Hubbry Logo
Jeff DunhamJeff DunhamMain
Open search
Jeff Dunham
Community hub
Jeff Dunham
logo
8 pages, 0 posts
0 subscribers
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Jeff Dunham
Jeff Dunham
Jeff Dunham
View on Wikipedia
from Wikipedia

Jeffrey Douglas Dunham (born April 18, 1962) is an American ventriloquist, stand-up comedian and actor who has also appeared on numerous television shows, including Late Show with David Letterman, Comedy Central Presents, The Tonight Show, and Sonny with a Chance. He has seven specials that run on Comedy Central as well as two Netflix specials among others. He also starred in The Jeff Dunham Show, a series that ran in 2009.[1] He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and holds the Guinness Book of World Records record for "Most tickets sold for a stand-up comedy tour" for his Spark of Insanity tour.

Key Information

Dunham has been called "America's favorite comedian" by Slate. His introduction of Achmed the Dead Terrorist in Spark of Insanity in 2007 was ranked as the ninth most watched YouTube video at the time while his A Very Special Christmas Special was the most-watched telecast in Comedy Central history, with the DVD selling over 400,000 copies in its first two weeks.[2] Forbes ranked Dunham as the third highest-paid comedian in the United States behind Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock[3] and reported that he was one of the highest-earning comics from June 2008 to June 2009, earning approximately $30 million during that period.[4]

His style has been described as "a dressed-down, more digestible version of Don Rickles with multiple personality disorder". Time described his characters as "politically incorrect, gratuitously insulting and ill-tempered."[5] Dunham has been credited with reviving ventriloquism[6] and doing more to promote the art form than anyone since Edgar Bergen.[1]

Early life

[edit]

Dunham was born on April 18, 1962, in Dallas, Texas.[7][8][9] When he was three months old, he was adopted by real estate appraiser Howard Dunham and his homemaker wife Joyce, who raised him in a devoutly Presbyterian household[9] in an affluent Dallas neighborhood, as an only child.[10]

He began ventriloquism in 1970 at age eight, when his parents gave him a Mortimer Snerd dummy for Christmas and an accompanying how-to album.[8] The next day, he checked out a how-to book on ventriloquism from the library.[1][9] He explained in 2011 that he still had it, remarking that he was "a thief in the third grade". By the fourth grade, Dunham decided he wanted to be not only a professional ventriloquist but also the best one ever.[9] Dunham began practicing for hours in front of a mirror, studying the routines of Edgar Bergen and the how-to record Jimmy Nelson's Instant Ventriloquism,[1] finding ventriloquism to be a learned skill, similar to juggling, that anyone with a normal speaking voice can acquire.[11] Dunham has said that as an only child, he enjoyed being alone, likening his solitude to a "warm blanket" with which he could explore his own thoughts and ideas and which prepared him for the solitude of living alone when he later moved to Los Angeles as a struggling comedian.[9]

When Dunham was in the sixth grade, he began attending the Vent Haven ConVENTion in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, an annual international meeting of ventriloquists that includes competitions, where he met Jimmy Nelson in person. Dunham has missed only one ConVENTion since then, in 1977. The organizers of the ConVENTion eventually declared Dunham a "retired champion", ineligible from entering any more competitions, because other attendees were too intimidated to compete against him. The Vent Haven Museum devotes a section to Dunham alongside Señor Wences and Dunham's idol, Edgar Bergen.[1]

Career

[edit]

Beginnings

[edit]

Dunham began performing for audiences as a teenager,[8] in various venues such as school, church, and during his job at Six Flags. By his middle school years, he began to perform for banquets attended by local celebrities such as Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach, having developed his style of lampooning those he performed for, using the puppets to say things too risque for him to say without them.[1] Dunham's television debut came in 1976 when the still prepubescent performer caught the attention of Dallas reporters like Bill O'Reilly, who interviewed Dunham for a local news story.[9] Dunham later did commercials for Datsun dealerships in Dallas and Tyler while still in high school.[1][9] While emceeing a high school talent show, he dealt with a heckler, and won over the rest of the audience.[9] During this period he became so associated with his craft that he and one of his dummies "cowrote" a column in the school paper, and he would pose with his dummies for yearbooks[1] as an inexpensive way to acquire professional photos of his act for promotional purposes.[12] He was voted Most Likely to Succeed, and in 1980, after he graduated from high school, Dunham gave himself a career goal of obtaining, within ten years, an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, which was seen as the "holy grail" for comedians.[9]

That year Dunham began attending Baylor University, hoping to graduate with a degree in communications, while performing around campus.[9] He would also fly around the country on weekends,[1] doing up to 100 private shows a year,[9] entertaining corporate customers such as General Electric, whose CEO, Jack Welch, he mocked during his routine.[1] By his junior year in college (1983–84), Dunham was making $70,000 a year, and as word spread of his act, he landed featured spots opening for Bob Hope and George Burns, though he still perceived his act as raw, as he did not have any knowledge of standup comedy beyond his Bill Cosby albums.[9]

He caught a break in 1985 when he was asked to join the Broadway show Sugar Babies with Mickey Rooney and Ann Miller, replacing an outgoing variety act. For the naive and devoutly-raised Dunham, Broadway was a new world filled with beautiful showgirls and crusty stagehands, and his first taste of entertainment industry egos came when Rooney called Dunham into his dressing room, and told him he was there for one reason alone: so that Rooney could change his costumes.[9] He performed at the Westbury Music Fair on Long Island. These early experiences, in which he used characters like José Jalapeño on a Stick, taught him the value of modifying his act regionally, as the jalapeño jokes that worked well in Texas were not as well received by audiences in Long Island. After graduating from Baylor University in 1986,[11] he continued honing his act in comedy clubs in the Southwest with new characters such as Peanut and José Jalapeño, but struggled against the perception he relates from fellow comedians that he was not a true comedian because he relied on props.

His experience at Catch a Rising Star in New York City served as a bitter confirmation of where ventriloquists stood in the comedic food chain, as the emcee at that club gave Dunham little respect. According to Dunham, after he arrived at the club in the evening and informed the emcee that he was a ventriloquist, the emcee reacted with derision, telling Dunham that he would be given a late time slot, and after that time slot came and passed, kept postponing Dunham's stage time until Dunham left the club.[9]

By the end of 1988, Dunham felt his career had gone as far as it could go in Texas, and he moved to Los Angeles, California,[8][9] never having, as he has commented, "a real job".[13] This concerned his parents, who assumed he would relegate his act to local venues such as church groups. When he first arrived in Los Angeles, the comedy in his act bombed. Dunham attributes this initial reaction to his underdeveloped comedy, explaining that while the characters' personalities were developed at that point, his jokes were not. In addition to this, the comedy world was not welcoming to ventriloquists, and his manager, Judi Brown-Marmel, did not use the word "ventriloquist" when finding bookings for him, choosing to present him as a comedy duo. After Dunham became friends with Mike Lacey, owner of The Comedy & Magic Club in Hermosa Beach, Lacey gave Dunham a steady slot at the club, where Dunham sharpened his act by observing the techniques of comedians like Jerry Seinfeld, and taking the advice of colleague Bill Engvall, moving away from his G-rated material toward edgier, more adult themes.[9]

The Tonight Show

[edit]

At the end of 1988, Jim McCawley, a talent booker for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, told Dunham that he would be given a spot on the coveted program. Though the 26-year-old Dunham was elated that his 10-year goal was arriving two years early, McCawley later cancelled Dunham's appearance after McCawley and Roseanne Barr attended a public performance by Dunham on the day before the taping of Dunham's scheduled Tonight Show appearance. McCawley informed Dunham on the day of the scheduled taping that he had been wrong in his initial assessment of Dunham, whom he now said was not ready for The Tonight Show. Dunham continued to tighten his act in Los Angeles clubs, performing the same 6-minute segment with Peanut a total of nine times for McCawley over the next few months. Finally at the Ice-House in Pasadena in April 1990, after Dunham did the same segment, McCawley informed Dunham that he would finally get his Tonight Show appearance. Dunham and Peanut appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson on April 6, 1990, alongside guests Bob Hope and B.B. King.[9] Following his bit, he was invited to sit on Johnny Carson's couch, a mark of approval on Carson's show.[9] Upon sitting down next to Carson's desk, Dunham pulled out Walter, who told Carson sidekick Ed McMahon, "Stop sending me all your damn mail." At the time, Dunham saw his Tonight Show appearance as his big break, but was frustrated at his parents' initial disapproval over Walter's use of the words "hell" and "damn",[9] and he would toil in obscurity for another 12 years, continuing his stand up at venues such as The Improv chain, and appearing in small roles on TV.[3] One of these was a 1996 episode of Ellen, in which he appeared with Walter.[1] Dunham also appeared with Walter in a TV commercial for Hertz.[14] Dunham would appear on The Tonight Show a total of four times, as well as similar TV venues such as Hot Country Nights, appearing in one segment with Reba McEntire. This exposure helped make Dunham a large theater headliner, a rare accomplishment for a ventriloquist. By the mid-1990s, however, his television appearances had dwindled and, with them, so did his stage audiences.[9]

Dunham moved back to clubs, more than 200 appearances a year. To maintain a connection with his fan base, he would use question cards that he had audiences fill out for his performances to build a database, which was tailor-made for the burgeoning World Wide Web. Though he was voted Funniest Male Standup at the American Comedy Awards in 1998, his club work kept him away from his wife and daughters between two and three weeks each month, which put a strain on his marriage, and made paying bills for his expanded family difficult. By 2002, Dunham was hoping to obtain more TV work to raise his profile and ease his standup schedule. Such exposure was elusive until a successful appearance on The Best Damn Sports Show Period, where Dunham and Walter made jokes at the expense of co-hosts Tom Arnold, Michael Irvin, John Salley and John Kruk, generating laughter from them, and giving Dunham much-needed exposure. In 2003, Dunham was the frontrunner to replace Jimmy Kimmel on Fox NFL Sunday, but hosts Howie Long and Terry Bradshaw were not amenable to the idea of being upstaged by a puppet, and, as Dunham tells it, did not provide a welcoming atmosphere to Dunham, nor allow him to speak much during his appearance.[9]

