Breathing life into an elderly curmudgeon, a purple human-like creature from the Micronesian islands, and a self-effacing talking jalapeno on a stick, Jeff Dunham is straight man to some of the funniest partners in show business!

His comedic skill and impeccable technique serve as slight of hand however, drawing attention away from the fact that Dunham is a ventriloquist extraordinaire.

Arguing With Myself, a recorded live performance of ventriloquist Jeff Dunham, portrays a comedian whose revival of an old-fashioned art has made ventriloquism more relevant to modern societal concerns.

Starring his six main characters, from Bubba Jay, a Nascar-obsessed hick, to Peanut, a flamboyant gay monkey, Dunham’s puppets have dirty but relatively inoffensive senses of humor that mock the American Dream.

One can easily see why Jay Leno champions Dunham, as his skits contain a similar sly sarcasm disguised as wholesome teasing aimed at men indebted to their ugly wives, for example, or people who live their lives working in cubicles. At times, though, Dunham’s humor seems to lose its ironic distance, especially as he interacts with puppets like Jose Jalapeño, a Cuban chile pepper, or Sweet Daddy D, a Black pimp, both reliant on the antiquated humor once popularized in cartoons by racial caricature.

It’s Jeff Dunham along with his outspoken and often edgy characters: Walter, Peanut, Jose Jalapeno (“…on a steeek!”), Bubba J, and Sweet Daddy Dee in their full, uncut, and uncensored live stage show that will leave you on the floor laughing like no other!

Since the entire audience in the film is white, it is difficult to assess whether or not African-Americans or Latinos would find Dunham funny.

In other words, Dunham’s humor isn’t overtly offensive enough to make fun of ethnic heritage. However, his skills as a ventriloquist alone make him a fascinating entertainer, and anyone interested in how puppetry and ventriloquism has progressed over the decades would benefit from watching Dunham bring life to his wooden friends. –Trinie Dalton

Buy Jeff Dunham – Arguing With Myself (2005) at Amazon