Jeff Dunham: Minding the Monsters

Jeff Dunham is the most popular, highest paid comedian in the entire United States. I guess this goes to show that the cream doesn't always rise to the top, because Dunham's act isn't just offensively racist and sexist, it's also painfully unfunny. Great stand-up comedy makes the audience think. Dunham simply plays to his audience's worst impulses. I don't know if Dunham believes the racist things he makes his puppets say, or if he's simply doing it to fleece his audience of their cash. And, between the two, I genuinely don't know which is worse.

For 'Minding The Monsters', Dunham dresses up his puppets as monsters and does his show on a haunted house stage. The show is divided into sets, with each character getting its own portion, and interstitial mock-trailers introducing each one. Things start with Dunham himself doing a bit of straight stand up. Without the puppets, he seems a little lost. He tells meandering stories that frequently have weak or non-existent punch lines. He also spends a lot of time laughing at his own jokes, which doesn't feel very professional. Still, this section is free of the kind of rampant racism that makes up the rest of the show.

Dunham next brings out Walter, his perpetually cranky old man character. Walter is dressed up as "Crankenstein," with a Frankenstein-style dome on his head. A few jokes are made at Dunham's expense, and then it starts. Mexican jokes, Jew jokes, jokes about immigrants, you name it. Dunham has this "Oh, jeez" look on his face, as if he simply cannot believe what Walter is saying. And that's the way the ventriloquist act generally works, but given the material in question, it feels disingenuous.

Then comes Bubba J, the redneck trailer park perpetual drunk. He's dressed as Dracula, with an exaggerated tooth. Most of this act involves jokes on how Bubba is constantly dead drunk or on drugs. This set is like a raunchier version of Jeff Foxworthy's "You might be a redneck if…", with Dunham prompting Bubba to reveal ever more embarrassing behavior and activities. Again, at no point was any of this actually funny, and you might begin to notice exactly how often Dunham's lips actually do move, because it's far more frequent than what you'd expect for the world's most famous ventriloquist.

Next up is Peanut and Jose, on a Batman and Robin riff. Peanut is a Muppet-looking creation, purple with huge red lips, white fur, and a tuft of green hair. Jose is a jalapeno pepper on a stick, and I'm sure where you can guess where that ends up going. Actually, this section mainly mines sexual jokes (Peanut's Batman parody is called "Batnut") and gags at Dunham's expense. He even brings out a mini-Dunham doll dressed up as the Riddler, but instead called "The Loser."

Finally, and most disconcertingly, we get Achmed the Dead Terrorist, dressed as a blonde American woman (the scariest thing Achmed could think of). I had heard of Achmed, an elaborately designed skeleton doll that is meant to be the remains of an incompetent suicide bomber, but had never actually seen him in action before. This is, without a doubt, completely and utterly racist on every level. If Dunham had put together a blackface doll called "Jim Crow", it would hardly be more offensive than this.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not a prude. I love all kinds of offensive material. I defend all sorts of controversial things in the name of free speech. But if you're going to be offensive, do it for a reason. Do it to make a point. Don't do it just to capitalize on the worst impulses of your audience. When the show does cut away to the people in the theater, they are practically falling off their chairs with laughter. I'm not saying they're not allowed to laugh, or that Dunham isn't allowed to make money off of their beliefs, but it feels even more cheap and gaudy than the costumes that Dunham has his puppets wear.