Jeff Dunham’s Latest Christmas Special is a Hit and Perfect for the Holidays

Jeff Dunham talking to one of his most famous puppets, Peanut (Zachary Myers).

December 29, 2024

Zachary Myers, Editor

We are officially past the Thanksgiving holiday and Christmas, for many people, is now fully on their minds. While others start watching Christmas classics, a new piece of holiday material is available on Amazon Prime. Said material is Jeff Dunham’s Christmas special called “Jeff Dunham’s Scrooged Up Holiday Special”. This is one of the funniest specials I have seen and is perfect for anyone looking for a holiday chuckle.

Jeff Dunham is one of the most famous ventriloquists in the world, performing for over 30 years with a rotation of different puppets throughout his different specials. For this special, he used some of his regular puppets in Walter the grumpy old man, Bubba J the drunk southerner, Achmed the dead terrorist, and Peanut the purple creature. He also used a puppet made after him adequately named “Little Jeff”. In this special, Jeff is casting each of his characters in a remake of the famous holiday classic “A Christmas Carol”. All of the roles Jeff casts his puppets in fits the persona they have with him. 

What is often forgotten about Jeff Dunahm’s specials is that he opens most of his specials with a stand up section like most comedians. In this section, he shares his childhood experiences with Christmas growing up, sharing his first experience with ventriloquism. When he starts introducing his puppets, Jeff explains that he is casting his friends in his version of the classic Christmas tale “A Christmas Carol”.

The first puppet Jeff brings out is his most iconic puppet, Walter. In his casting, Walter will end up playing the titular character Ebenezer Scrooge. In “A Christmas Carol”, Scrooge is a grumpy old man who becomes this way through thinking that being rich will make him happier, but it instead makes him miserable. Walter is a very good cast for the character, as his persona involves him being grumpy, hating his wife especially and complaining about his life.

Next, Jeff Dunham introduces one of his funniest puppets, Bubba J. Jeff casts him to play the Ghost of Christmas Past. In the tale, this ghost appears to Scrooge and shows him events of his past attempting to show him how he became mean and cruel. This is an effort to remind Scrooge about who he once was as a person. While Bubba J’s drunken and sexually joking persona doesn’t exactly fit what the ghosts are, he would be a funny addition to the movie. In this set in particular, Bubba J barely mentions the role and goes more into his sexual/explicit humor side.

After this, Jeff introduces a puppet just like himself, probably because the puppet's name is Little Jeff. He casts his puppet self to play Tiny Tim. Tiny Tim plays a pivotal role in “A Christmas Carol”, being a symbol of hope and that people can change for the better despite their persona. This plays especially to Scrooge, as encountering Tiny Tim changes him for the better. Little Jeff wouldn’t be a symbol of nice hope, but he would be an encouraging funny man that could brighten even the grumpiest of people on a holiday.

In the role of The Ghost of Christmas Present, Jeff casts his most rambunctious puppet Peanut. The Ghost of Christmas Present represents generosity, showing Scrooge the joy that people have when they spend the holidays together. To further enforce this, the ghost shows the people that have the least material things, but have the greatest family connections. Peanut definitely emphasizes positivity, as his wild antics may annoy Jeff but put a smile on everyone’s face. If anyone were to pull Scrooge out of being unhappy, this Christmas ghost would sure be the one.

The final puppet to be cast by Jeff is Achmed, who ironically if he were a real person, would not celebrate Christmas. Achmed is cast to play the Ghost of Christmas Future. This ghost represents the fear of death and that if Scrooge continues being grumpy and unkind, he will suffer the same fate. Achmed very much represents death being that he is a terrorist, his body repeatedly falling apart, and referencing the death of Osama Bin Laden. He would be a perfect ghost to set Scrooge on the right path.

Jeff Dunham with one of his puppets, Bubba J (Zachary Myers).