Jeff Dunham has become known as something of a family-friendly comedian. He may let the occasional, mild curse word slip out, but for the most part, people would consider him to be someone who “works clean.” Despite his multiple roles as a family man on shows like Home Improvement, Last Man Standing and The Santa Clauses, the same cannot be said for his friend Tim Allen. Allen has been doing stand-up for decades, so a foul mouth is to be expected, but according to Dunham, this also includes a rather “dark” sense of humor.
I caught up with Jeff Dunham to discuss his new Valentine’s Day special, Jeff Dunham: I’m With Cupid. While discussing his various television appearances, which included a guest spot on Last Man Standing, Dunham told me this story that properly exemplifies his friend Tim Allen’s way of “testing” folks:
So one of my buddies says, ‘I’m not sure about Tim Allen.’ I go, ‘Why?’ There's a car show, and he walked up to Tim and introduce himself and says, ‘so what car did you bring today, Tim?’ Tim looks at him and goes, ‘none of your fucking business.’ (laughs) So it's like, if you don't know Tim Allen, you don't realize that he was just testing you, right? He's just testing to see if you get it. So, you know, Tim has just a really dark, funny sense of humor, and he makes me laugh.
This actually makes a lot of sense, as one of Allen’s The Santa Clauses costars slammed the comedian for being rude during production. Perhaps the actor was simply misinterpreting his dark, dry sense of humor. Additionally, Tim Allen spoke openly about his swearing on set, reminding us that he’s not really Santa Claus; he’s an actor, and a comedic one at that.
For the record, Jeff Dunham himself loves Tim Allen’s dark sense of humor, and went on to say the following about he's been teased by the man:
I let him make fun of me. I don't care. I get it. I have dummies. I have puppets. In fact, that was one of the jokes in the show (Last Man Standing) … I can't remember the lines exactly, but I go, ‘well, you know, I'm a comedian, too.’ And he goes, ‘yeah, well, sort of.’ And I was like, that was great, Tim Allen making fun of me.
Jeff Dunham is, after all, nothing if not self-aware. He would find a crack at being a “comedian” to be humorous, as he would say the same thing about himself. He would never do a straight stand-up special without puppets, and he was even happy that his Masked Singer disguise came equipped with one. He knows he’s the ventriloquist, and has never tried to be anything but that.
It would also make sense that Jeff Dunham and Tim Allen hit it off after meeting on Last Man Standing, and that the earlier story took place at a car show. Like his past characters, Tim Allen is a notorious car guy, and although it’s not nearly as much a part of his public persona, so is Jeff Dunham. He even has a Batmobile in his home garage, which provides a nice crossover for us geeks as well.
But of course, he’ll always be a comedic ventriloquist first and foremost, and you can see Jeff Dunham: I’m With Cupid right now! There’s also plenty more comedy to look forward to coming down the 2024 TV release schedule.
