Jeff Dunham: Phone Interview with a Ventriloquist
December 1, 2008

I had to tell Jeff Dunham about my planned headline for our brief telephone interview—I mean, it is sorta wacky to interview a ventriloquist over the phone and have him perform some of his stock characters without the pressure of making it look like he’s not mouthing the voice—and he indeed got a kick out of it.

“I guess you were wondering if I would phone it in,” Dunham laughed over the phone. “What’s even worse is when you do a radio spot! When you’re sitting there with the DJs, you’ve gotta bring the dummy and you just don’t know how it’s working over the air. Before I had any notoriety, my poor publicist would try to convince me that it was all still funny.”

One of the world’s leading ventriloquists, Jeff Dunham began his unique profession at the tender age of eight.

“It was about the age when you figure out when you want to do. It was pure,” said Dunham. “I began to work

Dunham has been in the business for 30 years now, offering his artistry and humor along with his “Suitcase Posse” of puppets that include  José Jalapeño on a Stick, Peanut, Bubba J. the Redneck, Achmed the Dead Terrorist and grumpy old man Walter. All five make appearances in Dunham’s latest TV project, Jeff Dunham’s Very Special Christmas Special (Image, available now).

“I wouldn’t call it a “family” Christmas special,” Dunham said. “There is no Andy Williams in this one, but it’s been cleaned up a little bit! There’re also a couple of Christmas songs, but they’re just wrong.”

Posted by Laurence Lerman on December 1, 2008 | Comments (1)