Jeffrey Douglas Dunham was born on April 18,1962 and is an American ventriloquist, stand-up comedian and actor who has appeared on numerous television shows, including Late Show with David Letterman, Comedy Central Presents, The Tonight Show and Sonny With a Chance.
66 Facts About Jeff Dunham
2.
Jeff Dunham has six specials that run on Comedy Central: Arguing with Myself, Spark of Insanity, Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special, Controlled Chaos, Minding the Monsters, and All Over the Map.
3.
Dunham starred in The Jeff Dunham Show, a series on the network in 2009.
4.
Jeff Dunham's style has been described as "a dressed-down, more digestible version of Don Rickles with multiple personality disorder".
5.
Jeff Dunham achieved the Guinness Book of World Records record for "Most tickets sold for a stand-up comedy tour" for his Spark of Insanity tour, performing in 386 venues worldwide.
6.
Jeff Dunham was born on April 18,1962, in Dallas, Texas.
7.
Jeff Dunham 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.
Jeff 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, finding ventriloquism to be a learned skill, similar to juggling, that anyone with a normal speaking voice can acquire.
9.
Jeff Dunham has explained 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.
10.
When Jeff 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.
11.
Jeff Dunham has missed only one ConVENTion since then, in 1977.
12.
The organizers of the ConVENTion eventually declared Jeff Dunham a "retired champion", ineligible from entering any more competitions, as other attendees were too intimidated to compete against him.
13.
Jeff Dunham began performing for audiences as a teenager, in various venues such as school, church, and during his job at Six Flags.
14.
Jeff Dunham later did commercials for Datsun dealerships in Dallas and Tyler while still in high school.
15.
Jeff Dunham 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.
16.
That year Jeff Dunham began attending Baylor University, hoping to graduate with a degree in communications, while performing around campus.
17.
Jeff Dunham would fly around the country on weekends, doing up to 100 private shows a year, entertaining corporate customers such as General Electric, whose CEO, Jack Welch, he mocked during his routine.
18.
Jeff Dunham 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.
19.
Jeff Dunham performed at the Westbury Music Fair on Long Island.
20.
Jeff Dunham continued to tighten his act in Los Angeles clubs, performing the same six-minute segment with Peanut a total of nine times for McCawley over the next few months.
21.
Finally at the Ice-House in Pasadena in April 1990, after Jeff Dunham did the same segment, McCawley informed Jeff Dunham that he would finally get his Tonight Show appearance.
22.
Jeff Dunham appeared with Walter in a TV commercial for Hertz.
23.
Jeff 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.
24.
Jeff Dunham moved back to clubs, more than 200 appearances a year.
25.
On July 18,2003, Jeff Dunham appeared on Comedy Central Presents, his first solo appearance on Comedy Central.
26.
In 2007, Jeff Dunham appeared as The Amazing Ken with Jose Jalapeno on a Stick in the Larry the Cable Guy feature film Delta Farce.
27.
Jeff 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.
28.
All the songs, with the exception of "Jingle Bombs", were written and accompanied by Brian Haner, who joined Jeff Dunham's act as "Guitar Guy".
29.
In March 2009, Jeff Dunham signed a multi-platform deal with Comedy Central.
30.
Jeff 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.
31.
In November 2009 Jeff Dunham appeared with Walter in "Hart to Hart", an episode of the Disney Channel series Sonny With a Chance, as two security guards.
32.
In 2022, Jeff 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 Jeff Dunham to operate.
33.
Jeff Dunham was eliminated on "Vegas Night" alongside Montell Jordan as "Panther".
34.
In January 2008, Jeff Dunham was voted by fans the Top Comic in Comedy Central's "Stand-Up Showdown".
35.
Jeff Dunham is the only person ever to win the "Ventriloquist of the Year" Award twice.
36.
Jeff Dunham 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.
37.
In 2008, a TV commercial for a ringtone which featured Jeff Dunham's character Achmed the Dead Terrorist 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.
38.
Jeff 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.
39.
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.
40.
In October 2009 The Jeff Dunham Show enjoyed good initial ratings, but was not well liked by critics, 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.
41.
Blue Collar veteran Bill Engvall, a friend of Jeff Dunham's, insists otherwise, saying that Jeff Dunham is inherently funny with or without the puppets.
42.
Jeff 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 Jeff Dunham's own.
43.
Jeff Dunham has a brash, negative and often sarcastic view on today's world.
44.
Jeff Dunham 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.
45.
Jeff Dunham explains in Arguing with Myself that Peanut is from a small Micronesian island, and that they met in Florida.
46.
Jeff Dunham often makes fun of Dunham, and torments and mocks Jose Jalapeno on a Stick.
47.
Bubba J is a beer-drinking redneck that Jeff Dunham describes in Arguing with Myself and A Very Special Christmas Special as "white trash trailer park", and whom Jeff Dunham uses for humor centered on such stereotypes.
48.
Jeff Dunham was inspired by Edgar Bergen's puppet, Mortimer Snerd.
49.
Jeff Dunham introduces Sweet Daddy Dee in Arguing with Myself as his "new manager".
50.
Jeff Dunham 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.
51.
Jeff 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.
52.
Little Jeff is a miniature version of Dunham himself, usually dressed in the same clothes Dunham wears during each show.
53.
Jeff Dunham later appeared in Jeff Dunham: Controlled Chaos as a puppet that Peanut used when attempting his hand at ventriloquism.
54.
Jeff Dunham made her stand-up debut in Dunham's Identity Crisis Tour 2010.
55.
Jeff Dunham was designed by Mad magazine illustrator Tom Richmond.
56.
Jeff Dunham first appeared during the Identity Crisis Tour 2010, and made his first onscreen appearance in Dunham's fourth special, Jeff Dunham: Controlled Chaos.
57.
Jeff Dunham speaks with a British accent because he was raised in Britain after the accident.
58.
Jeff Dunham 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.
59.
Jeff Dunham has unkempt orange hair, big bulgy eyes and has a cigarette in one hand.
60.
Jeff Dunham lightly shakes him to give the feeling of jitteriness.
61.
Little Peanut is a miniature version of Peanut that Dunham has used to counter Peanut's use of Little Jeff.
62.
Jeff Dunham met his first wife, Paige Brown, at the Comedy Corner in West Palm Beach, Florida.
63.
In May 1994, Jeff Dunham married Brown and adopted her one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Bree.
64.
On May 14,2015, Jeff Dunham announced, via Facebook, that he and Audrey were expecting twin boys.
65.
Jeff Dunham has harbored a love of helicopters since childhood and is fond of building and flying his own kit helicopters from Rotorway helicopter kits.
66.
Jeff Dunham is an aficionado of muscle cars and Apple, Inc products.