Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special

American ventriloquist and comedian (born 1962) Not to be confused with Jeff Denham. "Achmed" redirects here. For the name, see Ahmed.

Jeff DunhamDunham with Achmed the Dead Terrorist, 2009BornJeffrey Douglas Dunham (1962-04-18) April 18, 1962 (age 64)Dallas, Texas, U.S.Alma materBaylor UniversitySpouses

Paige Brown ​ ​(m. 1994&#59; div. 2008)​

Audrey Murdick ​(m. 2012)​ Children5Comedy careerYears active1976–presentMedium Stand-up television film Genres Observational comedy black comedy prop comedy insult comedy satire

Websitejeffdunham.com Jeffrey Douglas Dunham (born April 18, 1962) is an American ventriloquist, stand-up comedian and actor who has also appeared on numerous television shows, including Late Show with David Letterman, Comedy Central Presents, The Tonight Show, and Sonny with a Chance. He has seven specials that run on Comedy Central as well as two Netflix specials among others. He also starred in The Jeff Dunham Show, a series that ran in 2009. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and holds the Guinness Book of World Records record for "Most tickets sold for a stand-up comedy tour" for his Spark of Insanity tour. Dunham has been called "America's favorite comedian" by Slate. His introduction of Achmed the Dead Terrorist in Spark of Insanity in 2007 was ranked as the ninth most watched YouTube video at the time while his A Very Special Christmas Special was the most-watched telecast in Comedy Central history, with the DVD selling over 400,000 copies in its first two weeks. Forbes ranked Dunham as the third highest-paid comedian in the United States behind Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock and reported that he was one of the highest-earning comics from June 2008 to June 2009, earning approximately $30 million during that period. His style has been described as "a dressed-down, more digestible version of Don Rickles with multiple personality disorder". Time described his characters as "politically incorrect, gratuitously insulting and ill-tempered." Dunham has been credited with reviving ventriloquism and doing more to promote the art form than anyone since Edgar Bergen.

[edit] Dunham was born on April 18, 1962, in Dallas, Texas. When he was three months old, he was adopted by real estate appraiser Howard Dunham and his homemaker wife Joyce, who raised him in a devoutly Presbyterian household in an affluent Dallas neighborhood, as an only child. He began ventriloquism in 1970 at age eight, when his parents gave him a Mortimer Snerd dummy for Christmas and an accompanying how-to album. The next day, he checked out a how-to book on ventriloquism from the library. He explained in 2011 that he still had it, remarking that he was "a thief in the third grade". By the fourth grade, Dunham decided he wanted to be not only a professional ventriloquist but also the best one ever. Dunham began practicing for hours in front of a mirror, studying the routines of Edgar Bergen and the how-to record Jimmy Nelson's Instant Ventriloquism, finding ventriloquism to be a learned skill, similar to juggling, that anyone with a normal speaking voice can acquire. Dunham has said that as an only child, he enjoyed being alone, likening his solitude to a "warm blanket" with which he could explore his own thoughts and ideas and which prepared him for the solitude of living alone when he later moved to Los Angeles as a struggling comedian. When Dunham was in the sixth grade, he began attending the Vent Haven ConVENTion in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, an annual international meeting of ventriloquists that includes competitions, where he met Jimmy Nelson in person. Dunham has missed only one ConVENTion since then, in 1977. The organizers of the ConVENTion eventually declared Dunham a "retired champion", ineligible from entering any more competitions, because other attendees were too intimidated to compete against him. The Vent Haven Museum devotes a section to Dunham alongside Señor Wences and Dunham's idol, Edgar Bergen.

