Jeff Dunham

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Jeff Dunham

Birth name	Jeff Dunham
Born	1960 Dallas, Texas
Genres	Stand up, ventriloquism
Spouse	Paige Dunham (1990-present)
Website	Jeff Dunham.com
American Comedy Awards
Funniest Male Stand-Up Comic 1998 Lifetime Achievement

Jeff Dunham (born 1960 in Dallas, Texas) is an American ventriloquist and stand-up comedian. A graduate from Baylor University, he has performed on numerous comedy shows, including Comedy Central Presents in 2003. His usual puppets include a woozle named Peanut; a bitter old man named Walter; José Jalapeño, a talking jalapeño pepper on a stick; Achmed the Dead Terrorist; and an unusual superhero named Melvin.

His first DVD, Jeff Dunham: Arguing With Myself, was released in April 2006. In this stand-up offering, Jeff opens his show playing straight-man to his usual crew and includes two other characters: Sweet Daddy D and Bubba J, in place of Achmed and Melvin. His comedy special "Jeff Dunham: Spark of Insanity" was available at Redbox stands on 4 September, 2007,^[1] and was released to buy on DVD 18 September, 2007. Both Arguing With Myself and Spark of Insanity are available to view instantly on Netflix. and He has a third Comedy Central Special being taped in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on June 7, 2008, which will be released during the holiday season.

1 Puppets
2 Personal life
3 Mystery Science Theater 3000
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Puppets

[edit] Peanut

Peanut is a Woozle with a small tuft of green hair on his head, and only one shoe. Peanut was made in Salem, Virginia. Unlike most of Jeff Dunham's puppets, Peanut's eyes and eyebrows are immobile. This allows for a greater range of motion for his head. Peanut also has a rod attached to his left elbow, which Jeff operates to further the range of the puppet's movement. For comic moments, he usually waves his left arms over his head and through his hair shouting "Neeeooow!," referring to a joke going over someone's head. Usually, during his act, Jeff will pull out José Jalapeño on a Stick, and usually, the two argue. Peanut is potentially the most hyperactive of Jeff's puppets. Peanut says he didn't finish school; he mentions this when trying to read "Santa Ana" in Arguing With Myself (he pronounces it "Sah-Nah-Tah-Ah...Nah!") Also, during the act Peanut claims that Hell was Santa Ana, and used a few times as a running joke such as, "We're going to HELL, aren't we?!...OOPS! Here we are!" Peanut doesn't seem to like history, remarking that the translation of it is "Old as shit," and when Jeff mentions they've been working to maintain the old stuff in the city, Peanut remarks, "Polish a turd, it's still a turd!" Peanut generally makes a squeaky laugh after some jokes, then afterward, laughs directly in Jeff's ear. Peanut also has a particular idiosyncracy: he only has one shoe, and when Jeff asks him why he lost a shoe, Peanut responds:"I didn't lose one; I found one!"

[edit] Walter

Walter

Walter is a retired and grumpy old man with arms always crossed in discontent. Married for 48 years (as of 2008), 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. He often makes sexual jokes and uses the term "dumbass" repeatedly. According to both Achmed and Melvin, Walter has terrible gas. Achmed even said, "Saddam's mustard gas was nothing compared to a Walter fart." Walter also seems to have a dislike for suicide bombers like Achmed the Dead Terrorist, another of Jeff's puppets -- he once makes fun of them by making fun of their belief of finding 72 female virgins in paradise by saying, "I bet it will be 72 guys just like you!"

