For a long time, ventriloquism has seemed to be the black sheep of the comedy world. It was as though ventriloquism was just what the comedian who was incapable of being funny on their own would do. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a man named Jeff Dunham appeared with his dummies Jose Jalapeno on a Stick, Peanut, Walter, and several others and brought ventriloquism back into the spotlight. Dunham was able to create jokes that were actually funny and socially relevant.
Just to prove that he could have been just as successful as a regular stand up comedian, Dunham always opens as himself and tells jokes that are impressive by any standards. But, of course, when Dunham gets to the main event with his dummies, he takes everything to a new level.
As many ventriloquists do, Dunhams act consists of talking to his dummies and interacting with them. And like many other comedians, Dunhams humor is largely self deprecating, with his dummies flinging quick and sharp insults at him on the fly. Dunham shows amazing skill at improvisation, which helps should his act mess up. In fact, quite infamously, one performance featured Dunham who had ingested tequila prior to the show, and despite his mistakes, he still managed to bring in the laughs.
Perhaps it is this ability to make mistakes that helps him so much. Dunham makes comments on his own mistakes through the observations of his puppets. His puppets are also well known for having their own personalities and mannerisms. For instance, theres Walter, a bitter old man with a sharply cynical view of the world around him.
Walter is intolerant, mean, and grumpy, and therefore the audience loves him. Then, there is perhaps his best known puppet, Peanut. Peanut is a Woozle form the country of Micronesia who met Dunham in Florida and has been with Dunham throughout most of his career. Then there is Jose Jalapeno on a Stick. He was, in fact, the first puppet that Dunham had created.
He is a jalapeno on a stick that is often the subject of abusive jokes from peanut as Dunham tries to ask him serious questions about his former home of Cuba (although almost every joke orientated towards him is about Mexico). There is also Melvin the Super Hero, who is as timid as they come, and Achmed the Dead Terrorist who has grown rapidly in popularity since his introduction in Dunhams Spark of Insanity special.
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