Jeff dunham biography wikipedia

By , Dunham was hoping to obtain more TV work to raise his profile and ease his standup schedule. In , 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 get a word in edgewise during his appearance.

The appearance was successful, but Comedy Central resisted giving Dunham more airtime, feeling that he was not a good fit for them. 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 , Comedy Central aired Arguing with Myself , drawing two million viewers when it aired, [ 1 ] and selling two million DVDs.

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 million hits on YouTube , [ 10 ] making it the ninth most watched clip on that website as of October In September , 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. In addition to his comedy specials, Dunham also released his first music album, Don't Come Home for Christmas , on November 4, All the songs, with the exception of "Jingle Bombs", were written and accompanied by Brian Haner , who joined Dunham's act as "Guitar Guy".

In March , Dunham signed a multi-platform deal with Comedy Central. It included a fourth stand-up special to air in , DVDs, a consumer products partnership, a city tour beginning in September , and an order for a television series called The Jeff Dunham Show that premiered on October 22, Some have accused Dunham's characters of being racist caricatures, sexist, and homophobic.

Dunham responded that "Achmed makes it clear in my act that he is not Muslim. 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.

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. Walter is a retired, grumpy old man with arms always crossed in discontent. Dunham was inspired to create Walter when he watched Bette Davis ' final appearance on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson , giving her honest, unfiltered candor to Walter, and patterning Walter's frown on Dunham's own.

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 has appeared in all four Comedy Central specials. He's been married for several decades, and 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!

Peanut is a hyperactive, [ 1 ] purple-skinned "woozle" [ 34 ] 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".

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? 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.

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". He calls himself a "pimp", which he says stands for " P layer I n the M anagement P rofession. 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. 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! Melvin's first onscreen appearance was in the July Comedy Central Presents episode, in which he had small, black, beady eyes.

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. He calls himself a "pimp", which he says stands for "Player In the Management Profession. 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. Sweet Daddy's headstone is featured in the beginning of the special Minding the Monsters. Melvin wears a blue superhero costume, and is used to poke fun at superheroes.

Jeff dunham biography wikipedia

When asked about his superhuman powers, he indicates that he has X-ray vision , adding, "I love looking at boobies! 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 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. Little Jeff is a miniature version of Dunham himself, [ 65 ] usually dressed in the same clothes Dunham wears during each show.

Diane first appeared with Dunham in the film Dinner for Schmucks as "Debbie", his character's "wife". She made her stand-up debut in Dunham's Identity Crisis Tour Achmed Junior is the estranged son of Achmed. He was designed by Mad magazine illustrator Tom Richmond. 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.

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.

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. In the 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. They began dating in December In May , Dunham married Brown and adopted her one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Bree. Their daughters Ashlyn and Kenna were born in and , respectively.

Dunham's time away while performing proved a strain on the marriage [ 9 ] and, in November , he filed for divorce. By mid, Dunham was in a relationship with Audrey Murdick, a certified nutritionist, personal trainer, and competition bodybuilder. 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.

The Umpire was unused and was packed away for 50 years before Dunham acquired it in early 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 , he was beginning to build his fourth kit.

Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read View source View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikiquote Wikidata item. American ventriloquist and comedian born Not to be confused with Jeff Denham. For the name, see Ahmed. Observational comedy black comedy prop comedy insult comedy satire.

Paige Brown. Audrey Murdick. First Comedy Central specials. Not to be confused with Walter Muppet. Achmed the Dead Terrorist. Non-recurring and retired characters. The New York Times. November 9, In , Dunham became a part of the comedy project "Comedy Central Presents," which propelled him to international fame. Dunham's repertoire includes several notable puppet characters.

Another character, Walter, is a grumpy old man, a Vietnam War veteran, and a former welder who humorously comments on current issues. However, Achmed the Dead Terrorist remains Dunham's most famous character, with his catchphrase "Silence! I kill you! They got married in May , and Dunham adopted Brown's one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Bree.

They had two more daughters, Ashlyn and Kenna, in and , respectively. Dunham directs his charitable efforts to those in need, both in crises and over the long term. The Jeff Dunham fund has contributed over 1. Dunham brought viewers on the road with him while in his hometown as his family, friends and other insiders sit down to discuss the man behind the three decades of success.

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