First Comedy Central specials

[edit]

On July 18, 2003, Dunham appeared on Comedy Central Presents, his first solo appearance on Comedy Central. During his half hour piece, he showcased José Jalapeño on a Stick, Walter, an early version of Melvin the Superhero Guy and Peanut, whom Dunham had begun to merchandise into a line of dolls. The appearance was successful, but Comedy Central resisted giving Dunham more airtime, feeling that he was not a good fit for them.[1] By 2005 Dunham decided to gamble on financing his own comedy DVD, Jeff Dunham: Arguing with Myself, which was taped in Santa Ana, California.[9] Dunham's manager, Judi Brown-Marmel, lobbied the network to air it, pointing to Dunham's drawing power and merchandising profits, and arguing that the network needed more diverse content. Surprised by the high ratings of the first Blue Collar Comics concert movie that same year, the network began to reconsider its brand. In late 2006, Comedy Central aired Arguing with Myself, drawing two million viewers when it aired,[1] and selling two million DVDs.[9]

In 2007, Dunham appeared as The Amazing Ken with José Jalapeño on a Stick in the Larry the Cable Guy feature film Delta Farce. His second special, Jeff Dunham: Spark of Insanity, was taped at the Warner Theater in Washington, D.C. that same year. It served not only to cement Dunham's stardom, but to introduce his most controversial character, Achmed the Dead Terrorist, which became a viral Internet sensation. A clip of Achmed from Insanity attracted over 140 million hits on YouTube,[9] making it the ninth most watched clip on that website as of October 2009.[1] He went on to perform the Spark of Insanity international tour where he achieved the Guinness Book of World Records record for "Most tickets sold for a stand-up comedy tour." He performed in 386 venues worldwide, selling 1,981,720 tickets between September 2007 and August 2010.[15][16]

By 2008, Dunham's characters had crossed language barriers, with his specials dubbed for audiences in various countries such as France, and Dunham attracting requests for performances in South Africa, Australia, Norway, Denmark, China, and the Middle East.[9] Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special was taped at the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin that same year, and premiered on Comedy Central on November 16, 2008, watched by 6.6 million people.[1] It became available on DVD and Blu-ray on November 18, 2008.[17] The special's premiere was the highest rated telecast in Comedy Central's history.[5][18]

In September 2008, his career reached new heights as he began performing in arenas filled with tens of thousands of people. Dunham was somewhat wary of such large venues, but adapted by adjusting the timing of his often rapid exchanges with the puppets so that audience members farthest from the stage could have time to react.[9]

In addition to his comedy specials, Dunham also released his first music album, Don't Come Home for Christmas, on November 4, 2008.[19] It contains original Christmas songs as well as a parody of "Jingle Bells" by Achmed entitled "Jingle Bombs". All the songs, with the exception of "Jingle Bombs", were written and accompanied by Brian Haner, who joined Dunham's act as "Guitar Guy". His first onscreen appearance was in Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special.[citation needed]

2009–present

[edit]
Dunham performing in 2014

In March 2009, Dunham signed a multi-platform deal with Comedy Central. It included a fourth stand-up special to air in 2010, DVDs, a consumer products partnership, a 60-city tour beginning in September 2010, and an order for a television series called The Jeff Dunham Show that premiered on October 22, 2009.[2][20] Despite having the most-watched premiere in Comedy Central history, and higher average ratings than other shows on that network initially, the show was canceled after only one season, amid poor reviews, dwindling ratings and higher production costs than other Comedy Central shows.[21][22]

Dunham appeared in a guest role with Bubba J on NBC's sitcom 30 Rock, playing a ventriloquist named Rick Wayne and his dummy Pumpkin from Stone Mountain, Georgia.[23] In November 2009 Dunham also appeared with Walter in "Hart to Hart", an episode of the Disney Channel series Sonny With a Chance, as two security guards. He appeared in the 2010 Steve Carell/Paul Rudd comedy, Dinner for Schmucks, as Lewis, with a new puppet named Diane.[24]

His fourth special, Controlled Chaos, was released on September 25, 2011, on Comedy Central. It was taped at the Landmark Theater and premiered to an estimated 8.3 million viewers.[25] The DVD received a 5× Platinum certification from the RIAA.[26] He spent the next year performing internationally on the Controlled Chaos Tour. [27] In May 2012, Dunham recorded his fifth special, Minding Monsters, at the Lucas Theater in Savannah, Georgia. It premiered on Comedy Central on October 7, 2012.[28][29] The DVD received a 4× Platinum certification from the RIAA.[30] Dunham's sixth special, All Over the Map, was released on Comedy Central on November 16, 2014. The show was taped during his performances on five different continents.[31] Also in 2014, Country Music Television premiered Achmed Saves America, an animated film starring Achmed the Dead Terrorist.[32][33] Dunham released his seventh special, Unhinged in Hollywood, on September 17, 2015. The show was filmed inside the Dolby Theatre and was his first special to premier on NBC.[34][35]

Dunham performed the North American Perfectly Unbalanced Tour beginning in December 2015.[36] A second leg of the tour ran internationally in 2017,[37] the same year Dunham received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Beginning in September 2017, he toured North America for his Passively Aggressive Tour.[38] 2017 was also the year he made his Netflix special debut with the release of Relative Disaster.[39] He released Relative Disaster, his second Netflix special, in 2019.[40]

Dunham didn't tour beginning in 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He began touring again in 2021 with his North America and European Seriously? Tour.[41] In 2022, he began his North American Still Not Cancelled Tour.[42] The same year, Dunham competed in season eight of The Masked Singer as "Pi-Rat" with the character being depicted as a rat in pirate clothing holding a treasure chest that has a smaller "Pi-Rat" in it where that part of the costume is a puppet for Dunham to also operate. He was eliminated on "Vegas Night" alongside Montell Jordan as "Panther".[43] He released his 12th television special, I'm With Cupid, on Comedy Central in February 2024.[44]

Reception

[edit]

In January 2008, Dunham was voted by fans the Top Comic in Comedy Central's "Stand-Up Showdown". He is the only person to win the "Ventriloquist of the Year" Award twice. He was nominated "Comedian of the Year" by the TNN Music City News Country Awards,[13] and has drawn praise from the Dallas Morning News for his technique and timing.[13] Critics, such as Randee Dawn of The Hollywood Reporter, accused Dunham's characters of being racist caricatures, sexist, and homophobic.[3][45]

In 2008, a TV commercial for a ringtone which featured Dunham's character Achmed the Dead Terrorist (see characters below) was banned by the South African Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) after a complaint was filed by a citizen stating that the ad was offensive to Muslims, and portrayed all Muslims as terrorists. Dunham responded that "Achmed makes it clear in my act that he is not Muslim." However, the ASA noted that the name Achmed was of Arab origin and was one of the names of Muhammad. Dunham responded, "I've skewered Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Christians, Jews, Muslims, gays, straights, rednecks, addicts, the elderly, and my wife. As a standup comic, it is my job to make the majority of people laugh, and I believe that comedy is the last true form of free speech ... I'm considering renaming Achmed 'Bill'", he added.[46][47] Dunham has conceded that he does exhibit particular sensitivity to the "conservative country crowd" or those characterized by "basic Christian values", as they are one of his largest audiences and a part of his upbringing.[1]

Dunham was heckled and criticized for mocking TV critics during a July 2009 press tour to promote his then-upcoming Comedy Central TV series, The Jeff Dunham Show, as well as Comedy Central programming chief Lauren Correo.[1][48] In October 2009 The Jeff Dunham Show enjoyed good initial ratings, but was not well liked by critics,[49] some of whom questioned the wisdom of translating his act into a series, or cited Dunham, his previous specials, or ventriloquism itself as reasons for disliking the show.[50][51][52][53]

J. P. Williams, the producer of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, has opined that Dunham's act is not funny on its own merits, and that his material gets a greater reaction because of the puppet characters than it would otherwise garner by itself.[1] Blue Collar veteran Bill Engvall, a friend of Dunham's, insists otherwise, saying that Dunham is inherently funny with or without the puppets.[9]

In a 2014 show in Malaysia, the government requested that Dunham not use or name Achmed in his show. Due to the restriction for that show, Achmed was renamed "Jacques Merde, the Dead French Terrorist" (Jacques Merde meaning "Jack Shit").[54][55][56]

Books

[edit]

In 2003, Dunham released Dear Walter..., a collection of questions asked of Dunham's fictional curmudgeon at live performances, authored by Dunham and Walter Cummings.[57] His autobiography, All By My Selves: Walter, Peanut, Achmed and Me, was published by Dutton in 2010.[12]

Characters

[edit]

Recurring characters

[edit]

Walter

[edit]
Not to be confused with Walter (Muppet).
Dunham with Walter in a shot from a 2007 performance

Walter is a retired, grumpy old man with arms always crossed in discontent. Dunham was inspired to create Walter when he watched Bette Davis's final appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, giving her honest, unfiltered candor to Walter, and patterning Walter's frown on Dunham's own.[9] He has a brash, negative and often sarcastic view on today's world. He is a Vietnam War veteran and a former welder, and "doesn't give a damn" about anyone, especially his own wife and certain audience members. Walter appeared in every Comedy Central special. He's been married for several decades. When Dunham asks him if he remembers the happiest moment of his life after Walter tells him he has been married for forty-six years, Walter responds, "Forty-seven years ago!" Dunham created the Walter puppet himself, including both the initial sculpture and the silicone mold, though he eventually began using professional effects companies for the latter stages with his subsequent puppets.[58]

In the 2020 United States presidential election, Dunham adapted the Walter puppet into "Wonald Grump" and "Ben Hiden," caricatures of Donald Trump and Joe Biden, respectively, for a mock debate moderated by Achmed.[59]

Peanut

[edit]

Peanut is a hyperactive,[1] purple-skinned "woozle"[60] with white fur covering most of his body, a tuft of green hair on the top of his head, and one sneaker on his left foot. Dunham explains in Arguing with Myself that Peanut is from a small Micronesian island, and that they met in Florida. Peanut's humor is not based on a particular motif or stereotype, as those of the other characters, and he has been described as "the bad kid".[5] He often makes fun of Dunham, and torments and mocks José Jalapeño on a Stick. Touching upon his unusual appearance and personality, he asks Dunham in Arguing with Myself, after Dunham denies ever having done drugs, "Then how the hell did you come up with me?"

