Jeff Dunham: Relative Disaster (2017 TV Special) User Reviews

"You know, I think comedy and suicide bombing have a lot in common."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 9 October 2017]

There's no denying that Jeff Dunham is not afraid of self deprecating humor. This comedy special is particularly rife with him taking shots at himself via his array of characters. This time out he's got Walter, Bubba J, Achmed the Dead Terrorist, Peanut, and a new creation for the Dublin, Ireland crowd - Seamus, the Irish Baby. Dunham prefaced his remarks about Seamus by stating that he and his wife were in Ireland in part to adopt a baby there, but if that happened, one doesn't come away knowing that or if it was part of his schtick for the evening. I like Dunham generally but I thought there was a bit too much vulgarity in this show, especially when the baby character comes out with the 'F' word every so often. Not particularly becoming of the character, who also has an affinity for alcohol, being Irish don't you know. The summary quote above was delivered during Dunham's conversation with Achmed, but as I think about it now, I can't remember who said it. Well, not really, it had to be Dunham either way.

Time to put the puppets to rest, literally...

[paul_haakonsen · 5/10 · 12 June 2018]

Right, well up until now then I have thoroughly enjoyed the comedy routine of Jeff Dunham and his wacky puppets.

But I must admit that it is all starting to wear thin by this point.

Sure there is familiarity to the characters, but it sort of just runs on auto-pilot by now. And that permeates throughout the show in every aspect, from the jokes to the puppets.

Haven't this dead horse been beaten enough already? Isn't it time to move on and branch out?

I am sure that fans will definitely like the show, but personally I just think it is starting to lose its creative edge and repetitive.

The show was ok did not like the new characters and joke stealing

[Terence-Sadler · 5/10 · 10 January 2022]

It seems to be the same old same old show happening time and time again some new material would be good to see something and something more the world then just personal things in his life

I particularly did not like some of the jokes especially the one about the chicken nipples as this is a joke that has been stolen from Robin Williams I have noticed this more and more that he is repeating jokes from other comedians.

Great show, wrong audience

[khansaeed-21539 · 8/10 · 25 September 2019]

Show is solid, great material. But the jokes were ...lets say..too American for that Irish crowd.

Disaster sums it up

[hinotefanatic · 2/10 · 17 September 2017]

I remember when Jeff had me in tears from laughing so hard. I cringed through a majority of this. Taking snarky jabs at your ex, Jeff? Really? Harping about adopted kids being so bad that their birth parents just couldn't stand to keep them? And the other reviewers were spot on with their description of the monstrosity that is his new character, Seamus. Not sure if it got better because at that point I turned it off. I can only assume that he was trying to be cutting edge with his political "jokes" or score points with an overseas audience, but I just couldn't take any more. If you need a dose of Jeff Dunham, stick with his old stuff. This was an embarrassment.

Funny as always!

[mandivov · 10/10 · 3 October 2017]

This show is great. He is just hilarious. I love how he uses references from everywhere. He also incorporates where he is at and makes it work so well. All his characters are original and so is his content. I love how he incorporates things from his life as well. You can tell he has so much fun. Overall 10/10 for this show. Did you know he is #1 in Saudi Arabia? Fluffy (Gabriel Iglesias) mentioned that in one of the specials he did. I can totally see why.

Poor

[tabipha · 3/10 · 14 September 2017]

I remember when Jeff used to be funny!! I even saw him in person in Pittsburgh in this smallish comedy club and were really close to the stage and I laughed out loud many times, but this special barely had me cracking a smile for the most part, and I only laughed out loud once during the whole 68 mins!! His new puppet, Seamus the baby, was not only NOT funny, he was hard to look at and could have been designed so much better!! For something supposed to be a human child, Jeff should have given him 10 fingers and 10 toes!! I'm glad there was no Sweet Daddy Dee cuz I never found him funny either, but he should NEVER have cut out Jose. Also, at the beginning, when he asks about why the special was filmed in Ireland, he goes into this big explanation, but NEVER answers the question. Thankfully, he does later on! The jokes about his age got old really fast and he didn't need to have so many of the puppets talk about it either! I find it odd that there are numerous ventriloquists now that traded in their "older models" for younger ones once they got famous, and all the ones I've seen got less funny after they got remarried. Just an interesting fact!!

