Review: Jeff Dunham’s Completely Unrehearsed Last-Minute Pandemic Holiday Special

Jeff Dunham opens his latest special for Comedy Central entitled Jeff Dunham’s Completely Unrehearsed Last-Minute Pandemic Holiday Special with a quip noting, “I don’t know any other comedian who has done a special with no rehearsed material.” While Dave Chappelle probably does so all of the time, Jeff is a sight for sore eyes. His mere presence reminds us of the days when people can just leave the kids with a sitter, go to a show, and have a good time. As we Americans begin the process of rebuilding our country with a regime change (which thankfully isn’t talked about once during Jeff Dunham’s new hour), dealing with a pandemic, and the general stressors that the holiday season brings, Jeff Dunham gives up quite a few laughs with his gaggle of puppet pals that should more than help soothe some of your pains.

While Jeff doesn’t introduce many new characters this time around like his rumored conjoined twins act, Larry the Trump Advisor, or even the long-teased social media character, we do get to see the return of “Little Jeff” to go along with a “Peanut” bit that was used on Jeff’s Johnny Carson appearance. Fans of the classic run of Jeff’s characters like “Achmed”, “Bubba J”, “Jose’, and more, are all accounted for and all pitch in for Jeff’s untried material. I think the highlights of the new material, for me, was Jeff’s constant taunting of the audience which is a great way to eat up an hour of un-tested material and most of the characters get a shot at the crowd. Moreover, the coup de gras that is Jeff’s bit with Jose and Little Jeff showcases an act that is at the top of it’s class.

While working through Jeff’s classic characters, the bits are brand new, but cloaked in familiarity. Achmed’s “I Kill You” still crushes, Bubba J is a lovable idiot, and Peanut is as hyper as ever. Yes, it’s a bunch of formulas, but it’s a bunch of formulas that work just fine. The hour comprises of more pandemic jokes than you can shake a stick at which might question the special’s longevity in the cavalcade of Jeff’s impressive resume, but one could just as easily classify the hour as a time capsule that our grand kids will be watching on their brain implanted microchips.