José Jalapeño on a Stick

[edit]

José is a talking jalapeño pepper on a stick who wears a small sombrero. José, who speaks with a thick Spanish accent, is typically paired with Peanut, who often makes fun of José, uses appeals to Latino stereotypes when doing so, and makes fun of his being on a stick.[61] Although José was not Dunham's first puppet, it was the first that Dunham made himself.[62]

Bubba J

[edit]

Bubba J is a beer-drinking redneck that Dunham describes in Arguing with Myself and A Very Special Christmas Special as "white trash trailer park", and whom Dunham uses for humor centered on such stereotypes. To this end, he frequently does jokes involving Bubba J's love of drinking beer and NASCAR, and his low intelligence. Touching upon such stereotypes, Bubba mentions in Arguing with Myself that he met his wife at a family reunion, and remembers seeing her with a corn dog in one hand, a beer in another, and leaning against a ferris wheel, "making it tilt".[61] Although he does not appear onstage, Bubba appears as the backstage security guard in Controlled Chaos. He was inspired by Edgar Bergen's puppet, Mortimer Snerd.[63]

Achmed the Dead Terrorist

[edit]

Achmed is the skeletal corpse of an incompetent suicide bomber, whom Dunham uses to satirize the contemporary issue of terrorism. He is known for yelling, "Silence! I keel you!" to Dunham and people laughing in the audience. Achmed first appeared in Spark of Insanity, and has appeared in every Dunham special since then. In Spark of Insanity the audience learns several things about Achmed. When Dunham says that Achmed must be dead because he's a skeleton, Achmed responds, "It's a flesh wound." When Dunham inquires as to how he died, Achmed explains his incompetence with explosives, while also casting aspersions on Dunham's sexual prowess by saying that they both suffer from "premature detonation". Although he frequently mentions working for Osama bin Laden, Achmed denies being a Muslim and says "Look at my ass! It says 'Made in China'!" He says he is afraid of Walter, partially because he's "one mean son of a bitch" and finds Walter's flatulence to be more potent than Saddam Hussein's mustard gas. In Very Special Christmas Special, he sings a song called "Jingle Bombs".

By June 2009, the sketch in which Dunham introduced Achmed had amassed nearly 200 million views on YouTube.[5][64] The large, round, articulated eyes of puppets such as Achmed and Achmed Junior are constructed by the same effects artist who created the dinosaur eyes for the Jurassic Park films.[9] The character starred in Achmed Saves America, an animated film that premiered on Country Music Television in March 2014. In the film, which depicts the mishap that led to the character's skeletonization, Achmed finds himself in an American town called Americaville, which he plots to blow up, before developing an affinity for American culture.[32][33]

Non-recurring and retired characters

[edit]

Sweet Daddy Dee

[edit]

Dunham introduces Sweet Daddy Dee in Arguing with Myself as his "new manager". He calls himself a "pimp", which he says stands for "Player In the Management Profession." According to Sweet Daddy, because he is a pimp, that makes Jeff the "ho". When Dunham objects, Daddy Dee points out that Dunham makes people laugh and feel good for a living. When Dunham agrees that this is the case, Daddy Dee says "You a ho." When Dunham asks what he would say if he told him that he was a comedian only because he enjoyed it, Daddy Dee responds "You a dumb ho."[61] Unlike Bubba J, he hates NASCAR. Sweet Daddy's headstone is featured in the beginning of the special Minding the Monsters.

Melvin the Superhero Guy

[edit]

Melvin wears a blue superhero costume, and is used to poke fun at superheroes. When asked about his superhuman powers, he indicates that he has X-ray vision, adding, "I love looking at boobies!" He appears to have no other powers, however: When Dunham asks how far he can fly, he responds, "How far can you throw me?", and when asked if he can stop a bullet like Superman, he responds, "Yeah. Once". Dunham portrays Melvin as unimpressed with other superheroes: When told Superman can leap tall buildings in a single bound, Melvin dismisses him as a "showoff," arguing that he can simply walk around them, observes that Aquaman has the same powers as SpongeBob SquarePants, asserts that the Flash's super speed is derived from methamphetamine, that the Hulk's vaunted ability to get stronger as he gets angrier merely mirrors "every white trash guy on COPS," and makes innuendo about the questionable relationship between Batman and the underage Robin. Melvin's first onscreen appearance was in the July 2003 Comedy Central Presents episode, in which he had small, black, beady eyes. By his next appearance, in Spark of Insanity, he had been modified to have large, blue, crossed eyes. He has an enormous nose, which he claims is his symbol, and whose similarity in shape to that of a penis is alluded to in the act. Dunham sculpted the current version of Melvin's head himself, and hired an effects company called Renegade Effects Groups to create the rubber mold and complete the puppet, before then installing the mechanics himself.[58] Melvin's headstone is featured in the beginning of the special Minding the Monsters.

Little Jeff

[edit]

Little Jeff is a miniature version of Dunham himself,[65] usually dressed in the same clothes Dunham wears during each show. His first onscreen appearance was in the 1989 television program A&E's An Evening at The Improv.[66] He later appeared in Jeff Dunham: Controlled Chaos as a puppet that Peanut used when attempting his hand at ventriloquism. Peanut named the doll "Little Ugly Ass-Jeff", and uses him to insult Dunham.

Diane

[edit]

Diane first appeared with Dunham in the 2010 film Dinner for Schmucks as "Debbie", his character's "wife". She made her stand-up debut in Dunham's Identity Crisis Tour 2010.[67]

Achmed Junior

[edit]

Achmed Junior is the estranged son of Achmed. He was designed by Mad magazine illustrator Tom Richmond.[9] He first appeared during the Identity Crisis Tour 2010, and made his first onscreen appearance in Dunham's fourth special, Jeff Dunham: Controlled Chaos. Like his father, Achmed Junior is the victim of a bomb, which resulted in the destruction of half of his face and body. He speaks with a British accent because he was raised in Britain after the accident. Much to his father's consternation, he expresses an attraction to Dunham's male stage hand, Marnell, appears on stage to address Achmed's loss of balance. Conflict also stems from the fact that unlike his father, Achmed Junior does not wish to be a suicide bomber.[68]

Seamus

[edit]

Seamus is a grumpy, beer-drinking, Irish infant who first appears in Relative Disaster, which was filmed in Ireland. Dunham, himself an adopted child, introduces him as a son that he has adopted in order to "pay it forward". Despite being an infant, he is a belligerent heavy drinker, traits with which Dunham pokes fun at Irish stereotypes. Dunham also establishes Seamus as a fan of United States President Donald Trump in order to poke fun at Trump, Hillary Clinton, and the 2016 United States presidential election.[69]

Larry the Adviser

[edit]

Larry is the personal adviser to Donald Trump. He has unkempt orange hair, big bulgy eyes and has a cigarette in one hand. Jeff lightly shakes him to give the feeling of jitteriness. Larry is constantly on edge and is implied to be unnerved for having worked with Trump for "four hours". He nevertheless "supports" the president.[70]

Little Peanut

[edit]

Little Peanut is a miniature version of Peanut that Dunham has used to counter Peanut's use of Little Jeff.[71]

Url

[edit]

In the 2022 special Jeff Dunham: Me the People, Dunham introduced a new puppet named Url, a young person who is always preoccupied with using his mobile device. Dunham explained the creation of the character, saying, "Everybody gets stuck on their devices. Ninety-nine percent of us gets stuck on our smart devices too much of the time, so we can identify with that. Children are on them too much. Parents have to deal with it. Kids complain because their parents are on them too much. So everybody knows somebody stuck on the smart device. So I thought, I'm going to create a younger guy that also has the problem of living in his parents' basement. So many families are dealing with that now. The kids come back and won't go away."[72]

Personal life

[edit]

Dunham met his first wife, Paige Brown, at the Comedy Corner in West Palm Beach, Florida. They began dating in December 1992. In May 1994, Dunham married Brown and adopted her one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Bree. Their daughters Ashlyn and Kenna were born in 1995 and 1997, respectively. Dunham's time away while performing proved a strain on the marriage[9] and, in November 2008, he filed for divorce.[1][5][9][12]

By mid-2009, Dunham was in a relationship with Audrey Murdick, a certified nutritionist, personal trainer, and competition bodybuilder.[9][12] On December 25, 2011, they became engaged to be married.[73] On October 12, 2012, the couple married.[74] On May 14, 2015, Dunham announced, via Facebook, that he and Audrey were expecting twin boys.[75] In October, she gave birth to James Jeffrey and Jack Steven.[76]

In addition to building the dummies he uses in his act, Dunham restores antique dummies as a hobby, one of which is The Umpire, a 6-foot-tall (1.8 m) mechanized dummy built in 1941 to work the plate at a girls' softball game. The Umpire was unused and was packed away for 50 years before Dunham acquired it in early 2008.[1]

Dunham has harbored a love of helicopters since childhood and is fond of building and flying his own kit helicopters from Rotorway helicopter kits. At the time he finished writing his autobiography in June 2010, he was beginning to build his fourth kit.[9][10][12] He is also an aficionado of muscle cars and Apple, Inc. products.[12] According to the July 16, 2012, television documentary The Batmobile, Dunham owns the original Batmobile used in the Tim Burton film Batman,[77][78] which he had outfitted with a Corvette engine to make it street legal.[78]

Tours

[edit]
Tour Dates

(non-inclusive)

Countries

(in order of first show)