Usually great, but this special is mediocre

[dinalt10 · 4/10 · 24 September 2017]

Big spoiler ahead - the whole act is basically about how old Jeff Dunham is. That's it in a nutshell.

The majority of jokes are about his age, his wifes age or his kids.

Usually I love his shows, but this one just fell flat. Like others, I didn't like his new puppet either. The 'Irish' baby really wasn't funny, and the stereotype was cringeworthy.

Most Correctly Named Comedy Special Ever

[evilnikcufecin · 4/10 · 17 September 2017]

Think of this special as the 300th episode of a cheap TV comedy that has gone on way too long and you will get the idea. Jeff gets right to the puppets this time instead of doing stand up first, which kinda throws things off balance. His establish his current situation in life first and introduce his beloved characters second to belittle him about it is gone. I think Jeff's popularity is starting to severally dwindle, or least it will after people see this.

There is no Sweet Daddy or Jalapeno on a Stick to be found here. There is mention that Jeff feels that Sweet Daddy is an insensitive character or racial which is odd. He goes to Ireland to introduce a new puppet - Shamus the Irish baby.Really? That is what Ireland needs to pay money to see, a stereotypical Irish character! Brilliant Jeff and so original too. I live in the Midwest, and some years ago he played here. There were a LOT of Native Americas in attendance, but that did not stop him of making fun of them to the point where white people in the audience where becoming concerned for there safety. This was a very lite version of that event.

Shamus is an ugly, cheap looking Halloween doll reject. A big headed baby that is an alcoholic. Its Achmed as a baby basically. And Shamus loves to say f*ck a lot in a bad Irish accent. Which brings up a point, Jeff at numerous points insists his act is about family, however there is course language through out despite him stopping his puppets from saying even more courser things. Add to that a dark subject matter (abandonment issues, divorce, female breasts, virgins, Walter supposedly being his dad and his mother a whore (he payed her to jump rope - yeah I don't get it either), him marrying a younger woman). This is a very strange thing to say or do. I don't mind the language but don't call it family entertainment - come on Jeff. The other strange thing is his explanation for being in Ireland, it makes no sense at all.

All in all not really that funny and kind of sad to see this comedian fade out. It all just really comes to the point where you have to ask how funny can any well used stereotype be? Jeff has never been a strong political comedian or social commentator. Jeff insists the people want to see his beloved characters but doesn't give them fresh material to work with. Walter starts it high and then it slowly sinks until Peanut closes the show cleaning up the mess. Watch at your own accord.

Low Hanging Fruit of Comedy

[madelineelainecohn · 3/10 · 3 November 2017]

I don't know if it's because I'm older, because Jeff Dunham is washed up or some combination of the two but I could not get through more than 10 minutes of this special. Every single joke was essentially the low hanging fruit of comedy. Jokes that have been made a million times about the same topics. A lot of his material is based on racial/ethnic/cultural stereotypes and it's just not funny anymore.

Disappointing to say the least

[joedavis2 · 2/10 · 27 January 2019]

Always loved his shows..relatively clean and really funny. Now the F-bombs are flying constantly and it comes off tasteless. Too bad... what a disappointing turn for a him.

Big Dissapointment

[brian-26194 · 2/10 · 16 December 2017]

Oh, what happened Jeff? You can tell a comedian is going down hill when a mostly family friendly comedian has to turn to vulgarities to get laughs. Sorry Jeff, it doesn't work for you.

Your routine was sad and flat. I shut it off half way through because it wasn't getting any funnier. Go back to your roots man.

RELATIVELY DISAPPOINTING

[jgpuckett · 1/10 · 11 September 2018]

We had the pleasure of attending Jeff Dunham's live performance in Springfield MO years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. We even took our youngest who also enjoyed it and had some good tear jerking, rib snapping laughs. With that being said...Jeff has turned to vulgar language and his puns aren't funny! Within the first segment he lost our enthusiasm and once he brought out that hideous baby puppet he really lost us!! Don't waste your time and especially Don't waste your money!

