Spark of Insanity

Introduction

Jeff Dunham is an American comedian and ventriloquist who has appeared in three Comedy Central special broadcasts. This DVD, called Spark of Insanity, is the second of the three. Dunham is filmed in the Warner Theater in Washington DC with an audience who clearly love him and the following puppets as part of his stand-up routine:

Walter - rather grumpy old man who may well be based on Walter Matthau's later screen persona

Achmed the Dead Terrorist - this one does what it says on the tin, the skeletal puppet repeatedly using the catchphrase "Silence! I kill you"

Melvin the Superhero - possibly the most un-super hero ever

Peanut - manic purple thing

Jose Jalapeno - a Mexican green pepper, on a stick

It may be worth noting here that Jeff Dunham has sold over 3 million copies of his DVD's to date (where apparently the average sales for comedy DVD's is 35,000). His last TV special for Comedy Central called A Very Special Christmas Special drew 6.6 million viewers for it's premiere broadcast, becoming the channel's most watched programme ever.

Overall

Jeff Dunham has some pedigree, that much is in no doubt. Despite this, I can't say I warmed to him at all. I'm not saying he isn't funny as some of his stuff clearly is, but sadly I found most of his material predictable and lame, some of his targets the equivalent of school playground taunts.

Dunham hails from Texas, where everything is bigger and better than everything else, so his first target is the eco-friendly car the Prius. Dunham spends a lot of time on this subject and the only conclusion you can take is that it's tiny, blue and any owner is gay. Another target is Rosie O'Donnell's weight. For me, this is the equivalent of a personal attack as I just don't see how jokes about someone's appearance in this manner can be thought amusing, let alone funny. Still, it doesn't stop him and his audience lap it up as they do all his jokes.

Bizarrely, this audience are behaving more as if it's rock 'n roll than a ventriloquism act, a-whoopin' and a-hollerin' every few seconds. I could generalise about Americans here and be rightly berated, but it is clear that this audience is a cross section of the multi-cultural population of the US. Maybe then, I just don't get US mainstream stand-up humour, which is entirely possible, and that mocking illegal aliens (i.e Mexicans) is really funny.

I don't get it, Keith Harris was never like this…