Jeff Dunham: Very Special Christmas Special [Blu-ray]

I have to say that even though I pre-ordered this DVD with great anticipation, I could not help but be disappointed when I finally got to watch it. Jeff Dunham's previous two DVDs, 'Arguing With Myself' and 'Spark of Insanity' were characterized by quick wit, clever writing and lots of energy on stage. However, this time around his act suffers severely from a lack of energy and enthusiasm, along with horrific pacing of routines. There are several times during the show where he simply does nothing on stage and draws laughter from the audience by looking like he can't remember his lines. While that may work with a live audience, it's completely ineffective against people watching a DVD because the atmosphere of the performance cannot be conveyed the same way through TV as it can be in person. In the end, it just seems like he's trying to draw out the performance and cheat us out of time when we could be hearing his great jokes.

The performance is most drawn out during Achmed the Dead Terrorist's routine where they call 'Guitar Guy' out to help Achmed perform the song 'Jingle Bombs.' Several minutes pass between the introduction of the musician and the start of the song because the whole performance gets derailed and ruins the pacing of the routine. During the song itself, huge gaps of space between verses filled with only semi-funny remarks devalue the song as a whole, and while gaps between verses were to be expected from Achmed's original online performance of the song, the performance on the DVD had such big gaps that no bridge could stretch long enough to connect them.

Walter's routine is solid, despite a noticeable drop in energetic bitterness that we like to see from the old geezer. His routine is also shorter than his appearances in the previous two DVDs, as it seems he's been reduced to a secondary character in favour of Achmed. Achmed's main routine has plenty of good, fresh material, but the inconsistency in his voice and the horrible pacing toward the end of his routine really diminish it. Bubba J's routine is probably the most solid as a whole with lots of new material, and does a rendition of 'Roadkill Christmas' with 'Guitar Guy', which goes much more smoothly than Achmed's 'Jingle Bombs'. Peanut and Jose Jalapeno have a superb routine together, as they always do, albeit it was much shorter than I was hoping for. The show then ends with Peanut's solo routine, which is almost as poorly drawn out as Achmed's 'Jingle Bombs.' In it, Dunham is attempting to read 'The Night Before Christmas' to the audience but Peanut keeps interrupting him with wisecracks after every line. And while there's no question that the humour in Peanut's remarks is clever, the up-and-down, stop-and-go feel of the performance really makes it seem drawn out and make you want to check and see how much time is left before you can go do something else.

Overall, I would recommend this if you are a diehard Jeff Dunham fan, but I highly suggest you do not make this your first Dunham DVD purchase as it could very well disappoint you and make you want to shy away from his first two DVDs, which are far superior in every way and worth every penny.

This particular DVD is very disappointing. The reason being that the entire show is bleeped. The uncensored version is not an option on this
DVD which is unlike all the others. The whole point of this comedy is the manner of which they speak and with beeps through out the entire show you can not make out the line nor the joke. Unless this is just a defective DVD it is not at all like the rest. This appears to be the television version unlike other DVD's which are never bleeped out nor censored. This comedy is mild and I can not understand why it is censored to begin with. I see and hear worse on kids TV !

When this DVD first came out I was very excited to get my hands on it as I've always enjoyed Jeff Dunham's comedy. Unfortunately it fell very short of what I was expecting. The comedy is very dry and drawn out, and the repetition in which it is presented is very disappointing. Stick to the other great DVDs that have been released by him : Arguing With Myself & Spark Of Insanity.