Jeff Dunham "Unhinged in Hollywood" Review

On Thursday, September 17^th, a new special from Jeff Dunham was aired on NBC. This special was filmed at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, California and appropriately named, Unhinged in Hollywood.

Overall, I loved this special. A lot of the material was familiar to me because it was rehashed from his headlining show in Las Vegas, Not Playing with a Full Deck. I saw this show in July and laughed a lot at the jokes from each character. Even though I’d heard the jokes before, I still laughed the second time because they were just that good. The biggest complaint I had was the time restraint. Only an hour slot was allotted for this special. In my opinion, that was far too short of a time slot to showcase the talents of Jeff Dunham.

Per usual, the show began with one of his most popular characters, Walter. He began with complaining about the various problems and living conditions that are dealt with in California. I always think that making fun of wherever location Jeff is performing in is very effective and gets a good laugh. My favorite joke from this portion was the jab at Caitlyn Jenner.

Little Jeff came after this. When I saw that this character was going to be in the show, I wasn’t sure if he’d do his little infomercial bit. To my surprise, he did. The whole bit was not showcased, due to time, but it still made for a hilarious introduction. My favorite line from this bit, even when I saw it 2 months ago, was, “What else is in the box, Jeff?” I think the highlight of this part of the show was when Little Jeff and Jeff get into a physical fight and start running all over the stage.

A fan favorite, Bubba J, was next up. He has easily become one of my favorites over the course of his last few specials. Just the way he talks is enough for a laugh. There weren’t any jokes that really stood out, but I did enjoy the small monologue about Walmart.

My personal favorite, Peanut, was next in line. I love this character and I think his bits are always very funny. The Starbucks gag got a big laugh out of the audience, and myself. At one point, Peanut flies off of Jeff’s arm, causing him to not be able to close his mouth. I thought this was not staged when I saw it in Vegas and I really enjoyed it both times. Some older jokes were recycled but still enjoyable.

The show then stopped for a musical break, featuring Brad Paisley. Brad and Walter shared a duet together when the initial portion concluded. This was not my favorite portion of the special, but it was still good.

The last character to be showcased was, Achmed the Dead Terrorist. He is my second favorite character and his catch phrases still make me laugh. The best part of this bit was the, very believable, crumble of Achmed. It began with his arm falling off and a few jokes to go with that. He then lost his other arm and the bottom part of his rib cage. Once again, I thought this was not staged when I first saw it. I thought this added feature to Achmed’s character design was very funny and effective.

To reflect, I think this was a great special and gave Jeff some ratings that he maybe wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. I give it a 9/10.