[Fridge Logic|"Why do I have phlegm?]] [[Lampshade Hanging|I don't have an esophagus."]]

* [[Visual Pun]]: Jeff asked Melvin what his most distinguishing feature was. He turned to look at Jeff, displaying a righteously large nose.

'''Peanut''': Then how the hell did you come up with ''me?!'' }}

* [[You Gotta Have Blue Hair|You Gotta Have Green Hair]]: Peanut!

'''Walter''': You know, I've been wanting to say this for a long time: screw you, it's "Merry Christmas". }}

 

[[Category:Actors]]

[[Category:Jeff Dunham]]