Notes
Spark of Insanity Sept. 8, 2007 –
Jan. 9, 2010 		United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Australia Achieved the Guinness Book of World Records record for "Most tickets sold for a stand-up comedy tour." It was performed in 386 venues worldwide, selling 1,981,720 tickets between September 2007 and August 2010.[15][16]
Identity Crisis Jan. 9, 2010 –
Sept. 24, 2011 		United States, Canada, Netherlands, Ireland, United Kingdom, South Africa, Switzerland, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, France [79]
Controlled Chaos Oct. 6, 2011 –
Sept. 30, 2012 		United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand [27]
Disorderly Conduct Nov. 1, 2012 –
Sept. 28, 2014 		Canada, United States, Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Ireland, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Israel, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore [80]
Not Playing With a Full Deck Nov. 28, 2014–
Oct. 5, 2015 		United States All shows at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada.[81][82]
Perfectly Unbalanced Dec. 2, 2015[83] –
Sept. 13, 2017 		United States, Canada Dunham received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame during this tour.[84][85]
Passively Aggressive Sept. 28, 2017 –
May 5, 2018 		United States, Canada [84][86]
Seriously!? July 10, 2021[41] – Dec. 12, 2022 United States, Canada, Europe First tour since the COVID-19 pandemic began[41]
Still Not Canceled Dec. 28, 2022[42] – present[87] United States, Canada

Filmography

[edit]
Documentaries and specials
Year Title Notes
1991 Hot Country Nights One episode
2003 Comedy Central Presents Also writer
2006 Jeff Dunham: Arguing with Myself TV special; also writer and executive producer
2007 Jeff Dunham: Spark of Insanity TV special; also writer and executive producer
2008 History of the Joke TV documentary
Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special TV special; also writer, executive producer and songwriter
2009 I'm No Dummy Documentary film
2011 Jeff Dunham: Controlled Chaos TV special; also writer and executive producer
2012 The Batmobile TV documentary
Jeff Dunham: Minding the Monsters TV special; also writer and executive producer
2014 Jeff Dunham: All Over the Map TV special; also writer, executive producer and co-editor
2015 Jeff Dunham: Unhinged in Hollywood TV special
2016 Hell's Kitchen Episode: "9 Chefs Compete" (with Walter)
2017 Jeff Dunham: Relative Disaster Netflix special
2019 Jeff Dunham: Beside Himself Netflix special
2020 Jeff Dunham's Completely Unrehearsed Last-Minute Pandemic Holiday Special TV special; also writer
2022 Jeff Dunham: Me The People TV special
2024 Jeff Dunham: I'm With Cupid TV special[44]
Jeff Dunham's Scrooged-Up Holiday Special Amazon Prime special
Acting
Year Title Role Notes
1996 Ellen Starky the Ventriloquist Episode: "When the Vow Breaks: Part 1" (with Walter as Gus)
2002 Any Day Now Ventriloquist Episode: "Truth Hurts"
She Spies Elvis Presley ventriloquist Episode: "Ice Man"
2003 One on One Benny / Kenny Episode: "I Know What You Did Last Thursday"
2005 Blue Collar TV Ventriloquist Episode: "Stupidity"
2007 Delta Farce Amazing Ken First feature-length movie
2009 30 Rock Rick Wayne Episode: "Stone Mountain" (with Bubba J. as Pumpkin)
The Jeff Dunham Show Himself 7 episodes; also writer and executive producer
Sonny with a Chance Jeff Episode: "Hart to Hart" (with Walter)
2010 Dinner for Schmucks Lewis the Ventriloquist With Diane
2012 Big Top Scooby-Doo! Schmatko, Conductor Voice, direct-to-video
2013 From Up on Poppy Hill[88] Gen Voice, English dub
2014 The Nut Job Mole Voice
Achmed Saves America Achmed, Bubba J., Himself Video; creator, executive producer and original character designer
2017 Smurfs: The Lost Village Farmer Smurf Voice
The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature Mole Voice
Mune: Guardian of the Moon Phospho Voice
Gnome Alone Quiksilver Voice
2018 Elliot the Littlest Reindeer Clyde, Peanutbutter Voice
2020 Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? Himself Voice, episode: "Too Many Dummies!"
Tacoma FD Ventriloquist TV series, 1 episode
2021 Last Man Standing Himself (cameo) Episode: "Meatless Mike"
2022 The Masked Singer Himself / Pi-Rat Season 8 contestant

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Jeff Dunham

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
Jeff Dunham (born April 18, 1962) is an American ventriloquist, stand-up , and recognized for his arena-scale performances featuring a ensemble of characters that deliver irreverent, satirical monologues and dialogues on subjects including family dynamics, aging, , and . Raised as an by adoptive parents in a suburb—a real estate father and homemaker mother—Dunham received his first toy ventriloquist dummy at age nine, igniting a pursuit that saw him performing at school events, local clubs, and television commercials during his teenage years; by the time he attended , he was earning $70,000 annually from . Dunham's professional breakthrough occurred in the mid-2000s via viral clips that propelled him to specials such as Arguing with Myself (2006) and Spark of Insanity (2007), the latter of which set a for the most tickets sold on a tour at 1,981,720 across nearly 400 venues. His nine comedy specials include two of 's highest-rated programs of their years, contributing to DVD sales exceeding four million units by 2009 and recognition as Billboard's Top Comedy Tour for three consecutive years, alongside a star on the . Central to Dunham's act are characters like the profane, curmudgeonly retiree Walter, the hyperkinetic "woozle" , the hot-tempered jalapeño pepper , the dim-witted J, and Achmed the Dead Terrorist—a skeletal jihadist whose routines lampoon Islamist —which have amassed over one billion video views online but also elicited from media outlets for relying on ethnic and cultural stereotypes deemed offensive by some observers. Despite such rebukes, Dunham's empirical success—evidenced by sold-out global tours in over 20 countries, 3.6 million subscribers, and listings among ' highest-paid comedians—underscores a robust demand for his boundary-pushing style that prioritizes punchline efficacy over conventional sensitivities.

Early Life

Birth and Adoption

Jeffrey Dunham was born on April 18, 1962, in , . At three months old, he was by Howard Dunham, a real estate appraiser, and his wife Joyce, a homemaker, who raised him as their only child in an affluent household. Dunham has stated that he grew up aware of his adoption status and, in adulthood, sought out his biological parents, meeting his birth mother in 2020 before her death later that year. The adoptive family provided a stable environment, though some accounts describe it as rooted in devout Christian or Presbyterian traditions.

Introduction to Ventriloquism and Early Performances

Dunham's interest in began in 1970, when, at the age of eight, he spotted a Mortimer Snerd dummy in a toy store window during a visit with his mother before . His parents purchased the dummy as a , along with a how-to that served as his primary instructional resource. Lacking formal training, Dunham taught himself the craft through persistent practice, mastering techniques such as lip control and voice modulation by imitating the 's demonstrations and studying performances by ventriloquists like . By third grade, shortly after receiving the dummy, Dunham incorporated ventriloquism into school activities, performing for classmates and marking his initial forays into live audiences. His first formal performance occurred around age eight, setting the foundation for a lifelong dedication to the art form, which he pursued without developing alternative interests. As he progressed through elementary and high school in the Dallas suburbs, Dunham refined his skills with homemade or early puppets, including characters like Monty Ballew during his teenage years, and entertained at local parties, neighborhood gatherings, and talent shows. These early performances, often uncompensated and limited to small venues, honed Dunham's ability to engage audiences through character-driven humor, blending with emerging comedic timing. By age 11, he had created promotional signs for his act and scheduled informal shows for neighbors, demonstrating early entrepreneurial drive in a field then viewed as outdated. Dunham's self-directed efforts during this period, free from institutional biases toward modern entertainment trends, emphasized traditional ventriloquist mechanics while allowing personal innovation in personalities.

Career

Initial Struggles and Development

Following his graduation from in 1986 with a degree in radio, television, and film, Dunham committed to a professional career in , shifting from student-era gigs at campus events, fundraisers, and corporate functions to the competitive stand-up circuit. During his college years, he had already developed key characters like , an energetic "woozle" puppet, which helped him earn substantial income—up to $70,000 annually—through performances that blended with emerging comedic routines. However, entering the professional arena brought financial and artistic hurdles, as he navigated inconsistent bookings and the need to adapt his act for audiences accustomed to solo stand-up rather than puppet-assisted humor. By the end of 1988, Dunham relocated to to access major clubs and industry exposure, arriving with limited resources and a focus on persistence. There, he encountered resistance, as club bookers and peers often viewed as an antiquated novelty unfit for modern scenes dominated by observational monologues and edgier material; Dunham later described this as his "biggest fight," with critics questioning if a performer using dummies could be considered a legitimate . He performed multiple sets weekly in small venues, facing tough crowds that tested his resilience, yet used these experiences to refine his delivery, timing, and character interactions, including the grumpy retiree Walter, to inject irreverence and relatability into the act. Over the subsequent years, Dunham's development emphasized integrating sharp, topical with technical prowess, gradually overcoming initial rejections by cultivating repeat audiences in the club circuit and iterating on material through . This period of grinding—marked by low-paying gigs and skepticism toward his format—laid the groundwork for his evolving style, prioritizing character-driven narratives over traditional punchlines, though mainstream breakthrough remained elusive amid the era's preference for non-props-based .

Breakthrough Appearances

Dunham achieved his initial national television breakthrough on April 6, 1990, with an appearance on Starring , where he performed a routine featuring his character . After nine prior auditions, the performance earned him the rare honor of being invited to sit on Carson's couch alongside established guests, signaling strong endorsement from the host and providing a critical validation that elevated his profile beyond regional circuits. Subsequent guest spots on programs such as a 1996 episode of Ellen with Walter further honed his television presence, though sustained momentum required broader exposure. A key escalation occurred in 2003 with his debut solo segment on Comedy Central Presents, which began attracting a wider comedy audience and foreshadowed larger opportunities. The defining breakthrough arrived on April 22, 2006, with the Comedy Central premiere of his self-produced one-hour special Jeff Dunham: Arguing with Myself, recorded live in Seattle and showcasing extended routines with Walter, Peanut, José Jalapeño on a Stick, Bubba J, and others. The special generated explosive viewer response, sold platinum as a DVD release, and marked the onset of Dunham's ascent to headliner status, with Comedy Central subsequently commissioning additional content.

