On a stick?

Introduction

Did you think that ventriloquists still existed?

Don't they remind you of the late 70s/early 80s? Ray Alan with Lord Charles? Roger DeCourcey and Nookie Bear (New Faces winners in 1976). The Keith Harris Show (ran for 8 years from 1982) with Orville The Duck (selling over 400,000 copies of that awful single) and Cuddles The Monkey.

There's been one recent one of note, Nina Conti who won the BBC New Comedy Award in 2002 but has since slipped away.

And why is that? Well, probably because ventriloquism is just not for today's sophisticated comedy palate.

Except perhaps in America, where Texan Jeff Dunham has been appearing on TV for nearly 20 years (despite the fact that you've probably never heard of him).



This show was his second show recorded for Comedy Central, recorded at the Warner Theatre in Washington in 2007. The characters featured here are as follows:-

Walter, a grumpy old man.

Peanut, a purple-skinned "woozle" allegedly from a small Micronesian island.

José Jalapeño on a Stick is a talking jalapeño pepper on a stick who wears a small sombrero.

Melvin the Superhero Guy wears a blue superhero costume, and is used to poke fun at superheroes.

Achmed, the Dead Terrorist - a skeletal corpse of an incompetent suicide bomber. His catchphrase is "Silence! I kill you!"

Video and Audio

A full-frame transfer (why, when a widescreen transfer is available?) and a choice of DD5.1 and DD2.0 stereo soundtracks. Nothing earth shattering, and nothing to complain about either.

Extra Features

Two short features, The Making Of Melvin (which is exactly what you think it is) and What Would You Put On A Stick, where audience members are asked what they would put on a stick, and give largely nonsensical answers.

Finally there's "Special Announcement By Walter", a snippet from the show where he announces that he's standing for president. That's kind of pointless now!

Conclusion

Ventriloquism is alive and well in America. But this particular brand hasn't travelled so well.

The characters and the jokes seem to be from a bygone era. Mocking Mexicans and other immigrants? Jokes about incompetent terrorists? Tired misogynistic routines about marriage? This stuff died out with ventriloquism here in the UK. And whilst mocking various stereotypes, Dunham proves to be one himself, the stereotyped American who can't live without their gas-guzzling SUV, and who openly mocks himself for driving a "gay Prius". And then his characters continue to mock him for driving a Prius and not driving a much larger, more manly vehicle.

American audiences seem to lap this stuff up, but for me it was tired and lame. As a ventriloquist, Dunham seems pretty good. It's just his act that seems to be stuck in the dark ages.

One to avoid I'm afraid.