Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special Blu-ray Movie Review

I Am My Own Elf

Reviewed by Michael Reuben December 18, 2012

Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special is the third of the five (to date) specials on Comedy Central that cemented the reputation of the popular ventriloquist and stand-up as one of America's most popular comedians working today. Dunham had been selling out clubs and auditoriums for years, and he had found a niche on TV in the Nineties after appearing on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show. But it was the Comedy Central broadcasts, and their ancillary sales on DVD and Blu-ray, that brought him his greatest success. Christmas Special was the most-watched broadcast in Comedy Central's history up to that time. The DVD and Blu-ray were released two days later and are a seasonal favorite.

Dunham looks so young that it's hard to believe he's been performing for thirty years (longer, if you count his high school performances). To watch Dunham at work is to observe the ease of an entertainer who built his audience gig by gig, often in the face of resistance from a comedy establishment that doesn't value ventriloquists and a critical establishment that still doesn't "get" his popular appeal. An old entertainment adage holds that, if half the people love you, you're a star. More than half the people love Dunham, and many of them attended the taping of Christmas Special.

For unknown reasons, the Blu-ray was not reviewed at the time of release. We are now rectifying that omission. (For Martin Liebman's review of Dunham's most recent Comedy Central broadcast, Jeff Dunham: Minding the Monsters, go here.)

One of the hallmarks of ventriloquism is that the puppets exhibit the bad behavior, while their human master appears helpless and self-effacing. It's part of the illusion that the puppets have independent life, and the ventriloquist isn't doing anything to make them move and talk. Dunham is so good at creating this illusion that, when he tries to do independent standup, he can sometimes seem detached. An opening routine of Christmas Special provides a different view of Dunham, because he does it "solo", recounting the tale of his sixteen-year-old daughter's misadventures buying gas for her first car. Dunham remains very much the passive observer in this story, not even a witness himself to the event, but a viewer of a videotape taken by his wife, whom he impersonates, along with his daughter, with the same unerring eye for the defining gesture that makes his puppetry so effective (unscrewing a gas cap, texting in the back seat, flipping an "on" switch). Like a ventriloquist pretending not to throw his voice, Dunham only looks like he's not working, when in fact he's peopling the stage.

Having established a rapport with the family audience (not that he needed to; they're obviously already fans), Dunham begins bringing out his co-stars. First comes Walter the curmudgeon, whose greeting to the spectators in the balcony seats is: "Hello up there. Jump!" Though dressed in a festive red shirt and sweater vest, Walter is definitely not filled with holiday spirit. Other members of the so-called "suitcase posse" are more amenable. The unexpectedly popular "white trash trailer park" beer swiller, Bubba J, has been writing a lengthy letter to Santa on his computer. However, he hasn't been able to mail it, because he can't get the computer through the mail slot. Bubba J performs the instant country western classic "Roadkill Christmas" to an enthusiastic response.

Achmed the Dead Terrorist, who is a mere skeleton, because he was incompetent and blew himself up, loves to go caroling and has even written his own version of a favorite song, which he has renamed "Jingle Bombs":

Jingle bombs, jingle bombs,
Mine blew up, you see.
Where are all the virgins
That Bin Laden promised me? Oh!
Jingle bombs, jingle bombs,
U.S. soldiers shot me dead.
The only thing that I have left
Is this towel upon my head.

Is it juvenile? Sure. Offensive? No doubt. Funny? I couldn't help laughing. It's that damn puppet. Achmed is also the mouthpiece for some of Dunham's more off-the-wall improvs or, as the puppet explains, "This is where Jeff makes up crap just to make Guitar Guy laugh." "Guitar Guy", whose real name is Brian Haner, tries his best to retain his composure, but there comes a point where the only party on stage who can keep a straight face is Achmed, because it's painted on.

