Jeff Dunham
Jeff Dunham | |
---|---|
Dallas, Texas , U.S. | |
Medium |
|
Alma mater | Baylor University |
Years active | 1976–present |
Genres | |
Spouse | Paige Brown
(m. 1994; div. 2008)Audrey Murdick (m. 2012) |
Children | 5 |
Website | jeffdunham |
Jeffrey Douglas Dunham (born April 18, 1962) is an American
Dunham has been called "America's favorite comedian" by Slate. His introduction of Achmed the Dead Terrorist in Spark of Insanity 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
Early life
Dunham was born on April 18, 1962, in
He began
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, as 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
Beginnings
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
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
The Tonight Show
At the end of 1988, Dunham was told by James McCawley, a talent booker for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, that Dunham 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 attending, with
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
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.
In 2007, Dunham appeared as The Amazing Ken with José Jalapeño on a Stick in the
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.
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
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
His fourth special,
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
Reception
In January 2008, Dunham was voted by fans the Top Comic in Comedy Central's "Stand-Up Showdown". He is the only person ever to win the "Ventriloquist of the Year" Award twice. He was nominated "Comedian of the Year" by the
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 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 constituencies, and 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 he not use or name Achmed in his show. Due to the restriction, but to avoid disappointing fans, Achmed was renamed to be "Jacques Merde, the Dead French Terrorist" (Jacques Merde meaning "Jack Shit").[54][55][56]
Books
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
Recurring characters
Walter
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
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
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
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
Achmed is the skeletal corpse of an incompetent
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
Sweet Daddy Dee
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
Melvin wears a blue superhero costume, and is used to poke fun at
Little Jeff
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
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
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
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
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
Little Peanut is a miniature version of Peanut that Dunham has used to counter Peanut's use of Little Jeff.[71]
Url
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
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] and on December 25, 2011, they became engaged.[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 also restores antique ones as a hobby, such as The Umpire, a 6-foot-tall (1.8 m) mechanized dummy built in 1941 to work the plate at a girls' softball game, which went unused and packed away for 50 years before Dunham acquired it in early 2008.[1]
Dunham has harbored a love of
Tours
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 |
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– | United States | All shows at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada.[81][82] |
Perfectly Unbalanced | December 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] – December 12, 2022 | United States, Canada, Europe | First tour since the COVID-19 pandemic began[41] |
Still Not Canceled | December 28, 2022[42] – present[87] | United States, Canada |
Filmography
- 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 |
2008 | 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 |
2012 | 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] |
- 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" |
2002 | 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) |
2009 | The Jeff Dunham Show | Himself | 7 episodes; also writer and executive producer |
2009 | 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 |
2014 | Achmed Saves America | Achmed, Bubba J., Himself | Video; creator, executive producer and original character designer |
2017 | Smurfs: The Lost Village | Farmer Smurf | Voice |
2017 | The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature | Mole | Voice |
2017 | Mune: Guardian of the Moon | Phospho | Voice |
2017 | Gnome Alone | Quiksilver | Voice |
2018 | Elliot the Littlest Reindeer | Clyde, Peanutbutter | Voice |
2020 | Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? | Himself | Voice, episode: "Too Many Dummies!" |
2020 | Tacoma FD | Ventriloquist | TV series, 1 episode |
2021 | Last Man Standing | Himself (cameo) | Episode: "Meatless Mike" |
2022 | The Masked Singer | Himself / Pi-Rat |
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Mooallem, Jon (October 29, 2009). "Comedy for Dummies". The New York Times.
- ^ a b "Jeff Dunham and Friends have found a Home at Comedy Central signing a Multi-Platform Deal to Encompass all Areas of Entertainment" Archived September 4, 2013, at the Wayback Machine Comedy Central; March 23, 2009.
- ^ The Huffington Post. November 9, 2009.
- ^ Rose, Lacey (July 13, 2009). "The Top-Earning Comedians". Forbes. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
- ^ Timemagazine. June 8, 2009
- The Los Angeles Times, November 4, 2009.
- Biography.com. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
- ^ a b c d The biography page on Dunham's official site established his year of birth when it was accessed on April 17, 2009, but had been removed by November 28, 2009. Archive of 2007 version of official site.
- ^ The Biography Channel.
- ^ a b "Clip of Dunham from an episode of the CMT TV series Fast Living". YouTube. Retrieved May 4, 2013. [dead YouTube link]
- ^ a b Jeff Dunham. "Building a Rotorway 162F Part 1 of 8: How I got into this." Archived March 9, 2009, at the Wayback Machine KITPLANES Magazine, March 1997.
- ^ ISBN 978-0525951414.
