I actually used to think he was funny before he got his own TV show (dear god was it awful). Now I think he's repetitive and stale.
Poll: Why all the Dislike for Jeff Dunham?
- Thread starter CrazyGirl17
- Start date
My problem with Jeff Dunham is that he's a gimmick. It's a bunch of stale jokes in bad taste said through puppets. It's worse than when comedians take mediocre jokes and mediocre music to try and make an act.
I mean come on, caricature of a dead terrorist saying "I'll kill you" is what he's known for, that's pretty bad. I'm unimpressed with his delivery and unimpressed with his puppets. That just leaves the jokes, which are dated, racist, in poor taste, or simply unfunny. I don't hate the guy, just dislike his act.
I mean come on, caricature of a dead terrorist saying "I'll kill you" is what he's known for, that's pretty bad. I'm unimpressed with his delivery and unimpressed with his puppets. That just leaves the jokes, which are dated, racist, in poor taste, or simply unfunny. I don't hate the guy, just dislike his act.
Unfortunately, in my opinion he could be funny, and he was, but, he got lucky and became one of those viral things emailed around offices worldwide, which then got to the ears of the people with the money, who then threw money at him, being 'the next big thing', which meant he got the tour, the live dvd, the TV show, etc, but the problem was, he only seems to have about half an hour's material.
Nowadays, that's fine for an obscure, jobbing comedian doing occasional spots in clubs, that's 3 10 minute sets you can cycle around, to avoid repetition, but, if you're suddenly on TV, every joke done on TV is dead, you need to dump that set and write new stuff.
Essentially, it's part of the reason I think that we moved on from the club comics of the 70s to the 'alternative comedy' wave in the 80s, that new comics were not only writing their own material, rather than using the same jokes from the 30s and 40s, but, they were writing a LOT of it. Not all of it gold of course, but it was new and fresh.
It's why you'll usually see any winner of X Factor, American Idol etc fade into obscurity after 6 months, unless they're really lucky and build a solid fanbase early on. (that and of course, Simon Cowell wanting them gone to make way for next year's winner).
If Jeff Durham had adapted his act a bit more, came out with a whole fresh set of material each year, then I don't think there'd be such a backlash, as it is, many feel he's still coasting along on the success of going 'I KEEL YOU'.
As for the claims of racism, I think if you can't mock murdering fuckknuckles, who can you mock? Exactly how do you do the voice, and get across who it is, without doing the accent?
Maybe he shoulda have done him with a Belgian accent, and it'd have been fine?
TL;DR version:
If he hadn't ended up a viral web link of a youtube clip, there'd be no problem, trouble is, 90% of people have seen everything he does, and now he's got nothing left.
Nowadays, that's fine for an obscure, jobbing comedian doing occasional spots in clubs, that's 3 10 minute sets you can cycle around, to avoid repetition, but, if you're suddenly on TV, every joke done on TV is dead, you need to dump that set and write new stuff.
Essentially, it's part of the reason I think that we moved on from the club comics of the 70s to the 'alternative comedy' wave in the 80s, that new comics were not only writing their own material, rather than using the same jokes from the 30s and 40s, but, they were writing a LOT of it. Not all of it gold of course, but it was new and fresh.
It's why you'll usually see any winner of X Factor, American Idol etc fade into obscurity after 6 months, unless they're really lucky and build a solid fanbase early on. (that and of course, Simon Cowell wanting them gone to make way for next year's winner).
If Jeff Durham had adapted his act a bit more, came out with a whole fresh set of material each year, then I don't think there'd be such a backlash, as it is, many feel he's still coasting along on the success of going 'I KEEL YOU'.
As for the claims of racism, I think if you can't mock murdering fuckknuckles, who can you mock? Exactly how do you do the voice, and get across who it is, without doing the accent?
Maybe he shoulda have done him with a Belgian accent, and it'd have been fine?
TL;DR version:
If he hadn't ended up a viral web link of a youtube clip, there'd be no problem, trouble is, 90% of people have seen everything he does, and now he's got nothing left.
I just don't find him funny. His stuff just seems very juvenile and low-brow. I liked his Walter bit when he first started, but it went down hill from there. His show was terrible, it was like Jim Henson's retarded cousin took over his muppet shop.
This is EXACTLY how I feel about him.Tropico1 said:
I saw a few videos from the 80s and 90s here and there on the web from his old shows, and I see a pattern: every character is its own joke, and he builds upon that. Yes, the guy's got talent, he's a ventriloquist and has characters who are caricatures of the stereotypes they represent, but it gets repetitive after a while.
I don't think he is too bad, most of his stuff before his tv show i laughed at pretty well, and it's not necessarily that funny in the long run but at the time it gave some great laughs and i like his style, so yeah i do like him.
but then again this is the escapist so when it comes to comedy, if it isn't british and is mainstream, it is hated with a fiery passion.
but then again this is the escapist so when it comes to comedy, if it isn't british and is mainstream, it is hated with a fiery passion.
I like him, his stuff is decent and fairly funny. its not cerebral, or thought provoking like Carlin or Pryor but that's not his schtick so expecting it of him is stupid, as for racial jokes and stereotypes; he isn't mean spirited about it, there's tons of other comedians who are just total assholes.
After I saw Dunham's first two commedy specials, I thought he was very funny, and a good ventriloquist. Then he got his own TV show on Comedy Central. The first episode got lots of views, then tanked after the second episode. Why? The show wasn't funny. People noticed that he wasn't prepared to be scheduled like a TV show, he was struggling to make new material. That show got seven episodes to make up one season, and was promptly cancelled. When Dunham first became popular, it was because he was a ventriloquist comedian, with stereotypical puppets and equally stereotypical depictions. His jokes were funny. Then, the show came, and people realized that Dunham needed more time to come up with good jokes. After the show, Dunham just faded away into obscurity. I dislike Dunham because of that terrible, terrible show.
he's got some good jokes, but most of them feel forced and there's hardly any connection between them. it's usually Jeff asking or saying something and the puppet responding with something that's supposed to be funny. I don't think he's racist per se, but he's not really funny either and his audience consist almost exclusively of middle class white americans in their 30's-40's, maybe that's why I don't find him that funny, I'm not the target audience it seems...
other than that, his shows aren't really ABOUT anything. take George Carlin or Ricky Gervais. their shows are genuinely funny and they're about stuff. it's not that everything HAS to be about something, it's just better when it is. to me, at least.
other than that, his shows aren't really ABOUT anything. take George Carlin or Ricky Gervais. their shows are genuinely funny and they're about stuff. it's not that everything HAS to be about something, it's just better when it is. to me, at least.