Racially lowbrow and demeaning!

[mordredd49 · 1/10 · 7 November 2017]

I have been a Carlin fan for years and his Schtick was always bad language and disturbing points of opinion until he left us back in 08 so bad lingo doesn't offend me. Jeff's routine started out well enough but then it fell flat with the political jargon then went downhill further with him debasing himself and his marriages and the third grade style of jokes and one liners and that abysmal Irish baby puppet was disgusting. If I wanted to watch racially demeaning entertainment I would have put on the news. Dunham used to be the cornerstone of fun humor filled Puppeteering and we all would tune in to see him at his best. In all honesty I think this is him at his worst. Hopefully he gets the act back on track or else many fans will not be showing up for the live venues.

Not good

[swebber-36648 · 1/10 · 11 July 2018]

I never was his biggest fan, but my husband liked him in the past so we watched this show. It was hard to get through to the end, not just for me, but for him too. It was not funny, and it was downright creepy how he basically called himself a pedophile for marrying a gold digging woman far younger than himself. There were sure a lot of "jokes" about how old he will be when his youngest kids grow up. Save yourself the time and just skip this so-called comedy show.

Relative Disaster

[hawkinsmatthew · 2/10 · 6 September 2018]

I've been a fan of Jeff Dunham since 2011, however the only way i can describe this title is an actual disaster.

No Humor, No Talent, No Stars

[clintstevens · 1/10 · 31 July 2018]

I have never been impressed with Mr. Dunham, and this 'special' confirms my opinion. I think he realized at some point how unfunny he really is, so he has resorted to shock value to keep his name out there. I am not offended by much, including his dead terrorist character, but without humor and cleverness he IS offensive.

I will not delve into any of his skits, just suffice it to say he is not funny...and not a very talented ventriloquist. If possible, I would have given him zero stars.

Hard to keep up a show with only "Silence, I kill you!"

[ersbel · 17 April 2018]

I found out about Jeff Dunham on Youtube. And in clips one to three minutes long he was funny. But fast forward to Netflix. And it turns out it's hard to fill up an hour with only "Silence, I kill you!" And the show is even longer.

Really, what's with the puppet? I mean it's not a puppet show. And comedy can be quite good by mimicking a dialogue with only one comedian. Eddie Murphy did it and he is hilarious. Robin Williams too. Also excellent results. But the need for the dummy? Keep the puppet!

"STOP IT!" (***Spoiler alert***)

[daniellelottem · 5/10 · 3 May 2023]

It's kinda weird but I agree with both poles, tbh. I understand how this show could have been disappointing to some and I understand why others enjoyed it. That said, I laughed quite a bit. Maybe it's the fact that I'm very non-pc (*only* when it comes to comedy), so I don't find the racial humor offensive nor do I find it shallow or "low hanging" (not any lower than Jeff's balls, amirite, the entire gang of puppets?). Maybe it's also nostalgic, and I'm kinda sappy that way, so he got me good with the "silence I kill you" and with the Walter muffled comments from inside the box. It's old but gold, to me.

But there's something else on my mind. During the last segment, with Peanut - Peanut's really wiping the floor with Jeff's age and kids and whatnot because that is, in fact, THE ONE AND ONLY TOPIC, for some reason, of this show. This is all fine and dandy but Jeff's repetitive response to him is "stop it!" And this is said around 24,000 times during that segment, and every time he says it exactly the same. This confuses me. Jeff's a really smart and talented guy, I'm surprised he didn't depict how redundant it made it sound.

What do you think?

Peaked several years ago

[shiz3887 · 27 May 2018]

This special is ok, but the true gut-busting material is from his 2002 comedy central presents special to his Christmas special in 2008. Controlled Chaos bit that featured Achmed's son is uncomfortable & 'Minding The Monsters' is pretty boring.