RSSJeff Dunham is no dummy
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Here we are in late 2009 and the most popular comedian in the country, the man setting TV ratings records and making $30 million a year touring and merchandising, is a ventriloquist.
So what gives? How did Jeff Dunham become such a breakout star using puppets and PG-13 humor in the age of profane Chris Rock specials on HBO and CGI blockbusters in theaters?
To his fans, and they are legion, the answer is simple: Dunham, who plays the Yakima Valley SunDome on Sunday, is relatable in a way that hip, critically acclaimed comics are not. His characters, guys like crotchety old Walter and redneck Bubba J., are exaggerated versions of people his fans deal with in everyday life.
"Everybody has a Walter," says Sean Davido, a Dunham fan from Moxee.
The 38-year-old single dad says his kids recite lines from Dunham's Achmed the Dead Terrorist character -- catch phrase: "I keeel you!" -- while he prefers the mischievous Peanut character and the Latin-accented Jose Jalapeño on a Stick.
Characters like Achmed and Jose, along with the black pimp character, Sweet Daddy Dee, highlight another aspect of Dunham's appeal. He gets away with political incorrectness.
"He's able to say a lot of different things with each of the characters and it can be not politically correct," says Melissa Benscoter, a 29-year-old Dunham fan from Selah. "But from that particular character, you would expect it."
The distance Dunham is provided by his characters -- after all, it's Walter or Bubba J. getting laughs out of ethnic stereotypes, not Dunham himself -- allows him to stay on the right side of the fine line that divides poking fun at stereotypes and exploiting them.
"He's doing very much what Stephen Colbert does," says Robert Thompson, a Syracuse University professor and founder of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture. "He gets to talk as a character that isn't him. That gives him license. ... It's the same reason that some of the very edgiest comedy is going on in animation. It's not like HE is standing up in front of a mike saying these outrageous things."
Also, Thompson points out, Dunham, 47, has worked hard for decades to build his brand, touring relentlessly and gaining grass-roots support.
The reason he's peaking now, with "The Jeff Dunham Show" setting a Comedy Central ratings record for a premiere, is a perfect storm of populist media developments. Because of DVD and YouTube, people have more freedom of choice than ever, and Dunham's humor is nothing if not populist.
In general, critics have pooh-poohed Dunham as a lowbrow alternative to hipper comics; more Larry the Cable Guy or Jeff Foxworthy than David Cross or Patton Oswalt. But the numbers don't lie, and Dunham's audience continues to grow.
Comedy Central, which has given us critically acclaimed series like "The Daily Show" and "Chappelle's Show," seems more like a Dunham-delivery-device by the day. The top of the cable channel's Web site has one clickable tab labeled "The Jeff Dunham Show" and another labeled "Shows" for everything else.
"It's as though Jeff Dunham was born to be on Comedy Central," Thompson says. "He just had to wait to get old enough for Comedy Central to be invented."
His style, let's call it clean edginess, is perfect for basic cable. And it's perfect for drawing in a wide audience.
"He's a lot cleaner than a lot of the comedians who are out there," says Jeff Penuel, a 39-year-old food service worker from Yakima. "He's an awesome comedian."
That style also gives Dunham immunity from the generational schism most comedy acts face, which Thompson notes is incredibly rare for a stand-up. Rarer still for a ventriloquist.
"My grandfather was really into a ventriloquist, Edgar Bergen," Thompson says. "But who'd have guessed that my students would be?"
* Pat Muir can be reached at 509-577-7693 or pmuir@yakimaherald.com.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: Jeff Dunham's Spark of Insanity Tour.
WHERE: Yakima SunDome at State Fair Park.
WHEN: 5 p.m. Sunday.
HOW MUCH: $43.50, available at www.ticketswest.com or through the State Fair ticket office at 509-248-7160.
ON THE WEB: www.jeffdunham.com.
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