Jeff Dunham

**Jeffrey "Jeff" Dunham** (born April 18, 1962) is an American ventriloquist, comedian and actor. He has appeared on many television programs. He has four specials that are shown on Comedy Central: *Jeff Dunham: Arguing with Myself*, *Jeff Dunham: Spark of Insanity*, ''Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special*, and *Jeff Dunham: Controlled Chaos*. Dunham also starred in *The Jeff Dunham Show*, a series on the network in 2009. His style has been described as "a dressed-down, more digestible version of Don Rickles with multiple personality disorder". Describing his characters, *Time* observes, "All of them are politically incorrect, gratuitously insulting and ill tempered." Dunham has been credited with reviving ventriloquism, and doing more to promote the art form than anyone since Edgar Bergen. and received more than 350 million hits on YouTube (his introduction of Achmed the Dead Terrorist in *Spark of Insanity* is the ninth most watched YouTube video). *Forbes.com* ranked Dunham as the third highest-paid comedian in the United States behind Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock,

## Early life
Dunham was born in Dallas, Texas on April 18, 1962. 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 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. Dunham explains 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, which prepared him for the solitude of living alone when he later moved to Los Angeles as a struggling comedian. 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 with Johnny Carson*, which was seen as the "holy grail" for comedians. 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 on that show with  singer Reba McEntire. This exposure helped make Dunham a large theater headliner, a rare accomplishment for a ventriloquist, but by the mid 1990s, his television appearances had dwindled, and with them, so did his stage audiences. The special's premiere was the highest rated telecast in Comedy Central's history. 

In September 2008, Dunham's 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. 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*.

### 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. Despite having the most-watched premiere in Comedy Central history, and higher average ratings than other shows on that network, the show was canceled after only one season, amid poor reviews and higher production costs than other Comedy Central shows.

Dunham appeared in a guest role with Bubba J on NBC's sictom *30 Rock*, playing a ventriloquist named Rick Wayne and his dummy Pumpkin from Stone Mountain, Georgia. 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.

Dunham appeared in the 2010 Steve Carell/Paul Rudd comedy, *Dinner for Schmucks*, as Lewis, with a new puppet named Diane.

His fourth special, *Jeff Dunham: Controlled Chaos*, premiered on September 25, 2011 on Comedy Central.

## Critical praise and controversy
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, was  nominated "Comedian of the Year" by the TNN Music City News Country Awards, and has drawn praise from the *Dallas Morning News* for his technique and timing. In 2008, a TV commercial for a ringtone featuring 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 Advertising Standards Authority 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, 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." He further commented, "I'm considering renaming Achmed, 'Bill.'" 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. In October 2009 *The Jeff Dunham Show* enjoyed good initial ratings, but was not well liked by critics, who did not find it funny, and either questioned the wisdom of translating his act into a series, or conceded a prejudice against Dunham, his previous specials, or ventriloquism itself.

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 that it would otherwise not garner by itself.

Dunham's autobiography, *All By My Selves: Walter, Peanut, Achmed and Me*, was published by Dutton in November 2010.

### Peanut
Peanut is a hyperactive, 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 has been described as "the bad kid".

### 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".

### Melvin the Superhero Guy
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 also 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. 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.

### Achmed Junior
Achmed Junior is the estranged son of Achmed. He first appeared during the Identity Crisis Tour 2010, and makes 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 the half of his face and body.  He speaks with a British accent, and does not wish to be a suicide bomber.

### Others
Other characters that Dunham has voiced include a miniature puppet of Peanut's, which turns out to be a small version of Dunham himself, and an unseen worm inside a bottle of tequila, both of which he has used, for example, in his appearance on A&E's *An Evening at The Improv*. The miniature Dunham puppet was also used in Dunham's 2011 Comedy Central special, *Controlled Chaos*.

## Personal life
Dunham met his first wife, Paige Brown, at the Comedy Corner in West Palm Beach, Florida, after she had sent him a fan letter following a previous performance. They began dating in December 1992. Brown, who had a one and a half year-old daughter, Bree, moved out to Los Angeles in June 1993. Dunham married Brown, and adopted Bree in May 1994. They would have two other daughters, Ashlyn in 1995 and Kenna was born in 1997. Though Dunham never missed major events such as birthdays, his work would keep him away from home two and a half to three weeks a month, which proved difficult for the family.

In addition to building the dummies he uses in his act, Dunham also restores antique ones as a hobby, such as The Umpire, a  mechanized dummy built in 1941 to work the plate at a girl's softball game, but which went unused and packed away for 50 years, before Dunham acquired it in early 2008.

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. He is also an aficionado of muscle cars and Apple Computer products.

## References
## Other websites
* Jeff Dunham's official website
* Jeff Dunham  at Comedy Central
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