Popular comic brings controversial ventriloquist act back to Columbia
A comic whose distinctive shtick continues to resonate with big crowds is coming back to Columbia.
Jeff Dunham — whose act centers on an array of not-so culturally sensitive ventriloquist dummy characters (Achmed, Peanut, Walter, Jose, Bubba J) — returns to Colonial Life Arena Oct. 17, “ready to provide a much-needed dose of absurdity given the times we live in,” according to a press release.
Dunham, who rose to mainstream popularity in the early 2000s, remains a perennially popular presence on the comedy landscape; he charted No. 9 among the highest-grossing comedy tours of 2022, according to Pollstar, pulling in more than $12 million and selling more than 230,000 tickets.
But his act, which hinges on cultural caricatures that are less accepted now than they were at the start of the millennium, isn’t without its critics. Dunham poked fun at this with the name of his previous “Still Not Canceled” tour.
The Guardian’s Rob Walker called Dunham’s “offensive puppets” the “voice of Trump’s America” in 2018 — “His puppets are dysfunctional, foul-mouthed and unashamedly stereotypical, from Seamus the drunken Irish baby to José the Mexican immigrant and Achmed the jihadi suicide bomber,” Walker wrote.
The divisive comic seems to play well in Columbia, though, having previously headlined Colonial Life Arena, the city (and state’s) largest venue, in 2020.
Tickets go on sale to the general public July 15 at 10 a.m. via ticketmaster.com.
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