The comedian and ventriloquist Jeff Dunham is speaking out this week to slam his fellow comedians for getting way too political these days, adding that he is on a mission to “bring back comedy.”
Dunham Misses Glory Days Of Late Night
Dunham told CBS News that he wants comedy to go back to the glory days of Bob Hope, Johnny Carson and Jay Leno, who all made a point of staying away from politics.
“You never knew where their side was politically,” Dunham said. “They would make fun of anybody and everybody.”
Dunham went on to slam his fellow comedians who “pick a side” politically.
“[A] lot of comedians have now—they pick a side. And then they start name-calling and pointing fingers and calling the other side idiots,” he said. “So what that does is you eliminate half the audience.”
This comes after the late night host Jimmy Kimmel admitted that he’s lost half his fanbase after shamelessly using his talk show to bash former President Donald Trump for years. He went so far as to say that he would quit his show if he was told to stop attacking Trump, according to Fox News.
Dunham Fires Back
Dunham, however, isn’t having any of this. He believes that most Americans would be able to handle their political side being made fun of a bit, if late night hosts targeted everybody with their jokes, rather than only conservatives.
“I think there’s an easier way–a better way of just making a little fun of everybody because I think most people in this country have a decent sense of humor,” Dunham said.
Dunham used his Joe Biden character as an example, as he says that his impression of the president isn’t “mean,” and is instead something that both conservatives and liberals can laugh at.
“We’re not being mean about it,” he explained. “People from the left [and right] come to my shows and everyone has an equally good time.”
Watch Dunham’s full comments on this in the video below.
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Dunham’s Upcoming Late Night Special
Dunham is preparing to return to Comedy Central on Friday with his hourlong standup special “Jeff Dunham: Me the People,” which was filmed at the Warner Theatre in Washington D.C. last month. This is the second special Dunham has taped at this venue, with the first being back in 2007, and it’s his eleventh comedy special overall.
“It’s kind of full circle,” Dunham told WTOP. “Things kind of took off for me after that. I’ll tell you, you can feel the intellect of a crowd by how they laugh. … That D.C. audience, they were sharp, they were quick that Saturday night. They were hot, hot, hot.”
RELATED: Jeff Dunham’s Satirical Biden vs. Trump Debate Is So Funny It’s Almost Scary
Dunham went on to tell fans what they can expect from his show politically.
“When Trump was in office, I had Walter, my grumpy old curmudgeon, he was Grump with the hair,” Dunham said. “Now we’ve got another guy in office. People said Walter looks just like Biden, so I embraced that … Being Trump you say things that are inflammatory and ridiculous, and when you’re Biden you say things that make absolutely no sense.”
Check out Dunham’s impression of Biden in the video below.
Many will agree with Dunham that comedians these days have become way too political to even be considered remotely funny. It would be great if we could go back to the days when comedy, particularly in the world of late night, was something that everyone could enjoy together regardless of their political views.
Sadly, we won’t be holding our breath for that to happen.
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