A highlight of the evening is the conversation between two of Dunham's oldest characters, Peanut and José Jalapeño on a Stick. Peanut is a purple-skinned, white-furred, green-tufted creature of undisclosed species (on YouTube, he calls himself a "woozle") who's pure id. José Jalapeño is exactly what the name describes and the frequent butt of Peanut's jibes. Watching the intricate verbal choreography between these two, with their distinctively different voices and cadences, and Dunham's own interjections, is to be reminded, if one is old enough, of the dazzling timing of Señor Wences with Johnny and Pedro ("Hello in the box!"). Peanut puts his own personal stamp on The Night Before Christmas, which Dunham attempts to read, without much success. ("Fat, drinking and driving, and a furry gay outfit, covered in soot, he's smoking, and you let him in the house because he said he had something for your kids? What the hell kind of father are you anyway?")

By the time St. Nick shouts "To all a good night!", Peanut is exhausted and so is the audience.

Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

As it frequently does with video-originated hi-def material, Image Entertainment has released Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special in a 1080i presentation encoded with the AVC codec. However, the 1080i treatment does not seem to have created any noticeable issues. There were no visible combing artifacts while the image was in motion (although screencaps may reveal them), and the image did not lack for sharpness or detail. The cheerful holiday lighting, which has been separately designed for each puppet character, shines with apt saturation, so that the essential primary colors glow with holiday cheer. Blacks are solid and deep, which is important for Dunham's preferred stage garb (a contrast with the more garish look of his "cast"). As usual, Image has cut corners for a BD-25, but the program is sufficiently short, and the extras sufficiently brief, that compression artifacts are not a problem.

Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Considering the possibilities, the DTS-HD MA 5.1 for Christmas Special is something of a disappointment. This may be related to the TV origins of the project. One doesn't expect Dunham's act to be anywhere but front and center on stage, even when there's musical accompaniment by Brian Haner's "Guitar Guy". However, with audience reaction so critical a part of the experience, one could reasonably expect a more involving and immersive use of the surrounds than one finds in this mix. TV sound designers still seem far too reluctant to use the rear channels for anything other than the odd sound cue, but that shouldn't be. Standup is entirely about the relation between the comic and the audience. Why not use the technology of discrete 5.1 sound to capture that relation for accurate reproduction on home video?

In any case, the reproduction on the track is certainly blameless in terms of clarity. Dunham and his artificial co-stars are clear and intelligible, and Guitar Guy's licks pack the requisite impact.

It should be noted that the track is TV-friendly, and that all the language bleeped for broadcast remains bleeped here. There seems no good reason why an unbleeped track couldn't have been included as an option, especially since two separate tracks are available.

Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Ask Santa (1080i; 1.78:1; 4:25): Members of the audience, including his own daughters, ask Santa (really, "Walter" dressed as Santa) their questions.



• Christmas Tips (1080i; 1.78:1; 3:49): Seasonal advice from Dunham and various members of the "posse".



• Sleigh Ride (1080i; 1.78:1; 1:22): Behind the scenes on the making of the green-screen sequence that opens the special.



• Photoshoot (1080i; 1.78:1; 0:30): The photo session for the album/DVD/Blu-ray cover.



• At the Show & the T-Shirt Bazookas (1080i; 1.78:1; 1:44): A collection of moments that didn't make the show: make-up, tech details, members of the Dunham family firing T-shirts into the audience and viewer reactions as they exit.



• More Jeff Dunham Stuff: An illustrated ad for Dunham's website.

Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

One of the pleasures of being a reviewer is that I get to watch programs and films I might not otherwise make the time to see. In recent years I have stopped watching standup comic performances, for a variety of reasons, including the passing of some of my idols. As a result, I'd missed Jeff Dunham's biggest hits to date, of which I now plan to view the entire collection. Dunham's humor isn't deep and it isn't especially witty, but he belongs to a venerable tradition of clowning that connects across a broad spectrum and has worked reliably from one era to another. May it never grow old. Recommended.