- ^ a b c "Comedy Central: Comedians: Jeff Dunham". Archived from the original on March 14, 2008. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
- ^ Video of the Jeff Dunham's Hertz commercial.
- ^ a b "Most tickets sold for a stand-up comedy tour". Guinness World Records. Retrieved March 23, 2017.
- ^ a b "Kevin Hart Is On Track for the Biggest Comedy Tour of All Time". Billboard. Retrieved March 23, 2017.
- ^ Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special. Amazon.com; retrieved January 8, 2012.
- ^ Daniel Frankel (November 18, 2008). "Dunham's 'Christmas' sleighs ratings". Variety.
- ^ Don't Come Home for Christmas. Amazon.com; retrieved November 23, 2011.
- ^ The Jeff Dunham Show at Comedy Central.
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- ^ Shae, Danny (December 29, 2009). ""Jeff Dunham Show" Cancelled by Comedy Central". Huffington Post. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
- New York Magazine. October 20, 2009.
- ^ Dinner for Schmucks Archived April 9, 2010, at the Wayback Machine official site; accessed May 4, 2013.
- ^ staff, Deanna Darr Journal. "Jeff Dunham brings eclectic cast of characters to civic center". Rapid City Journal Media Group. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
- ^ "Jeff Dunham Controlled Chaos". RIAA.
- ^ a b Blair, Iain (September 21, 2017). "Walk of Fame Honoree Jeff Dunham Opens Up About His Constant Reinvention". Variety. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
- ^ Harr, Dan (July 31, 2012). "New Jeff Dunham Special 'Minding The Monsters' Coming in October". Music News Nashville.
- ^ Dunham, Jeff. Minding the Monsters. Comedy Central. October 7, 2012.
- ^ "Jeff Dunham Minding the Monsters". RIAA.
- ^ "'Jeff Dunham: All Over the Map' to Premiere Sunday, November 16 on Comedy Central". TV By The Numbers by zap2it.com. November 3, 2014. Archived from the original on May 13, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2017.
- ^ a b "Achmed Saves America". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
- ^ a b "CMT to Premiere Jeff Dunham's 'Achmed Saves America', 3/28". Broadway World. March 19, 2014. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
- ^ Holmes, Manny (July 9, 2015). "Jeff Dunham Books Primetime Special for NBC". Variety. Variety. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
- ^ Cohn, Paulette (September 14, 2015). "Jeff Dunham Talks Getting Unhinged in Hollywood". Parade.
- ^ "Jeff Dunham Announces "The Perfectly Unbalanced Tour"". Digital Tour Buss.
- ^ "Comedian Jeff Dunham visiting Yakima Valley SunDome on March 12". NBC.
- ^ Brooks, Dave (September 15, 2017). "Famed Ventriloquist Jeff Dunham Announces 60-City Passively Aggressive Tour: Exclusive". Billboard.
- ^ Wright, Megh. "Here's the Trailer for Jeff Dunham's Netflix Special 'Relative Disaster'". Vulture.
- ^ Wright, Megh. "Take a Puppet Break With the Trailer for Jeff Dunham's Netflix Special". Vulture.
- ^ a b c "Comic ventriloquist Dunham bringing 'Seriously?' tour to Tucson Arena". Tucson.com. July 6, 2021.
- ^ a b Dunham, Jeff (October 14, 2022). "Back on the road with my new tour, "Still Not Canceled," and we're ending 2022 with some awesome arena dates! Tickets are on-sale now, so will YOU be there…!?". Retrieved July 10, 2023.
- ^ "Who were the celebrities eliminated on the Masked Singer". Penn Live. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
- ^ a b Grobart, Matt (January 12, 2024). "Comedian Jeff Dunham Unveils Premiere Date, First Look Clip For Comedy Central Special 'I'm With Cupid'". Deadline. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
- ^ Dawn, Randee (October 20, 2009). "The Jeff Dunham Show". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
- ^ Miller, Joshua Rhett. "Comedian Defends 'Achmed the Dead Terrorist' Puppet Routine Against South African Ban". Fox News. October 2, 2008.
- ^ "Dead terrorist ad banned" Archived December 22, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. iafrica.com. October 6, 2008.
- ^ de Moraes, Lisa. "How to Woo the TV Critics? With Insults", The Washington Post. July 30, 2009; accessed May 4, 2014.
- ^ Dietz, Jason (May 3, 2010). "2009–10 TV Scorecard: The Best and Worst Shows and Networks". Metacritic.
- ^ McLaren, Richard. "'Dunham Show' laughs are strictly for dummies" Archived June 29, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. The Boston Globe. October 22, 2009.
- ^ Wiser, Paige. "TV Review: Comedy Central's 'The Jeff Dunham Show'". Chicago Sun-Times. October 22, 2009.
