Veteran comedy star and ventriloquist Jeff Dunham says there are a couple of key reasons why he would not want to be an up-and-coming comedian today.
Dunham, who has entertained millions with his ventriloquist dummies for decades, told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that our current social media and smartphone technology, as well as America’s hyper-politicized culture, make him feel lucky he’s not a comedian trying to make a name for themselves today.
“It’s still true. I would hate to be a new stand-up comic right now because of the technology,” he said. He later said that cancel culture is the second reason.
Elaborating on his first point, Dunham said that because of smartphone recordings and people being able to upload that content to the internet instantaneously where it can go viral, it threatens an artist’s control over their material.
“And it was worse a few years ago before they started clamping down on the phones and all that, because people would come into the club, and record your act, and post it, and you couldn’t do anything about it,” he said.
This concern is not only Dunham’s. Other big-name comics, including Dave Chappelle, have even instituted no-phone policies at their live shows.
Chappelle walked off his own set at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla., in December 2023 after someone in the audience violated his no-phone policy. Venues enforcing these policies often ask audience members to leave their phones in neoprene pouches for the duration of the show.
The Comedy Mothership, the venue owned by podcaster and comedian Joe Rogan, also mandates phone-free shows and requests attendees to place their devices in pouches called “Yondr bags” that are locked by staff for the duration of the shows.
Yondr’s director of music and events, Dawson Ludwig, explained why comedians opt for the bags in a 2022 interview, saying, “There’s such a huge value in creating some privacy. There’s obviously a whole Internet filled with leaks and bootlegs and comedians are very invested in making sure that what they say on stage stays in that room.”
However, Dunham admitted that while some are mandating phone-free shows, some comedians are embracing fans by recording their sets and uploading them to social media, as the potential for viral moments can make their careers.
“Then, on the other hand, now people have started to embrace it because that’s what makes stars,” he said, though he noted there’s a double-edged sword there.
“And also, I feel sorry for ‘em because they get five minutes of great material, or they get a following for whatever, for doing, you know, having their YouTube channel. And then they go out, and they try and entertain, and they don’t have an hour’s worth of material.”
He added that a viral moment may give someone quick success, but they run the risk of that success being just a flash in the pan.
“They’ll sell out for a few times and then the word gets out, ‘He’s better in 30-second spurts on the internet,’” he said.
Dunham, who has been performing his ventriloquism act for most of his life — starting when he was in elementary school and perfecting his craft until he became one of the top-selling comics of all-time, says he was glad to come up when he did.
“The old school way of starting out in a comedy club and going up on open mic night and failing and dying a thousand deaths — that was the way — testing it by fire,” he said.
“And that’s kind of what happened to me when I moved out to Los Angeles in ’88,” he continued. “I’d already been performing since I was, you know, since I was eight-years-old. And I knew how to entertain. I knew how to talk to a crowd.”
Dunham said that he only became funny enough to be a success in the industry after he “died a thousand deaths in front of audiences.”
The comic gave his other reason for preferring to have honed his chops back in the ‘80s and ’90s: he was able to build his career without fear of being canceled, a modern threat where sensitive groups look to punish or shame prominent figures for saying anything they deemed to be politically incorrect.
When asked if he felt that it was harder to perform and tell jokes due to cancel culture, Dunham agreed, and explained that he’s lucky he has built a solid fanbase among previous generations that won’t just dissipate if social media turns on him.
“Yeah. You know, my audience has been there forever. And I think when people – they come back over and over again, and they bring family and friends, and so there’s a little bit of an expectation… for what’s going to be there. And so like I said, I would not want to be a new guy coming up for that reason.”
“That’s the second reason besides the technology,” he said.
Speaking of cancel culture, Dunham said that thanks to President Donald Trump‘s reflection, it is looking a little bit better out there for comics worried about being canceled for jokes.
“But now with Trump back in office, just to me as a comedian, you just kind of felt this weight off your back… you feel like you can now joke about the things that we used to joke about,” the comedian told Fox. “And the fact that in the past few years that was tromped on, and almost really squelched – really was squelched – it’s just so refreshing right now to at least feel like it’s okay to do real stand-up comedy now.”
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