Comedy Specials and Television Ventures

Jeff Dunham's comedy specials began gaining prominence with his debut hour-long program, Arguing with Myself, which premiered on in 2006 after initial performances in 2004. This was followed by Spark of Insanity in 2007, introducing the character Achmed the Dead Terrorist, which significantly boosted his popularity. In 2008, Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special aired on , becoming the network's highest-rated program in its history at the time. In 2009, Dunham launched , a series on that premiered on October 22 and ran for seven episodes until December 2009, incorporating his ventriloquist characters into scripted segments alongside live-action sketches. The series received mixed reception and was not renewed due to underwhelming ratings compared to his stand-up specials. Subsequent specials included Controlled Chaos in 2011 and Minding the Monsters in 2012, both on and noted as the most-viewed specials of their respective years on the network. All Over the Map was released in 2014, followed by Unhinged in Hollywood which originally aired as a primetime special on before rebroadcast on in 2016, where it became the top-rated special that year. Dunham has produced a total of nine record-breaking specials, with later entries shifting to streaming platforms, such as Beside Himself on in 2019. More recent ventures include independent releases like Me the People in 2022, in 2024, and Scrooged-Up Holiday Special in 2024, often distributed via digital platforms and his official channels. Dunham has also hosted episodes of Food Network's and made guest appearances on shows including , , and .

Touring Success and Records

Dunham achieved the for the most tickets sold for a tour with 1,981,720 tickets for his "Spark of Insanity" tour from to 2010, spanning 238 cities across the , , and . The tour grossed over $38 million in revenue, establishing Dunham as the highest-grossing touring comedian of . Subsequent tours reinforced his position as a top draw in , with ranking him as the number-one comedy tour artist multiple times, including in the . In 2022, his 45 shows sold 232,576 tickets and grossed $12.17 million. By mid-2025, 47 performances on his ongoing tour had generated $13.4 million in gross revenue from 214,000 tickets sold. These figures underscore Dunham's sustained arena-level appeal, often filling venues to capacity and outperforming many peers in ticket volume and earnings.

Developments in the 2020s

In response to the , Dunham postponed tours and produced Jeff Dunham's Completely Unrehearsed Last-Minute Pandemic Holiday Special, a virtual performance featuring his puppets commenting on life and including Achmed's satirical song " Ode to ". Live touring resumed in 2022 with multiple arena dates announced, marking a return to in-person performances after pandemic disruptions. Dunham released his eleventh comedy special, Jeff Dunham: Me the People, in 2022, addressing smartphone addiction, consumerism, and cancel culture through interactions with characters like Walter and Achmed. In 2024, he premiered his twelfth special, I'm With Cupid, on YouTube, reimagining Walter as Cupid in a Valentine's-themed show that satirized relationships and holidays. By 2025, Dunham launched the tour, featuring North American dates from February through December, including arenas like the on February 7 and Xfinity Center in September, with an international leg completed earlier that year. The tour introduced a new character, Clive, portrayed as an AI sidekick offering commentary on American culture and technology, debuting in June 2025 ahead of overseas shows. This addition aligned with the tour's theme, incorporating contemporary topics like into Dunham's ventriloquist routines alongside staples , Walter, and Achmed.

Puppet Characters

Core Recurring Characters

Jeff Dunham's core recurring characters form the backbone of his ventriloquist routines, featuring distinct personalities that enable satirical interactions on topics ranging from life to current events. These s, developed over decades, include , Walter, José Jalapeño on a Stick, Bubba J, and Achmed the Dead Terrorist, each debuting at different stages of Dunham's career and appearing consistently in his specials and tours. Peanut is depicted as a hyperactive, purple-skinned "woozle" with white fur, a tuft of green hair, and one sneaker, serving as Dunham's manic sidekick known for frenzied energy and wisecracking humor. Introduced early in Dunham's professional performances, Peanut has featured in every major show and special, often interacting with other characters to amplify comedic chaos. Walter, a retired grumpy old man with arms perpetually crossed, embodies brash negativity and sarcasm toward modern society. Inspired by Bette Davis's final film appearance, Walter debuted in the 1990s and gained prominence after Dunham's 1990 appearance on The Tonight Show, where his curmudgeonly persona resonated with audiences. José Jalapeño on a Stick is a talking pepper affixed to a stick, wearing a and speaking with a thick Latin accent, frequently manipulated by for prop-based gags. The first puppet Dunham built himself, debuted in and represents lighthearted ethnic humor through wordplay on his name. Bubba J, portrayed as a beer-drinking from a , delivers folksy, unrefined commentary on everyday mishaps and Southern stereotypes. Introduced in Dunham's 2006 special Arguing with Myself, Bubba J's routines often involve exaggerated tales of personal failures and preferences for simple pleasures like beer. Achmed the Dead Terrorist is a skeletal jihadist who claims to have been killed by an , featuring a high-pitched voice and catchphrases like "Silence!" to mock terrorist tropes. Debuting in Dunham's special Spark of Insanity, Achmed quickly became one of the most recognized characters due to viral clips emphasizing absurd post-mortem family life and failed villainy.

Creation and Evolution

Jeff Dunham developed his core characters through a combination of self-built craftsmanship, observational humor, and iterative refinement during his early performances in the and . Drawing from influences like classic ventriloquists and Mortimer Snerd, Dunham constructed initial figures such as José on a Stick, a pepper affixed to a wooden stick wearing a , which he described as one of his first self-made puppets emphasizing absurd, prop-based . This character, portraying a mild-mannered immigrant seeking respect amid chaotic routines, debuted in Dunham's club acts by the early and evolved into a recurring for ensemble bits, often interacting with more boisterous figures in multi-puppet dialogues. Peanut, a hyperactive purple primate with mismatched sneakers and a frenzied personality, emerged as Dunham's primary sidekick in the late 1980s, predating similar colored characters in popular media. By 1990, Peanut featured prominently in Dunham's debut on Starring Johnny Carson on April 6, where the duo's manic banter showcased Peanut's irreverent, fast-talking style contrasting Dunham's deadpan delivery. Over time, Peanut's role expanded to include meta-humor, such as attempting with mini-puppets like Little Ugly Jeff in later specials, reflecting Dunham's experimentation with layered interactions and evolving the character from solo antics to ensemble dynamics. Walter, the grizzled, sarcasm-laden retiree with perpetually crossed arms, originated around 1989, inspired by Bette Davis's unfiltered critique during her final Tonight Show appearance, prompting Dunham to craft a embodying blunt disdain for modern life. Initially a brief two-minute segment, Walter quickly became a staple, appearing four times on starting in 1990 and anchoring routines with catchphrases like "Who the hell cares?" His evolution incorporated topical gripes on and , adapting to audience feedback for longer, more profane exchanges that positioned him as Dunham's for curmudgeonly realism. Bubba J, the beer-swigging from a with a penchant for and conspiracy theories, joined the lineup in the mid-2000s, debuting in Dunham's 2006 special Arguing with Myself as a foil for exaggerated Southern archetypes. The character's straightforward, unpretentious humor evolved through international tours, where routines incorporated local references, such as adapting his "white trash" persona for global audiences without altering core traits. Achmed the Dead Terrorist, a skeletal jihadist with a voice and bomb-strapped backstory, was created specifically for Dunham's 2007 Comedy Central special Spark of Insanity, emerging from post-9/11 satirical impulses to mock terrorist stereotypes through absurdity and catchphrases like "Silence!" The puppet's debut propelled it to viral fame, with over 28 million views of the clip within months, leading to evolutions like regional variants—such as Jacque Merde for Malaysian performances in 2014—to navigate cultural sensitivities while preserving the character's explosive, self-deprecating essence. Subsequent specials expanded Achmed's "family," including bomb-maker sons and holiday-themed iterations, demonstrating Dunham's approach to sustaining relevance via iterative scripting and prop modifications. Overall, Dunham's characters have progressed from standalone bits to interconnected narratives, with updates tied to real-world events and touring demands, maintaining mechanical while amplifying satirical edge.

Non-Recurring and Specialized Characters

Sweet Daddy Dee, introduced in Dunham's 2006 special Arguing with Myself, is depicted as a stereotypical pimp serving as the ventriloquist's manager, complete with exaggerated mannerisms and dialogue emphasizing streetwise bravado. The character, Dunham's only prominent African-American puppet, appeared sporadically through 2010, including in The Jeff Dunham Show, but was phased out amid shifting comedic focuses. Its humor relied on racial and cultural tropes, such as self-referential prejudice toward Dunham, which drew mixed responses for bordering on offensiveness without broader satirical depth. Melvin the Superhero debuted in the 2007 special Spark of Insanity as a bumbling caped figure in a blue costume, whose sole "superpower" is X-ray vision fixated on viewing women's anatomy, parodying superhero clichés and male gaze tropes. Limited to this single appearance, Melvin's routine involves absurd boasts about combating terrorism via checkers and highlighting his "outstanding" physical feature, underscoring Dunham's penchant for one-off gags over sustained character arcs. Larry, a jittery, cigarette-smoking White House adviser with disheveled orange hair, was first featured during Dunham's 2018 tour in and prominently in the 2019 Netflix special Beside Himself. Resembling a caricature of political aides amid the Trump era, Larry's nervous demeanor and policy rants provided topical on , though critics noted its vocal similarity to diluted uniqueness. The has seen limited subsequent use, serving as a specialized vehicle for current-events commentary rather than recurring ensemble integration. Specialized extensions of core characters include Achmed Jr., Achmed the Dead Terrorist's son with a British accent from his English upbringing by one of Achmed's 42 wives, introduced in the 2011 special Controlled Chaos. Portrayed as a love child reuniting with his "dead" father, A.J.'s appearances emphasize familial dysfunction and cultural clashes, appearing selectively in Achmed segments without independent routines. Similarly, Little Jeff, Peanut's own ventriloquist dummy introduced in Controlled Chaos, is a diminutive, "ugly" figure in black attire that amplifies meta-humor on ventriloquism hierarchies, used sparingly to mock recursive puppetry dynamics. Url, unveiled in the 2022 special Me the People, represents a tech-obsessed Gen-Z and purported grandson of Walter, constantly glued to his for barbs and generational jabs like "says you, boomer." Created during the , Url's distracted persona satirizes digital addiction and online discourse, with routines focusing on interrupting Dunham via device fixation; its relative novelty suggests potential for expansion, though it remains outside the core rotation.

