Jeff Dunham

Jeff Dunham
Website	www.jeffdunham.com

Jeff Dunham is an award winning ventriloquist and a stand-up comedian. 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, and José Jalapeño - a talking jalapeño pepper on a stick. 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 Dee and Bubba J. His new comedy special "Spark of Insanity" was available at Redbox stands on September 4 2007, and was released to buy on DVD September 18 2007. The DVD features Peanut; José; Walter; Melvin, the Super Hero Guy; and Achmed the Dead Terrorist. The DVD was taped at the Warner Theater. Comedy Central aired "Spark of Insanity" on September 23 2007.

Personal life

Jeff has been married to his wife for seventeen years according to the "Spark of Insanity" DVD. He has three girls, aged nine, eleven, and fifteen, and several dogs. One of these dogs is a golden retriever named Bill, and the family also has three chihuahuas. Jeff recently traded in one of the family SUV's for a blue Toyota Prius, which is made fun of constantly in his latest DVD. He also still drives a Hummer. Jeff has made most of his puppets. [citation needed]

Puppets

Peanut

Peanut is a purple woozle with a small tuft of green hair on his head, and only one shoe. 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.

According to his fictional biography, Peanut was born on an island in Micronesia in the Pacific Ocean near Guam and has 5 siblings. He never finished school. He moved to the United States in 1986. According to the official website, he met Jeff Dunham in central Texas, but according to Arguing With Myself, they met in Florida.

There is a special feature on the Arguing With Myself DVD showing Jeff Dunham's pet chihuahua humping a doll of the puppet. There is also an outtake where Peanut's green tuft of hair accidentally came out. Noticing a member of the audience who is also bald, Jeff hops offstage with Peanut and has Peanut hug the man and rub his head. On the DVD, Walter had said that Peanut should have said jokingly 'I feel your pain.' Then Jeff walks back up to the stage, having Peanut ask a member of the audience to borrow their chair. When Jeff picks up Peanut's hair, Peanut asks the man if he would like to buy it. Then Jeff attempts to put it back on, but Peanut starts to complain that it hurts and says 'this sucks'. On Jeff's 2nd attempt he gets it on, showing that Peanut has a hole in his head where the stick that's attached to his hair goes.

One of Peanut's trademarks is when he swings his hand over his head and says "Neeow!", talking about a joke going over someone's head.

Peanut also has a grandfather who has a hearing aid. Peanut usually mocks him by speaking as if the hearing aid was faulty.

Walter

Walter is a retired and grumpy old man with arms always crossed in discontent. Married 47 years, 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.

Demonstrating improvisational comedy, Jeff sometimes does a segment at the end of Walter's routine in which Walter answers questions that the audience were asked to provide prior to the show.

To express Walter's utter "intolerant-of-everyone" nature, the DVD features a scene just before the Q&A segment where an audience member (named Mike) leaves to the restroom. In a huff, Walter unleashes insults at him until he returns, often simply referring to him as a dumbass. In the commentary track, Jeff describes that the stage lighting limits his ability to really see the audience and he could only see that someone was walking. As he talked to Mike's wife, he realized that Mike was a friend of his. Also on the DVD is an outtake with Walter which shows the puppet's arms falling uncrossed and limp at the sides. If that weren't enough, Jeff then forgets his place when he reconfigures Walter's arms. He admits to being slightly intoxicated on tequila at the time, but somehow still maintains the laughter until he finds his place again.

Walter has also met many celebrities along with Jeff, such as Willie Nelson and Jay Leno, and has appeared with Jeff on the Best Damn Sports Show Period, where he described his performance as "<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=User:Lupin/navpop.css&action=raw&ctype=text/css&dontcountme=s">I got the brothers laughin' and the crackers pissed". He has also 'called into' the John Boy and Billy Big Show. He has stated if he had a real job he would be a greeter at Wal-Mart, and when asked what his greeting would be he responded, "Welcome to Wal-Mart, get your shit, and get out! Have a nice day."

A special feature on the "Spark of Insanity" DVD showed Walter announcing his candidacy for President. On Jeff Dunham's official site, visitors can vote for who they'd like to see as the next President. All of the candidates are listed, including Walter. As of September 24, 2007, Walter leads at 84.7%.

Walter also bears an uncanny resemblance to Peter Boyle.

Jose Jalapeño (on a stick)

Jose is a jalapeño pepper with a Latino personality, a sombrero, and a mustache, whose running joke is adding "on a stick" to the end of most of his sentences. Jose's movement is restricted to one single motion of the mouth which Jeff operates by using his thumb on the back of Jose's stick. Although hindered from doing much else, Jose makes up for his mobility loss with his characteristics, his singing ability, and most of all, his stick. He lives in a plain pine box, one of Jeff's original character storage trunks. Jose is usually brought out during Peanut's act and the two often get into an argument, with Jeff in the middle of it all. Jose has clarified that he is not Mexican but Cuban, and that he hails from Florida, although he at times said that he's Puerto Rican and from New York City. Peanut has also given many humorous theories as to the stick, such as Jose mooning a javelin thrower or a freak pogo accident.

On Dunham's official site, it is revealed that Jose was part of a family of Jumping Jalapeños, and his act involved a pogo stick. He was practicing one day, slipped, and the pogo stick pierced his underside. Close to his heart, the pogo stick could not be removed safely, so they cut off the spring part, giving him his famous 'stick' but for some reason on spark of insanity Jose said it was removable or at least led people to believe that.

Jose's parents are named Juan and Rosa Jalapeño.

Jose is afraid of "cock-a-roaches,<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=User:Lupin/navpop.css&action=raw&ctype=text/css&dontcountme=s">" particularly the "one big one" ("on a stick") that apparently resides in his carrying case.

