Jeff Dunham
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Jeff Dunham is a ventriloquist and stand-up comedian. He has performed on numerous comedy shows including Comedy Central Presents in 2003. Some of 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 latest 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 three recently added characters, Sweet Daddy Dee, Bubba J, and Phil.
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[edit] Puppets
[edit] Peanut
Peanut is a purple woozle with purple fur, a small tuft of green hair on his head (which, according to Dunham, are Ostrich feathers), and only one shoe. Unlike most of Jeff Dunham's puppets, his 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 uses to operate and 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 five siblings (Eeny, Meeny, Miny and Fred). 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 DVD showing Jeff Dunham's pet chihuahua humping the puppet. There is also an outtake where Peanut's green tuft of hair accidentally came out. Noticing a member in the audience who is also bald, Jeff hops offstage with Peanut and has Peanut hug the man and rub his head, jokingly "feeling his pain".
[edit] Walter
Walter is a retired and grumpy old man with arms always crossed in discontent. Married 46 years, he has a brash, negative, and often sarcastic view on today's world. He is a Vietnam War veteran, and "doesn't give a damn" about anyone; even 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 are asked to pose 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. 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 said that he wants to work at Wal-Mart as a greeter. His welcome line would be "Welcome to Wal-Mart. Get your shit and get out. Have a nice day."
[edit] 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 infamous 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.
[edit] Bubba J.
Bubba J. is one of Jeff's latest characters. He 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. Bears a notable resemblance to Mortimer Snerd.
[edit] Sweet Daddy Dee
Another new character in Jeff's arsenal, Sweet Daddy Dee 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. The dummy has movable eyes and eyebrows and can pull his upper lip back.
[edit] Melvin, the Superhero Guy
Melvin is an older character of Jeff's who isn't included in the DVD but does show up on the Comedy Central Presents episode. Albeit 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."
[edit] Phil, the Dead Terrorist
Phil is a skeleton-looking character that made a surprising appearance on Jeff's show during one of his comedy club tours in 2006. Phil 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 he'll "kill you" or "Silence!" to people who make fun of him.
[edit] Trivia
- According to the 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, according to Dunham on the DVD commentary.
- Peanut's nose is attached to his face by velcro and can be removed.
- Has won numerous awards for ventriloquism.
- The 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.
- Is married with three children.
- Is best friends with Kelly Asbury, who was one of the three co-directors of Shrek 2.
- Dunham graduated with a degree in communications from Baylor University in Waco, Texas.
- Attended Richardson High School, in Texas.
- Appeared on BU Tonight with Walter in 2006. [1]
