List of things that are funnier than a ventriloquist
 

everything

why do people think this guy is funny?

Even a mime is funnier.

What's your stance on puppetry of the penis?

Is that guy still alive?

Someone sent me a link to Ahmed the Ventriloquist dummy or some such nonsense the other day and I thought it was just about the most idiotic thing I have ever seen. But that's just me.

Actually my family finds Jeff Dunham quite hilarious. The personalities he breathes life into are funny and frankly quite in-line with what the average person is thinking or saying in private. We like him so much we're driving 4 hours in June to see him.

Many people find George Carlin funny but not I so too each his own is my take on the whole thing.

I wonder who 'normal' comics dislike more, prop comics or ventriloquists?

Any comic that is more successful than they are.

SILENCE!!! I KEEL YOU!!

someone had to do it

i met a ventriloquist the other day, and his dummy said that you can all go fuck yourselves

Which one of those three is Pumpy?

Jeff Dunham is hilarious. Ahmed is okay bt he is one of the newer puppets, Walter and Peanut are great though.

So you didn't like Crank Yankers?

That's a little different. Not a good comparison IMO. Dunham, to me, uses easy jokes and getting laughs for a puppet saying "I KEEL YOU" is weak sauce

Otto and George.

I can't vouch for the ventriliquism since I've never seen the act, but the filth coming out of that wooden asshole's mouth makes for a pretty funny shtick. Kinda like the ventriliquist version of John Valby.

at least the puppet doesn't have man hands

Sigh. Another radical difference. I think Jeff is one of the funniest comics out there (his peers agree) and I never tire of watching Achmed.

I don't really find his Achmed character to be very funny but I really like Jeff Dunham in general and like the rest of his characters(is 'character' the right word for a ventriloquist?)

i like him

My buddy had me watch him...I just didn't get it.

Puppetry is a wonderful tool to get people to look past fact that you need 30 minutes to tell 5 jokes that are 50 years old.

That was horrible.

Jeff Dunham is fine is a family friendly sort of way. I thought Achmed was pretty good, and some of his other stuff has its moments.

That said, his last special killed. He sold a ton of DVDs and basically made a fortune. No idea why... it was OK but not in the top 20 of standup DVDs on the shelf right now.

But yeah, he's rich now.

No love for Joey Gladstone?

I can honestly say that I had never heard of this guy before this thread, but after watching some clips of his routine, I can see that I wasn't missing anything. He makes Dane Cook look like Mitch Hedberg.

This guy is to comedy, as Chef Boyardee is to fine Italian cuisine. Nondescript and flavorless.

on a stick

Dola.

Before I looked at some of his stuff, I was ready to play devil's advocate, since he couldn't be that bad. Just throwing that out there, so no one can accuse me of trying to be a hipster/hater/antite kind of person. :)

He's seemingly been around since the dawn of time, too.

*sigh* Dave Coulier is actually a friend of MY family, so it sounds like me and Maple Leafs have got all of the suck in this thread covered.

I don't mind Dunham at all. I think I actually have some of his DVDs lying around somewhere. He's one of those safer comics out there where if you have some people coming over and have a little time to waste, you can put it in and generally everyone has a few laughs. None of his jokes are particularly memorable, but I don't mind his one liners and catch myself using them on occasion.

Then again, I never was at Shorty's level of cool.

:(

Sweet. You ever meet Alanis?

Normally I would agree but Chuck and Bob from SOAP are the exceptions. These two always crack me up but in fairness they work with a strong supporting cast.

I think a lot of people disagree with the hatters here. This is the 11th most viewed YouTube video. What's the matter with some of you, not enough vulgarity?

Ok, can someone tell me how to embed a YouTube?

Grab the link on the right that says embed and copy paste it into message.

Here's another clip.

Personally, I think Dunham is a sub-par comedian and a very good puppeteer. I think that even if those skills combine to make him a great entertainer, that doesn't change the fact that he's still a sub-par comedian. Similarly, while his comedy is pretty plain and extremely well-traveled stuff, it's good enough to elicit the most basic of involuntary chuckles from even a hater like me, it's my opinion that it's mostly the puppets' manerisms that the crowd is identifying as 'funny', turning those chuckles into laughs. I think a TON of people would probably consider that splitting hairs, and I understand that, but I don't agree.

That's probably true since all most people know of Jeff is his ventriloquism. If he did it without a puppet, then no, it wouldn't go over as well. But since he doesn't, I don't think anyone in his niche has the range and versatility as he does and that's why I like him (plus I really do love the Achmed act). He did win Funniest Male Stand-Up Comic but don't know what his act was back then.

I'll admit it.. I LOL'd

Remember Madam's Place? Truly surreal and horrible television. Was Mama's Family on right after that, or am I just projecting?

It's a wonder this world survived the 80s.

In his latest special, he actually does the first 10 or 15 minutes without puppets. You're pretty much bang-on, he's not terrible but definitely sub-par.

All of his acts start up with a regular routine, but they aren't designed to be great stand-up, he does it to set up later jokes with the puppets.

Not only is Schmidty cheap but he ain't got no sense of humor. :)

His bit about the deaf people watching his act the night before is freaking hilarious. Quite possibly one of the funniest things I've ever heard.

In my opinion, he's very hit-or-miss. My little sister loves the guy, and we have a few of his DVDs. I'll go for 5 or 10 minutes watching it while hardly cracking a smile, and then he'll do something that gets me to laugh out loud.

Franklin said a lot of things whitey wasn't ready to hear. He also said a lot of things African-Americany wasn't ready to hear.

Not enough comedy. Listen, I hate people who just go for dick & fart jokes too, it's not like I'm looking for low-brow humor.

This exchange just isn't funny to me, though:

Jeff- so you're a terrorist
achmed- yes
Jeff- what kind of terrorist
achmed- a terrifiying......terrorist
(crowd goes crazy)

There are different kinds of comedy and many of us seems to fall into different camps. That's cool. To me, in the exchange above, is in the visuals. I don't think it would be funny all by itself. Just like when people here have quoted stuff from lebowski, office or other droll, so-called comedies, it seems you had to be there or something. I grew up on physical comedy (yes, it goes back to my vaudville days) and that's what I can laugh at (for example, Who's on First - the greatest routine - is better to be seen than heard). Just like Jeff here, just watching the characters is enough for me.

Just watched Achmed and this Dunham guy for the first time, and I didn't think it was funny at all. Reminded me of Jay Leno with a puppet.

I find it interesting that people think Dunham is "family friendly". His comedy is filled with racism, sexism and misogyny, references to sex and stories of violence (not just the terrorist puppet), etc. But since Dunham plays the good, moral guy and his cute puppets are the ones pouring out the offensive comedy, it's ok and family friendly.

Yeah, I didn't get that either. When I think "family friendly," last thing I would show my 4 and 8 year olds is a dead terrorist.

Good lord, just how fucking old are you now? 80?

Ok, I laughed out loud.