Jeff Dunham, One of the Greatest Ventriloquists in the World
Jeff Dunham, born in Dallas, Texas April 18, 1962, began ventriloquism in 1970 at age 8 when his parents gave him a Mortimer Snerd dummy for Christmas.
Armed with a how to album that came with the dummy and a how to book that he checked out of the library, he began his journey of becoming one of the greatest ventriloquists in the world.
Dunham has actually been performing ventriloquism in public since the sixth grade when he began attending and competing in the Vent Haven conVENTion.
They even had to declare Dunham a "retired champion" and restrict him from entering any more competitions, as he had gotten so good that other ventriloquist were too scared to compete against him.
As a teen he began performing at school, church, and at his job at Six Flags.
Soon after, he began performing for banquets attended by local celebrities such as Roger Staubach.
Since he was so young he would use his dummys to say things that were to risque for him to say alone.
His first T.
V.
debut was being interviewed by local reporter Bill O'Reilly.
He then moved on to commercials for Datsun dealerships in Dallas and Tyler while in high school.
Soon after high school in college Dunham began flying around the country doing up to 100 shows a year making about $70,000 a year in his second year of college.
After he graduated from Baylor University in 1986, Dunham began to see that his jokes were still a bit too G rated and needed a little more edge to get the laughs he was looking for.
So he observed comedians like Jerry Seinfeld and took the advise of is his colleague Bill Engvall to go more R rated.
After setting his goal to make in on the Tonight Show within 10 years Dunham finally landed an appearance on The Tonight Show in 1990 beating his goal by 1 year.
In 2003 he had an appearance on The Best Damn Sports Show Period, where Dunham and Walter made jokes at the expense of co-hosts Tom Arnold, Michael Irvin, John Salley and John Kruk, generating laughter from them, and giving Dunham much-needed exposure.
By July 18, 2003, Dunham appeared on Comedy Central Presents.
He showcased José Jalapeño on a Stick, Walter, an early version of Melvin the Superhero Guy and Peanut.
By 2005 Dunham decided to finance his own comedy DVD, Jeff Dunham: Arguing with Myself.
In late 2006, Comedy Central picked up Arguing with Myself, getting two million viewers when it aired, and selling two million DVDs.
His second special, Jeff Dunham: Spark of Insanity, was taped at the Warner Theater in Washington, D.
C.
that same year.
It introduced his most controversial character, Achmed the Dead Terrorist, which became a viral Internet sensation.
This is considered what cemented his stardom that continues to grow til this day.
Armed with a how to album that came with the dummy and a how to book that he checked out of the library, he began his journey of becoming one of the greatest ventriloquists in the world.
Dunham has actually been performing ventriloquism in public since the sixth grade when he began attending and competing in the Vent Haven conVENTion.
They even had to declare Dunham a "retired champion" and restrict him from entering any more competitions, as he had gotten so good that other ventriloquist were too scared to compete against him.
As a teen he began performing at school, church, and at his job at Six Flags.
Soon after, he began performing for banquets attended by local celebrities such as Roger Staubach.
Since he was so young he would use his dummys to say things that were to risque for him to say alone.
His first T.
V.
debut was being interviewed by local reporter Bill O'Reilly.
He then moved on to commercials for Datsun dealerships in Dallas and Tyler while in high school.
Soon after high school in college Dunham began flying around the country doing up to 100 shows a year making about $70,000 a year in his second year of college.
After he graduated from Baylor University in 1986, Dunham began to see that his jokes were still a bit too G rated and needed a little more edge to get the laughs he was looking for.
So he observed comedians like Jerry Seinfeld and took the advise of is his colleague Bill Engvall to go more R rated.
After setting his goal to make in on the Tonight Show within 10 years Dunham finally landed an appearance on The Tonight Show in 1990 beating his goal by 1 year.
In 2003 he had an appearance on The Best Damn Sports Show Period, where Dunham and Walter made jokes at the expense of co-hosts Tom Arnold, Michael Irvin, John Salley and John Kruk, generating laughter from them, and giving Dunham much-needed exposure.
By July 18, 2003, Dunham appeared on Comedy Central Presents.
He showcased José Jalapeño on a Stick, Walter, an early version of Melvin the Superhero Guy and Peanut.
By 2005 Dunham decided to finance his own comedy DVD, Jeff Dunham: Arguing with Myself.
In late 2006, Comedy Central picked up Arguing with Myself, getting two million viewers when it aired, and selling two million DVDs.
His second special, Jeff Dunham: Spark of Insanity, was taped at the Warner Theater in Washington, D.
C.
that same year.
It introduced his most controversial character, Achmed the Dead Terrorist, which became a viral Internet sensation.
This is considered what cemented his stardom that continues to grow til this day.
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