Comedy Style and Techniques

Ventriloquism Mechanics

Jeff Dunham employs classical techniques refined through self-directed practice beginning at age eight in 1970, when he received his first dummy, Mortimer Snerd, and studied accompanying instructions, library books, and Jimmy Nelson's Instant Ventriloquism record. He practiced for hours daily in front of a bathroom mirror to minimize visible lip movement, focusing on keeping his own mouth largely closed while synchronizing the puppet's jaw action. This foundational discipline enables him to produce speech illusions where the puppet appears to originate the sound, achieved primarily through substitution for labial (b, m, p, which require lip closure): he replaces them with similar non-labial sounds—such as "d" or "g" for "b," inner tongue approximations for "m," and glottal stops or "o" for "p"—allowing the audience to infer the intended via context. Dunham has noted that such substitutions exploit auditory perception gaps, where viewers "fill in the blanks" subconsciously, though perfect execution demands rigorous repetition to avoid detectable artifacts like exaggerated jaw tension or breath pops. Puppet operation in Dunham's performances integrates manual controls for lifelike , typically using a seated posture on a stool with the puppet positioned on his lap or a stand for stability. His left hand enters the 's head from behind, with fingers manipulating an internal or mechanism to open and close the in sync with vocal output—often a simple cable or rod linked to the , which he has described building or modifying himself in his . The right hand grips a wrist-mounted rod extending to the puppet's arm, enabling independent gestures like pointing or waving that punctuate and enhance expressiveness without disrupting the primary voice . Advanced puppets, such as those for characters like or Walter, incorporate articulated eyes and secondary features (e.g., removable props or skeletal frames for Achmed) operated via additional levers or the puppeteer's subtle body shifts, allowing multi-layered movements that convey and timing critical to comedic rhythm. Dunham occasionally demonstrates these mechanics onstage in a straightforward manner to underscore the craft's technical demands before transitioning to character-driven humor. Voice modulation forms the auditory backbone, where Dunham alters pitch, , and to distinguish characters—e.g., a gravelly basso for Walter versus high-pitched nasality for —while projecting from the diaphragm to simulate distance without directional cues, relying on the puppet's focal pull to direct audience attention. of these elements demands precision, as desynchronized mouth flaps or gestures shatter the ; Dunham attributes his proficiency to decades of iteration, including custom puppet refinements for ergonomic control that reduce fatigue during extended tours. This mechanical rigor, grounded in empirical trial-and-error rather than formal , underpins his ability to sustain rapid-fire exchanges indistinguishable from unaided dialogue in live settings.

Satirical Approach and Humor Themes

Jeff Dunham employs as a satirical device, attributing controversial and statements to his puppet characters to create psychological distance from the material, thereby facilitating audience laughter at subjects without implicating the performer directly. This approach draws from influences like Johnny Carson's balanced political humor, where of the aisle are lampooned to avoid alienating viewers, allowing Dunham to generate onstage conflict and tension as the ostensible "sane" interlocutor amid the puppets' outbursts. By voicing exaggerated archetypes through inanimate figures, Dunham mocks and societal norms, defending the method as targeting individuals rather than endorsing group stereotypes. Central humor themes revolve around , with characters like the curmudgeonly retiree Walter delivering vulgar rants on politicians such as and , critiquing governmental incompetence and cultural shifts without overt partisan allegiance. and religious extremism form another pillar, epitomized by Achmed the Dead Terrorist, a skeletal jihadist whose routines suicide bombings, promises of virgins in paradise, and phrases like "Silence! I kill you," amassing over 100 million views by subverting post-9/11 fears into absurd . Ethnic and cultural stereotypes underpin additional motifs, including as a one-legged Mexican immigrant jesting about border crossings and green cards, and Sweet Daddy Dee as a jive-speaking Black pimp deriding Dunham's suburban naivety. Gender dynamics and aging grievances feature prominently via Walter's insults toward women and generational complaints, while broader addresses relationships, , and hypersensitivity among youth through new characters. Dunham deliberately eschews of core to maintain broad appeal, focusing instead on universal absurdities and avoiding topics that might unify rather than divide for comedic effect. Mainstream critics, often from outlets exhibiting left-leaning biases, decry these elements as endorsing , , and homophobia, yet Dunham counters that only a small minority takes offense while the majority recognizes the intent as provocative exaggeration rather than malice.

Controversies

Accusations of Racism and Stereotyping

Jeff Dunham has encountered accusations of racism and stereotyping primarily for his use of puppet characters that embody ethnic and cultural caricatures, with critics contending these routines reinforce harmful generalizations about racial, ethnic, and religious groups. Characters such as Achmed the Dead Terrorist, introduced in a 2007 special, depict a skeletal jihadist with a , bushy eyebrows, and phrases like "! I kill you," which detractors label as Islamophobic and derivative of post-9/11 Arab terrorist tropes. Similarly, José Jalapeño on a Stick portrays a one-legged Mexican immigrant fixated on obtaining a , while Seamus the drunken Irish baby exaggerates stereotypes associated with Irish heritage. Additional puppets like Sweet Daddy Dee, a jive-talking Black pimp, and routines involving Walter making remarks about Indians or gay individuals with lisps have drawn charges of perpetuating stereotypes of Black people as drug-related figures, Mexicans as indolent, Jews as miserly, and homosexuals through affected mannerisms. In a 2013 analysis, Vulture described Dunham's comedy as fundamentally constructed on such stereotypes and racism, citing Achmed's terrorist recruitment humor and Walter's homophobic reactions to a gay therapist as emblematic. A prominent instance occurred in August 2022, when the anti-racism advisory committee in , , urged city council to cancel Dunham's scheduled November 20 performance at the , asserting that his reliance on racial in characters like Achmed and inflicts harm on marginalized communities and normalizes , , and homophobia. Committee chair Saleh Waziruddin stated, "There's a lot of harm caused by these kinds of so-called 'comedy.' Other people will hear it and think it's OK to be and and homophobic." has characterized Dunham's puppets as "dysfunctional, foul-mouthed and unashamedly ," arguing they target broad demographic groups in ways that exceed satirical bounds. reported critics branding Dunham a for reviving outdated across ethnic lines.

Responses to Political Correctness Critiques

Dunham has argued that his use of ventriloquist characters enables him to explore contentious topics through dialogue and conflict between puppets, rather than direct personal statements, thereby mitigating backlash from critics. In a 2022 interview, he stated that this format allows him to "point and and discuss and argue on stage with tension and conflict," contrasting it with solo comedians who cancellation merely by broaching certain subjects. This approach, he contends, functions like a "mini on stage," embedding within character interactions to address news-driven issues without alienating audiences. Regarding cancel culture, Dunham has expressed relief at its perceived decline following political shifts, noting in early 2025 that with Donald Trump's return to office, comedians could "joke about the things we used to joke about," implying prior restrictions under different administrations. He has highlighted the perils for newcomers, stating he would not want to start a comedy career today due to social media scrutiny and the "old school way" of testing material in clubs being undermined by instant viral judgment. His 2022-2023 tour, titled "Still Not Canceled," directly referenced these dynamics, with Dunham observing that "people are getting canceled left and right" for a single misstep, yet his established fanbase provides insulation. Dunham defends his style's edginess as calibrated for broad appeal, aiming to offend only 3-5% of an audience for humorous effect while prioritizing entertainment for ticket-buyers, including families. He draws from predecessors like and , who avoided overt partisanship, and insists his material mocks figures across the —such as portraying Walter as akin to —without "trashing the left" or right exclusively. On , he has positioned his puppets as a deliberate counter to it, granting a "" for unfiltered remarks on stereotypes, as seen in characters like Achmed the Dead Terrorist, which he views as satirical exaggeration rather than endorsement of prejudice. This framework, Dunham argues, sustains his career by fostering repeat attendance through consistent, non-hostile humor amid evolving cultural sensitivities.

Impact on Career and Fanbase

Accusations of racism and stereotyping, particularly surrounding characters like Achmed the Dead Terrorist, generated significant media scrutiny but did not impede Dunham's commercial trajectory; instead, the viral popularity of the Achmed routine in 2007 propelled his fame, leading to his "Spark of Insanity" tour from 2007 to 2010, which sold 1,981,720 tickets across 386 venues and earned a Guinness World Record for the most tickets sold for a stand-up comedy tour. This surge contrasted with critical backlash, as outlets like Vulture noted audience drop-off for less edgy televised content, yet Dunham's core live performances maintained strong appeal among fans valuing unfiltered satire. Dunham's fanbase expanded robustly post-controversy, with DVD sales exceeding six million units and consistent arena sell-outs, reflecting loyalty from audiences receptive to his humor, often aligned with conservative demographics. His 2008 Comedy Central Christmas special featuring Achmed drew the network's highest ratings ever for a stand-up broadcast, underscoring how controversy amplified visibility without alienating paying supporters. Ongoing tours, including the "Still Not Canceled" series launched amid discussions, continue to fill large venues, indicating resilience against activist critiques that have failed to translate into boycotts or revenue loss. While mainstream media and academic-leaning sources frequently decry Dunham's routines as offensive, empirical metrics of success—such as ranking among ' highest-paid comedians in the late 2000s—demonstrate that public reception prioritizes entertainment over ideological conformity, fostering a dedicated following that has sustained his career through decades of intermittent uproar. This dynamic highlights a divergence between elite criticism and mass-market validation, with Dunham's unapologetic style reinforcing fan allegiance rather than eroding it.