- ^ Stuever, Hank. "Jeff Dunham's laugh-free zone". The Washington Post. October 22, 2009.
- ^ Lowry, Brian. "The Jeff Dunham Show". Daily Variety. October 20, 2009.
- ^ Nurul Azliah (May 22, 2014). "Jeff Dunham and 'Achmed the Dead Terrorist' joke about chewing gum in first Singapore show". Singapore Showbiz. Yahoo! Entertainment. Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
- ^ Sean L. McCarthy (2014). "Censored: Jeff Dunham puts new words in Achmed The Dead Terrorist's mouth for Malaysian audience on world tour". The Comic's Comic.
- ^ Robin Leach (June 18, 2014). "Q+A: After 30 years on the road, Jeff Dunham is ready for a run at Planet Hollywood". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
- ISBN 9780970132307.
- ^ a b This is mentioned in an extra on the Spark of Insanity DVD.
- ^ Perri, Erin (September 14, 2020). "Jeff Dunham's satirical Biden vs. Trump debate is so funny it's almost scary". TheMix.Net. Retrieved September 28, 2020.
- ^ Doggrell, Glenn (May 14, 1992). "Comedy Review : Jeff Dunham's Not a Dummy When Laughs Are at Stake". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
- ^ a b c "Jeff Dunham and his puppets". UnikNotions. Archived from the original on February 3, 2016. Retrieved May 4, 2014.
- ^ This is mentioned in the DVD Commentary of Arguing with Myself.
- ^ "Puppetry Pandemonium". November 4, 2014.
- ^ "Achmed the dead terrorist and humor in popular geopolitics" by Darren Purcell, Melissa Scott Brown and Mahmut Gokmen, GeoJournal, January 31, 2009.
- ^ Levy, Piet (February 7, 2014). "Ventriloquist Jeff Dunham's 'punchlines' could use a little more punch". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
- A&E.
- ^ Jeff Dunham's Identity Crisis Tour Archived August 13, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved September 28, 2010.
- ^ Dunham, Jeff (November 21, 2011). Jeff Dunham: Controlled Chaos. YouTube, 7:43 to 8:09.
- Decider. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
- Decider. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
- ^ Sweeten-Shults, Lana (March 9, 2012). "Dunham kills audience in extended show". Times Record News. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
- Decider. Archivedfrom the original on November 25, 2022. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
- ^ Dunham, Jeff (December 27, 2011). "Hey everyone! On Christmas Day,@AudreyMurdick & I got engaged!", Twitter; accessed May 4, 2014.
- ^ Dunham, Jeff (October 13, 2012). "TA DAAAA! @audreymurdick and I are now married and I'm the luckiest guy on the planet! #jedreywedding2012 Off to honeymoon!". Twitter.
- ^ "Jeff Dunham – Timeline Photos" – via Facebook.
- ^ "Jeff Dunham Welcomes Sons Jack Steven and James Jeffrey – Moms & Babies – Celebrity Babies and Kids". People.com. Archived from the original on April 21, 2016. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
- ^ Rushworth, Heather (July 13, 2012). "Comedian Jeff Dunham Interview: He Owns a Batmobile?!". Exec Digital. Archived from the original on January 30, 2013. Retrieved May 4, 2014.
- ^ a b Walker, Rob (May 8, 2018). "How Jeff Dunham's offensive puppets became the voice of Trump's America". The Guardian. Archived from the original on May 8, 2018. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
- ^ "Jeff Dunham brings his Identity Crisis to Anaheim". Orange County Register. November 25, 2009.
- ^ "Jeff Dunham: 'Disorderly Conduct' on full display". NewsTimes. August 5, 2014.
- ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
- ^ "Q+A: Jeff Dunham brings 'Not Playing With a Full Deck' to Planet Hollywood". LasVegasSun.com. November 28, 2014. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
- ^ Ebie McFarland (September 14, 2015). "Comedian Jeff Dunham Announces Perfectly Unbalanced Tour". Essential Broadcast Media (Nashville). Retrieved July 20, 2019.
- ^ a b "Famed Ventriloquist Jeff Dunham Announces 60-City Passively Aggressive Tour: Exclusive". Billboard. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
- ^ Blair, Iain (September 21, 2017). "Walk of Fame Honoree Jeff Dunham Opens Up About His Constant Reinvention". Variety. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
- ^ Adams, Kirby (September 19, 2017). "Jeff Dunham brings his 'Passively Aggressive' tour to Yum Center". USA Today. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
- ^ "Tour Dates". JeffDunham.com.
- ^ McNary, Dave (October 5, 2012). "'Poppy Hill' sets high-profile voices". Variety. Reed Business Information.
External links
- Official website
- Jeff Dunham at Comedy Central
- Jeff Dunham at IMDb