Bubba J.

Bubba J. loves beer and NASCAR. The "J." is short for his last name, Junior, he is married, and is assumed to have at least one child. Odd as his characteristically redneck attitude is, what is even weirder is that the dummy can move just his left eye from center to left. He bears a notable resemblance to Mortimer Snerd.

He met his wife at the family reunion. After a while, her daddy proposed for him (he apparently got her pregnant). They had the reception at Wal-Mart, because it was "easier to return the gifts". They were apparently greeted by Walter.

His brother's name is Junior Junior.

Bubba J. has no athletic ability. When asked if he played any sports, Bubba asked if the drinking game quarters counted.

Sweet Daddy D

Sweet Daddy D is Jeff's "new manager" and is trying to school Jeff in street, often with much difficulty, to no avail, and with much dismay at Jeff's lack of knowledge of black slang. Sweet Daddy Dee wears a purple pimp suit and is bald underneath his removable hat, although the original Sweet Daddy Dee had an afro. He considers himself a "Playa In Management Profession" (P.I.M.P.). The dummy has movable eyes and eyebrows and can pull his upper lip back.

One of his other clients was O.J. Simpson.

Melvin, the Super Hero Guy

Melvin is not included in the "Arguing With Myself" DVD but does show up on the Comedy Central Presents episode. Although he has no real powers, he claims he'd be more of a superhero if it weren't for his large nose and small stature. He claims his arch nemesis is his wife, but only at certain times of the month when she "turns evil." He also claims to fight cattle rustlers.

His costume is blue and yellow, with a D on it. He bought it on an online auction, and the highest bidder appears to be the only person that he's ever defeated. He doesn't know what the D stands for, but claims it to be his theme song (a musical "Da-da-daa!"). However, Walter says the D stands for dumbass (and says that his theme song should be "du-du-DUMBASS!").

Melvin often tells those who laugh at him to "Shut up!" in a high-pitched voice. He also swears, to which Jeff states he didn't think superheroes cursed. Melvin's response: "No shit? Oops!"

He did not appear in the "Arguing with Myself" DVD but came back for the "Spark of Insanity" DVD. Strangely, Jeff did not seem to remember having Melvin on his Comedy Central Presents appearance, as a special feature showed the process of making Melvin, and Jeff saying "He's in my head but he does not exist right now."

Achmed, the Dead Terrorist

Achmed is a skeleton-looking character that made a surprising appearance on Jeff's show during one of his comedy club tours in 2006. Achmed apparently martyred himself in the course of a suicide bombing, but lives on as a skeleton with facial hair. He apparently has problems keeping his feet on the stand and keeps shouting "Foot! Foot! Foot!" to Jeff to keep his feet up. He has a white bandana that he says was made from boxers. He also shouts "I'll kill you" or "Silence!" and gives a wide-eyed glare to people who make fun of him. He is also very terrified of Walter's farts.

Mini Jeff

Actually Peanut's puppet (and scaled so), Mini Jeff is a small puppet that resembles Jeff down to the clothing he is wearing at the time. Mini Jeff is rude and interrupting, but puts the 'on a stick' phrase at the end of Jose's sentences when he forgets to. The only real physical difference between Jeff and Mini Jeff's is that Mini Jeff' voice is much deeper. Jeff can control Peanut and Mini Jeff simultaneously with the same hand, ultimately making his capacity for puppets up to three.

Others

Jeff has had other characters that he has performed with in the past that are lesser known including, Larry the Ultimate Sports Fan (also known as Larry, the Palm Beach County Ballot Re-Count Counter), Roadkill (a possum that has been run over by a variety of vehicles), The Monkey, Archie Everett, Judge Lance Ito (according to Jeff's Myspace Page, the Ito dummy was used to perform for a sequestered jury during the O.J. Simpson trial), Ollie (an Elvis impersonator), a cockroach, and worm at the bottom of a bottle of tequila.

Trivia

• According to Dunham in the DVD commentary on Arguing With Myself, the first puppet he ever made was José Jalapeño, which he built in college. However, he has remade the puppet several times. The one that appears in Jeff Dunham: Arguing With Myself is a third remake.
• Peanut's nose is attached to his face by Velcro and can be removed.
• The Arguing with Myself DVD was filmed over the course of one night with two different shows spliced together.
• The puppet Bubba J. that appears on Arguing with Myself was made at the last second. In fact, Dunham claimed that the paint was still wet when he was using Bubba J. in his performance.
• According to Dunham, Walter's frown is based upon his own frown.
• Aside from ventriloquism, Dunham is a helicopter enthusiast, having built and flown his own crafts.
• Jeff Dunham and José Jalapeño both appeared in the movie Delta Farce, as an enslaved comedy performer for a Mexican Gang. As a result, after insulting the gang leader, Carlos Santana, Jose Jalapeňo was shot in the face. At the ending credits, José Jalapeño was controlled by a gang member for karaoke besides Jeff Dunham.
• Jeff Dunham - with the fictional name "W.J. Weinerhoffer" - and A Woozle Whose Name is Peanut were affectionately ridiculed during the opening host segment of Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode 311: "It Conquered the World". Joel Hodgson, host of the show, frequently lampooned ventriloquists as a bit of self-aware criticism (MST3K was a show hosted by a human and several ventriloquial puppets).
• Dunham is married with three kids. His wife appears on the opening segment of Spark of Insanity.

External links

• Official website
• Arguing With Myself Video Clips with Jeff Dunham, Walter, Peanut and Sweet Daddy Dee
• Jeff Dunham at IMDb