Reception and Legacy

Commercial Achievements

Jeff Dunham's commercial success is marked by record-breaking ticket sales for his stand-up tours, substantial DVD and digital content revenue, and high viewership for television specials. His "Spark of Insanity" tour achieved the for the most tickets sold for a tour, with 1,981,720 tickets sold across performances from 2007 to 2009. Pollstar data indicates consistent high grosses, such as $12.17 million from 45 shows in a recent reporting period and over $7 million from select tours in 2021. Dunham's DVD releases have generated millions in sales, with over four million units sold by November 2009, accompanied by $7 million in merchandise revenue. Specific titles like A Very Special Christmas Special sold 400,000 copies in its first 10 days, while Controlled Chaos earned 5× Platinum certification for 500,000 units in the United States. In 2013, direct digital sales of one special grossed $4.5 million in 45 hours via his website. Later estimates place total DVD sales at seven million units. Television specials on have drawn significant audiences, with The Jeff Dunham Show premiere attracting 5.3 million viewers in 2009, the network's most-watched series debut. Dunham holds records for the first, second, and fourth most-viewed specials on the channel, including strong performances like 1.8 million viewers for a 2020 holiday special. ranked him among top-earning comedians, with $15.5 million in 2017 from over 200 shows.

Critical and Public Reception

Dunham's comedy has garnered substantial public acclaim, evidenced by strong commercial performance and viewership metrics. His 2009 series premiere, , attracted 5.3 million viewers, marking Comedy Central's highest-rated series debut at the time. The 2020 Completely Unrehearsed Last-Minute Pandemic Holiday Special drew 1.8 million viewers on premiere, becoming Comedy Central's most-watched non-news program of the year. In 2008, Dunham ranked as North America's top-grossing stand-up comedian, generating $19.2 million in ticket sales according to data. Public polling reflects sustained popularity, with ranking him the 328th most popular contemporary as of recent surveys. Fan attendance remains robust, as seen in sell-outs like nearly 6,000 tickets for a 2013 performance. Critically, reception is more divided, with praise for Dunham's technique and crowd engagement often tempered by dismissals of his humor as juvenile or reliant on broad stereotypes. User reviews on for specials like Spark of Insanity (2007) average 7.9/10 from over 4,600 ratings, highlighting enjoyment of character-driven . Similarly, Relative Disaster (2017) receives positive fan feedback for incorporating timely references and local humor. However, some reviewers and online commentators critique the content as lowbrow or politically slanted, with one parent review decrying the 2009 show's partisan elements as insulting after just 15 minutes. discussions frequently question his appeal, labeling routines as unfunny schlock even at peak popularity, though acknowledging technical proficiency. A 2020 Netflix special review noted audience enthusiasm but implied self-selection bias in live reactions. This polarization aligns with Dunham's appeal to audiences valuing irreverent, humor over elite consensus, as his sustained touring success—despite critiques from outlets focused on —demonstrates resilience against backlash. His DVDs have sold over six million units, underscoring a broad, loyal fanbase undeterred by professional skepticism.

Cultural Influence and Debates

Dunham's integration of with contemporary has revitalized the art form, elevating it from a niche novelty to a staple of mainstream . By performing in arenas and achieving a for selling nearly 2 million tickets on a single tour as of 2023, he demonstrated the format's potential for large-scale appeal. His routines, featuring characters that address political and social issues, have influenced subsequent comedians to explore for edgier, character-driven humor, fostering greater respect for in professional circles. This revival has extended ventriloquism's role in public discourse, allowing Dunham to comment on elections, cultural norms, and through exaggerated personas, thereby shaping audience expectations for as a medium for unvarnished social observation. His success, marked by over a decade of arena tours starting around 2007, underscores a demand for humor that prioritizes over conformity, impacting how performers balance accessibility with provocation. Debates surrounding Dunham's work center on the limits of satirical expression amid rising sensitivity to and offense. Characters such as Achmed the Dead Terrorist, introduced in his 2007 special Spark of Insanity, have drawn praise for targeting terrorist ideologies but faced accusations of reinforcing negative ethnic caricatures, particularly from progressive critics who view the humor as insufficiently nuanced. Dunham counters that his intent is to satirize behaviors and , not communities, using the format to deliver observations that challenge prevailing norms of acceptability in . This friction highlights broader cultural tensions between free speech advocacy and demands for , with Dunham's enduring popularity—evident in sold-out shows and specials—illustrating resistance to pressures for among segments of the audience.

Personal Life

Marriages and Family

Dunham married Paige Brown on May 19, 1994. The couple had three daughters: Bree Hemphill (née Dunham), Ashlyn Dunham, and Kenna Dunham. In November 2008, Dunham filed for divorce, which Paige contested; the proceedings extended until finalization on May 5, 2010. Dunham wed Audrey Murdick, a certified and , on October 12, 2012. The couple welcomed twin sons, Jack Steven Dunham and James Jeffrey Dunham, on October 11, 2015, one day before their third wedding anniversary. Dunham maintains an active role in his blended family of five children, often incorporating family references into his public life and social media posts.

Philanthropy and Interests

Dunham and his wife, , established the Jeff Dunham Family Fund to support charitable causes, donating a dollar from each ticket sold during his tours to local s, including children's hospitals. Through this initiative, the fund has directed proceeds to entities such as the Red Cross and , with contributions exceeding $1.2 million since its inception as of 2017. In 2021, Dunham participated in a event for Best Buddies , an aiding individuals with intellectual disabilities. Additionally, following a 2020 lawsuit against a merchandise vendor using his likeness amid the , Dunham pledged any recovered proceeds to related relief charities. Beyond philanthropy, Dunham pursues several personal interests tied to his craft and mechanical aptitude. He constructs his own ventriloquist dummies for performances and restores ones as a , including a 6-foot-tall mechanized figure from 1941 originally used in women's games. His collection features both mass-produced historical "toys" and custom one-off pieces from past eras. Dunham also maintains an enthusiasm for and mechanics, building and flying kit helicopters from designs; he has completed multiple such , though one incident resulted in a crash that damaged his . His early interest in cars, sparked by toys in the late 1960s, persists into adulthood, influencing his appreciation for custom and performance vehicles.

Works

Books

Dear Walter..., published in 2003, consists of a compilation of questions posed by audiences to Dunham's character Walter during live shows, with Dunham providing responses in character as the grumpy retiree. The book captures the interactive element of Dunham's performances, focusing on Walter's acerbic worldview and audience engagement. Dunham's primary autobiographical work, All By My Selves: Walter, Peanut, Achmed, and Me, was released on October 28, 2010, by Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Group. It details his early life in Dallas, Texas, where he began practicing ventriloquism at age 10 after receiving a "how to be a ventriloquist" record, his persistence through rejections in the 1980s and 1990s, and the evolution of his key characters including Peanut, Walter, Achmed the Dead Terrorist, and others. The narrative emphasizes self-taught skills, family support, and breakthroughs like appearances on The Tonight Show in 1990 and viral success with Achmed in 2007. The book includes photographs of Dunham with his puppets and behind-the-scenes insights into crafting routines. No additional books authored solely by Dunham have been published as of 2025, though his works extend to accompanying media like DVD releases and audiobooks of his specials.

Filmography and Media Appearances

Jeff Dunham's primarily consists of specials showcasing his ventriloquist routines with characters such as Walter, Achmed the Dead Terrorist, and , alongside limited roles in films and television series. His early media exposure began with a guest spot on A&E's An Evening at in 1989. In 2003, he performed a half-hour solo set on , introducing José Jalapeño on a Stick. Dunham's breakthrough came with a series of Comedy Central specials starting in 2006. Jeff Dunham: Arguing with Myself aired on April 11, 2006, featuring routines with , Walter, and . This was followed by Jeff Dunham: Spark of Insanity on September 17, 2007, which introduced Achmed and became highly popular, leading to over 30 million views for clips. Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special premiered on November 30, 2008, blending holiday themes with his characters. Subsequent specials included Controlled Chaos on September 25, 2011, and Minding the Monsters in 2012, both on . All Over the Map aired in 2014, Unhinged in Hollywood in 2016, expanding his repertoire. In 2009, Dunham starred in , a Comedy Central series that ran for one season with eight episodes from October 22 to December 10, interacting with his puppets in sketch format. Later specials shifted platforms: Beside Himself streamed on in 2019, performed in . Me the People released in 2022, followed by and Scrooged-Up Holiday Special in 2024. Dunham has appeared in feature films, including a role in the comedy released on October 19, 2007. He provided voice work for animated projects such as Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature (2017), Mune: Guardian of the Moon (2017), and (2018). Additional media roles include hosting episodes of Food Network's and creating an animated film for CMT, as well as guest spots on shows like ABC's and NBC's .

