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Jeff Dunham: Spark of Insanity

Jeff Dunham is a good comedian but the reason that people (particularly over in America) love him so much is because of his five side-kicks. This DVD is a recording of his show in Washington DC. As he opens his ‘Spark of Insanity’ gig he receives a standing ovation for the ‘people’ who are lying in a suitcase behind him. Much of his material is quite gentle and light-hearted but his puppets allow him to take his comedy to different areas.

He opens with some gags about gas prices and then moves seamlessly through to cars and eventually on to the topic of dogs. This leads to discussing how to classify a dog, due to his wife now owning a Chihuahua. Jeff has a great gag about a dog trying to eat a stick length-ways.

The main part of the show is where the puppets are introduced. The first was ‘Walter’, a grumpy old man figure who talks about taxes and haunted houses. He uses quite mild humour but, the interaction between him and Jeff is quite amazing considering Dunham is providing both the voices. Amongst the comical moments here, is when Walter believes the CIA are following him. Another interesting part of the act is when they discuss what colour a Smurf would turn if you choked on one. I am still thinking about that one! The two happily have arguments with each other.

The most controversial of the puppets is definitely, ‘Achmed: the Dead Terrorist’ with his catch-phrase, “Silence! I kill you!” He appears to have been a suicide bomber but now remains intact as a skeleton. Achmed is clearly an opportunity to use some more controversial material which is quite racist. It was good to hear the puppets interacting even though some of them were still shut up in their suitcases.

My personal favourite of the puppets was ‘Merlin’, the super hero. He comes on dressed in his costume (from Ebay) and sings his personal theme tune. The humour is a lot gentler and light hearted. Following this there is a brief turn from ‘Peanut’ who voices concerns about pronunciation and spends a lot of time plugging Jeff’s website. Lastly ‘Jose Jalapeno… on a steek!’ is merely a head placed on a stick. Talking with Jeff to finish the act, they talk about the difficulties Jose had with immigration in order to get to the show that evening.

Throughout the show there is a running theme about cars, which almost all the characters in turn pick up on. Some of the humour is certainly aimed at the American audience but there are still some funny moments in the show.

EXTRAS:
•    Walter’s Political Announcement
•    What would you put on a stick?
•    The Making of Melvin. Of the extras, it’s worth watching ‘The Making of Melvin’ to get an idea of how Jeff makes his puppets.