TIME once described Jeff Dunham as “a dressed-down, more digestible version of Don Rickles with multiple personality disorder” — which tells you what you are getting into. His Inappropriate Contact Tour, featuring the full ensemble of puppet characters that has filled arenas across six continents, arrives at Kodak Center in Rochester on Thursday, November 5 at 7:30 p.m.
About the Show
Dunham started with a Christmas present at age nine, a ventriloquist dummy, and turned it into one of the highest-grossing comedy careers in the world. He holds the Guinness World Record for most tickets sold for a stand-up comedy tour, with his Spark of Insanity Tour moving nearly two million tickets across roughly 400 venues worldwide. Forbes has ranked him third among the highest-paid comedians in the country, behind Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock. He has produced nine comedy specials, holds a Hollywood Walk of Fame star, and has been named Billboard’s Top Comedy Tour three consecutive years.
The specials are the benchmark: his 2008 Comedy Central Christmas special remains the network’s highest-rated program of all time, and his 2019 Netflix special Beside Himself ranks among the platform’s top five comedy specials. His 2016 NBC primetime special “Unhinged” ranked as the top non-sports program in its time slot. More than 7.7 million people have seen him live across 1,500-plus shows since 2007.
The show brings the full cast: Walter, the permanently irritated retiree who says what nobody else will; Peanut, the hyperactive and irreverent sidekick; Achmed the Dead Terrorist; José Jalapeño on a Stick; Bubba J, the NASCAR enthusiast; and Url, the basement-dwelling social media obsessive. Slate has called Dunham “America’s favorite comedian,” and the act has played to audiences in over 20 countries across six continents.
Venue & Logistics
Kodak Center is a 2,400-seat theater on West Ridge Road in Rochester — a considerably more intimate setting than the arenas where Dunham typically headlines at this point in his career. The theater draws from across the western New York region; it is a reasonable drive from Buffalo, Syracuse, or anywhere in between. On-site parking runs $15 general or $25 premium, all cashless. Kodak Center Lounge passes can be added at checkout.
Tickets
Pricing is available on Ticketmaster. Tickets can also be purchased through the Kodak Center Box Office. Children under two may attend on an adult’s lap without a ticket. Buy tickets