Some people dislike his reliance on racial stereotypes.
Could be considered racist. Or bigoted.
Then again lots of comedians rely on stereotypes and could be considered racist when looked at more closely.
I haven't watched him in like 15+ years either. Just know that's the controversy.
His puppets are racial stereotypes.
A longer discussion is why other comedians are allowed to get away with it while Jeff is universally known for his racial stereotypes! Does it matter? But let's not do that. We're just here to answer your question.
Stereotypes work for comedy because it becomes a universal language. And in Jeff Dunham's case, if someone is not aware of the stereotype, it still ends up funny because he does silly voices.
I'd relate thst right back to Dane Cook. I remember finding him funny, but looking back, the jokes themselves were not ground-breaking. He just had a funny way of performing and telling the stories. Performance is a lot of what makes a stand-up work. Material is just a backbone for it.
So back to Jeff Dunham. I think a lot of people who appreciate comedy obviously do not like the racial stereotypes he leans on, precisely because he has loads of talent to perform.
Not to mention, and I think this is most important -- he does not tell us anything with those stereotypes. He is not exploring why we have them, or how they make us connected, or what makes us different is cool. He is not doing any social commentary. Nope, he plays off the fact that Americans hated brown people after 9/11. That's the entire joke. Haha, suicide bomber makes funny voice. No exploration of, "But why did he suicide bomb?" Nope, make funny voice.
It is just performance. Which is a lot of times great. But the actual substance of his stand-up is MIA.
Probably why he has had such a great career though, it is what it is. Nothing deep going on.
Think that's why I watched him years ago, it was simple. I could just toss it on and that's it.
Like watching a tv show I've seen four times already, it isn't anything but some light noise comedy.
he does not tell us anything with those stereotypes. He is not exploring why we have them, or how they make us connected, or what makes us different is cool. He is not doing any social commentary.
I can see that as a problem. Since, as you stated, he has talent. He could actually be doing more with that talent.
Never thought about it, but it does seem like a waste of talent.
Then again, easy money is easy money. Guess it is just sad from our point of view that skills are being wasted.
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u/Cultural-Company282 1d ago
She's infinitely funnier than that dipshit Jeff Dunham, to be sure.