References

  1. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0242278/bio/
  2. https://www.jeffdunham.com/about/
  3. https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/most-tickets-sold-for-a-stand-up-comedy-tour
  4. https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/hes-no-dummy/
  5. https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/may/08/jeff-dunham-offensive-puppets-voice-trumps-america-achmed-dead-terrorist-jose-mexican-immigrant
  6. https://cityclerk.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2017/17-0888_misc_1_08-08-2017.pdf
  7. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/jeff-dunham.html
  8. https://jeffdunham.fandom.com/wiki/Jeff_Dunham
  9. https://www.facebook.com/JeffDunham/posts/walter-asks-about-jeffs-adoption-jeff-dunham/951054729721588/
  10. https://www.tvinsider.com/people/jeff-dunham/
  11. https://thecurrent.pk/blog/jeff-dunham-net-worth-how-the-ventriloquist-built-his-fortune
  12. https://www.biography.com/actors/jeff-dunham-ventriloquism-first-doll
  13. https://www.today.com/popculture/all-my-selves-ventriloquist-jeff-dunham-speaks-out-wbna39976167
  14. https://www.localsyr.com/community/tell-me-something-good/jeff-dunham-is-no-dummy-how-the-ventriloquist-got-his-start/
  15. https://www.lubbockonline.com/story/entertainment/local/2017/11/05/ventriloquist-dunham-reveals-hilarious-comic-writing-delivery-friday/14839085007/
  16. https://www.quora.com/How-did-Jeff-Dunham-become-famous
  17. https://jeffdunham.fandom.com/wiki/Monty_Ballew
  18. https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/jeff-dunham-timeline-1
  19. https://news.web.baylor.edu/news/story/2025/jeff-dunhams-artificial-intelligence-tour-coming-oct-3-wacos-foster-pavilion
  20. https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottking/2018/10/31/inside-the-mind-and-career-of-ventriloquist-comedian-jeff-dunham/
  21. https://www.ocregister.com/2009/11/25/jeff-dunham-brings-his-identity-crisis-to-anaheim/
  22. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-05-26-ol-62340-story.html
  23. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_pc0YeXqdM
  24. https://www.mountainhomenews.com/blogs/1144/entry/31161
  25. https://www.cracked.com/article_34272_how-did-jeff-dunham-become-a-record-breaking-comedian.html
  26. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0806102/
  27. https://speaking.com/speakers/jeff-dunham/
  28. https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/jeff-dunham/192495192
  29. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1483024/
  30. https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/the-jeff-dunham-show
  31. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvTIDbPOvcs
  32. https://www.netflix.com/title/81074113
  33. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0242278/
  34. https://www.comedyville.ca/biggest-stand-up-comedy-tours-history/
  35. https://www.neworleans.com/articles/post/world-renowned-comedian-jeff-dunham-launches-second-leg-of-his-hugely-successful-perfectly-unbalanced-international-tour/
  36. https://news.pollstar.com/2022/10/11/comedy-special-issue-top-10-highest-grossing-tours/
  37. https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/articles/5-most-successful-touring-comedians-133118619.html
  38. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDzkCGjL2DgSBPHY_YkAPT7wIbtpz_B4E
  39. https://investor.caesars.com/news-releases/news-release-details/comedy-icon-jeff-dunham-announces-three-2022-dates-jeff-dunham
  40. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23318056/
  41. https://deadline.com/2024/01/jeff-dunham-special-im-with-cupid-premiere-date-1235728435/
  42. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZm9MBLlmi8
  43. https://www.kfcyumcenter.com/events/detail/jeff-dunham-artificial-intelligence
  44. https://www.xfinitymobilearena.com/news/detail/jeff-dunham-to-bring-his-artificial-intelligence-tour-to-xfinity-mobile-arena
  45. https://www.facebook.com/JeffDunham/videos/fall-2025-new-tour-dates-jeff-dunham/1407238783894395/
  46. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uixh2SPyiFg
  47. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/F-rH5Z2dKHI
  48. https://www.facebook.com/JeffDunham/videos/jeff-dunham-artificial-intelligence-goes-international/760868106880500/
  49. https://www.ranker.com/list/jeff-dunham-puppets-list/reference
  50. https://jeffdunham.fandom.com/wiki/Peanut
  51. https://jeffdunham.fandom.com/wiki/Walter
  52. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-09-24-ol-1248-story.html
  53. https://x.com/jeffdunham/status/1296854514276773889
  54. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NzfoWfXnCs
  55. https://jeffdunham.fandom.com/wiki/Bubba_J
  56. https://jeffadunhaamm.fandom.com/wiki/Bubba_J
  57. https://jeffdunham.fandom.com/wiki/Achmed
  58. https://www.netflix.com/title/70075503
  59. https://www.facebook.com/JeffDunham/posts/one-of-the-first-characters-i-created-and-then-built-myself-was-the-lovable-and-/10158703279678827/
  60. https://www.facebook.com/JeffDunham/posts/its-tbt-and-in-my-2014-special-all-over-the-map-bubba-j-left-his-southern-roots-/537936924366706/
  61. https://read.dukeupress.edu/tikkun/article-pdf/23/4/70/384640/0230070.pdf
  62. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI-7mQUTiXI
  63. https://jeffdunham.fandom.com/wiki/Sweet_Daddy_D
  64. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsnJ0knkIIo
  65. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GabqsZulUOk
  66. https://www.facebook.com/JeffDunham/videos/introducing-melvin-the-superhero-and-his-most-outstanding-feature-jeff-dunham/1272664696627408/
  67. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10847194/
  68. https://jeffdunham.fandom.com/wiki/Larry
  69. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyzPzACz7b0
  70. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL357BrwK7c
  71. https://jeffdunham.fandom.com/wiki/Achmed_Jr.
  72. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_fwSDmUKxU
  73. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgLktxePDL4
  74. https://jeffdunham.fandom.com/wiki/Url
  75. https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/ffwe0a/jeff_dunham_here_im_a_comedianventriloquist_who/
  76. https://www.facebook.com/JeffDunham/videos/live-self-isolating-and-in-the-workshop-part-1/208614210430189/
  77. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNuMGcx09Vs
  78. https://theartofventriloquism.wordpress.com/2016/01/04/jeff-dunhams-puppets/
  79. https://www.contemppuppetry.eu/information/jef-dunham-review/
  80. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h445_gqs1Ls
  81. https://www.indystar.com/story/entertainment/2022/12/27/jeff-dunham-on-cancel-culture-ripping-politicians-and-writing-jokes/69743351007/
  82. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2024-02-21/jeff-dunham-comedy-special-comedy-central-ontario
  83. https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/06/arts/television/06dunham.html
  84. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/jeff-dunham-st-catharines-1.6565463
  85. https://www.vulture.com/2013/09/comedy-for-dummies-jeff-dunhams-fall-at-the-top.html
  86. https://www.foxnews.com/media/jeff-dunham-gives-two-crucial-reasons-why-doesnt-envy-comedians-trying-make-today
  87. https://screenrant.com/jeff-dunham-me-the-people-interview/
  88. https://slate.com/culture/2009/02/how-ventriloquist-jeff-dunham-became-america-s-most-popular-stand-up-comedian.html
  89. https://www.aol.com/jeff-dunham-canceled-not-likely-135443267.html
  90. https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/1fltkou/why_was_jeff_dunham_hated_so_much/
  91. https://data.pollstar.com/Chart/2022/10/101022_comedy.chartEmail_1024.pdf
  92. https://data.pollstar.com/chart/2021/12/WorldwideTicketSalesTop100Tours_986.pdf
  93. https://www.facebook.com/Jwilson051998/posts/happy-63rd-birthday-to-jeff-dunhamjeffrey-douglas-dunham-born-april-18-1962-is-a/996540485995651/
  94. https://www.jacksonville.com/story/entertainment/local/2008/12/12/q-a-jeff-dunhams-dummies-have-little-to-say/16003034007/
  95. https://bestsellingalbums.org/video/5871
  96. https://www.forbes.com/pictures/eimh45lmii/no-4-jeff-dunham/
  97. https://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyle/dunham-breaks-comedy-central-ratings-record-idUSTRE59N0UM/
  98. https://deadline.com/2020/12/jeff-dunham-pandemic-holiday-special-ratings-comedy-central-1234650062/
  99. https://theeldredpreserve.com/entertainment/jeff-dunham-seriously/
  100. https://www.forbes.com/pictures/596e3dc44bbe6f2e2a0965e6/9-jeff-dunham-15500000/
  101. https://www.tvguide.com/news/jeff-dunham-ratings-1011221/
  102. https://today.yougov.com/topics/entertainment/explore/actor/Jeff_Dunham
  103. https://captimes.com/news/local/city-life/why-is-jeff-dunham-so-popular/article_0568ca8a-1679-5c4a-82e9-aebf7f2be7b9.html
  104. https://www.imdb.com/list/ls086022668/
  105. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7364706/reviews/
  106. https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/the-jeff-dunham-show/user-reviews/adult
  107. https://www.reddit.com/r/StandUpComedy/comments/d92p4k/who_actually_watches_jeff_dunham/
  108. https://thecomicscomic.com/2020/07/02/review-jeff-dunham-beside-himself-on-netflix/
  109. https://www.rgj.com/story/life/nightlife/2014/03/26/comedy-jeff-dunham-is-winning-the-fight-to-bring-respect-for-ventriloquists-/6932485/
  110. https://variety.com/2014/biz/news/jeff-dunham-tour-characters-1201301886/
  111. https://www.vulture.com/2013/02/what-jeff-dunham-does-right.html
  112. https://piffany.substack.com/p/last-things-first-jeff-dunham
  113. https://www.quora.com/What-is-an-example-of-a-joke-by-Jeff-Dunham-that-was-thought-to-represent-racial-stereotypes
  114. https://jppinnacle.com/newserx/34317-exploring-jeff-dunham-amp-039-s-puppets-a-journey-into-comedy
  115. https://people.com/all-about-jeff-dunham-kids-11702808
  116. https://www.countrythangdaily.com/meet-jeff-dunham-ex-wife-paige-dunham/
  117. https://people.com/who-is-audrey-dunham-jeff-dunham-wife-8699264
  118. https://www.countrythangdaily.com/get-to-know-jeff-dunham-children/
  119. https://simmonsbankarena.com/concerts-shows/jeff-dunham-still-not-canceled/
  120. https://www.targetcenter.com/news/detail/just-announced-jeff-dunham-1
  121. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrTeQ_4E0nM
  122. https://deadline.com/2020/04/coronavirus-scam-jeff-dunham-lawsuit-copyright-infringment-marty-singer-1202916234/
  123. https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/magazine/01ventriloquist-t.html
  124. https://www.recordnet.com/story/entertainment/local/2012/03/27/jeff-dunham-is-no-dummy/49691229007/
  125. https://www.facebook.com/JeffDunham/posts/as-a-ventriloquist-i-love-collecting-unique-dummies-from-years-gone-by-both-the-/1131184278375298/
  126. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq4HZv9oFN8
  127. https://www.modelaircraft.org/sites/default/files/DunhamJeff.pdf
  128. https://fuelcurve.com/5-minutes-with-jeff-dunham/
  129. https://www.thriftbooks.com/a/jeff-dunham/268125/
  130. https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/1112487.Jeff_Dunham
  131. https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/all-by-my-selves-jeff-dunham/1100482679
  132. https://www.audible.com/author/Jeff-Dunham/B002JGLTL2
  133. https://www.thetvdb.com/series/the-jeff-dunham-show/seasons/all
  134. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYptL31Op-I
  135. https://www.movieinsider.com/p24726/jeff-dunham
Add your contribution
Related Hubs
User Avatar
No comments yet.