Walter is one of Jeff Dunham's oldest puppets

[edit] José Jalapeño on a Stick

José is a jalapeño pepper with a Mexican personality, a sombrero, and a mustache, whose running joke is adding "... on a stick" (or as José says, "... on a steeek!") to the end of most of his sentences. José's movement is restricted to one single motion of the mouth which Jeff operates by using his thumb on the back of José's stick. Although hindered from doing much else, José makes up for his mobility loss with his personality, his singing ability, and most of all, his stick. He lives in a plain pine box, one of Jeff's original character storage trunks. José often appears during Peanut's act, where the two of them sometimes get into arguments leaving Jeff in the middle. José doesn't say much usually, most of the time just saying "Si, Sénor." or "It's okay." Usually, after saying "It's okay" after getting made fun of, he makes a remark like, "I'll hire Achmed to kill him." He seemingly gets bullied a bit by Peanut, who makes comments about José being Mexican, such as the time where José mentioned he fears for his life sometimes in America, when Jeff asked why, Peanut whispered to Jeff, "Taco Bell!" José also has a girlfriend; when mentioned, Peanut cracked, "What's she? A freakin' pickle on a pencil?" It turns out that José has another stick. At one point, José claimed he was Cuban (apparently from Florida). During the act, Jeff usually asks José a few questions, to which Peanut tends to make sarcastic remarks. José was in a small part in Delta Farce with Jeff.

[edit] Bubba J.

Bubba J. loves beer and NASCAR. The "J." is short for his last name: Junior. Bubba is married, and is assumed to have at least one child. As outlandish as his characteristically redneck attitude is, Bubba's oddity is that the dummy can move just his left eye from center to left. He also bears a noteworthy likeness to one of Edgar Bergen's puppets, Mortimer Snerd. Bubba's brother's name is Junior.

[edit] Sweet Daddy D

Sweet Daddy D is an African American "Player In a Management Position" (pimp) who is referenced as Jeff's new agent. He hates NASCAR and loves women. Sweet Daddy also likes to remind to Jeff that Black is better than White:

Sweet Daddy: "If I was food I would be a fine, summer wine divine anytime. Jeff: "What would I be?" Sweet Daddy: "Every good wine needs a cracker!"

Sweet Daddy has a signature move of lifting his lips and making a snake hitther. He also fears white people; after he tells his African-American jokes, "Is there any other brother in the house? Yo dawg, RUN!"

Sweet Daddy was also seen in Arguing With Myself in a room with two ladies telling them about the show, saying stuff like "I made that joke."

[edit] Achmed, the Dead Terrorist

Achmed, the Dead Terrorist is a wisecracking skeleton of a suicide bomber, with a beard and a white turban (an early version of Achmed stated that it was not a turban, but underwear, because "when someone says it's time to kill yourself, it scares the crap out of you!"). He is used by Dunham to perform comedy based on the contemporary issue of terrorism. He is known for yelling "Silence! I kill you!" at anyone in the audience who dares laugh at him, as well as "Holy crap!," and "You racist bastard!". He has also sung a Christmas song known as "Jingle Bombs." Other songs that have not yet been sung are "Bin Laden is coming to town", "Oh Holy Crap" (A line of which goes "Oh, Holy Crap! I think I blew my foot off!") and "SILENCE Night."

[edit] Melvin, the Superhero Guy

Melvin, the Superhero Guy has only two real powers, flight and X-ray vision, although he can't see through silicone, and can only fly as far as Jeff can throw him. He claims he would be more of a superhero if it weren't for his large nose and small stature. He further states he has only two weakness: cupcakes and porn ("but not at the same time; [he] needs a free hand). He bought his costume from Ebay, and his costume has a big yellow "D" on it, which he claims is for his theme song which goes, "Da, da-da, dah!" He claims his wife has superpowers, by "becoming evil" once a month and that he cannot defeat her. He said he once dated Catwoman, but had to end it becasue she gave him something he "had to take medication to get rid of, and it itches like crazy!" His supposed symbol is a nose, and his arch enemy is Pinocchio.

[edit] Personal life

Jeff has been married since 1990. He has three daughters: Bree, Ashlyn, and Kenna.^{[citation needed]}

He also played a small part in Delta Farce with José Jalapeño on a Stick.

Also he has a hobby of building miniature helicopters and flying them himself.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_is_Jeff_Dunham_married_to

[edit] Mystery Science Theater 3000

Jeff has been referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000 a few times, most notably in episode 810, "The Giant Spider Invasion". He has also been referenced on Mike Nelson's new project, RiffTrax.