[edit] Beginnings[edit] Dunham began performing for audiences as a teenager, in various venues such as school, church, and during his job at Six Flags. By his middle school years, he began to perform for banquets attended by local celebrities such as Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach, having developed his style of lampooning those he performed for, using the puppets to say things too risque for him to say without them. Dunham's television debut came in 1976 when the still prepubescent performer caught the attention of Dallas reporters like Bill O'Reilly, who interviewed Dunham for a local news story. Dunham later did commercials for Datsun dealerships in Dallas and Tyler while still in high school. While emceeing a high school talent show, he dealt with a heckler, and won over the rest of the audience. During this period he became so associated with his craft that he and one of his dummies "cowrote" a column in the school paper, and he would pose with his dummies for yearbooks as an inexpensive way to acquire professional photos of his act for promotional purposes. He was voted Most Likely to Succeed, and in 1980, after he graduated from high school, Dunham gave himself a career goal of obtaining, within ten years, an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, which was seen as the "holy grail" for comedians. He would eventually achieve this goal with less than two months left until the ten year mark. That year Dunham began attending Baylor University, hoping to graduate with a degree in communications, while performing around campus. He would also fly around the country on weekends, doing up to 100 private shows a year, entertaining corporate customers such as General Electric, whose CEO, Jack Welch, he mocked during his routine. By his junior year in college (1983–84), Dunham was making $70,000 a year, and as word spread of his act, he landed featured spots opening for Bob Hope and George Burns, though he still perceived his act as raw, as he did not have any knowledge of standup comedy beyond his Bill Cosby albums. He caught a break in 1985 when he was asked to join the Broadway show Sugar Babies with Mickey Rooney and Ann Miller, replacing an outgoing variety act. For the naive and devoutly-raised Dunham, Broadway was a new world filled with beautiful showgirls and crusty stagehands, and his first taste of entertainment industry egos came when Rooney called Dunham into his dressing room, and told him he was there for one reason alone: so that Rooney could change his costumes. He performed at the Westbury Music Fair on Long Island. These early experiences, in which he used characters like José Jalapeño on a Stick, taught him the value of modifying his act regionally, as the jalapeño jokes that worked well in Texas were not as well received by audiences in Long Island. After graduating from Baylor University in 1986, he continued honing his act in comedy clubs in the Southwest with new characters such as Peanut and José Jalapeño, but struggled against the perception he relates from fellow comedians that he was not a true comedian because he relied on props. His experience at Catch a Rising Star in New York City served as a bitter confirmation of where ventriloquists stood in the comedic food chain, as the emcee at that club gave Dunham little respect. According to Dunham, after he arrived at the club in the evening and informed the emcee that he was a ventriloquist, the emcee reacted with derision, telling Dunham that he would be given a late time slot, and after that time slot came and passed, kept postponing Dunham's stage time until Dunham left the club. By the end of 1988, Dunham felt his career had gone as far as it could go in Texas, and he moved to Los Angeles, California, never having, as he has commented, "a real job". This concerned his parents, who assumed he would relegate his act to local venues such as church groups. When he first arrived in Los Angeles, the comedy in his act bombed. Dunham attributes this initial reaction to his underdeveloped comedy, explaining that while the characters' personalities were developed at that point, his jokes were not. In addition to this, the comedy world was not welcoming to ventriloquists, and his manager, Judi Brown-Marmel, did not use the word "ventriloquist" when finding bookings for him, choosing to present him as a comedy duo. After Dunham became friends with Mike Lacey, owner of The Comedy & Magic Club in Hermosa Beach, Lacey gave Dunham a steady slot at the club, where Dunham sharpened his act by observing the techniques of comedians like Jerry Seinfeld, and taking the advice of colleague Bill Engvall, moving away from his G-rated material toward edgier, more adult themes.

[edit] In January 2008, Dunham was voted by fans the Top Comic in Comedy Central's "Stand-Up Showdown". He is the only person to win the "Ventriloquist of the Year" Award twice. He was nominated "Comedian of the Year" by the TNN Music City News Country Awards, and has drawn praise from the Dallas Morning News for his technique and timing. Critics, such as Randee Dawn of The Hollywood Reporter, accused Dunham's characters of being racist caricatures, sexist, and homophobic. In 2008, a TV commercial for a ringtone which featured Dunham's character Achmed the Dead Terrorist (see characters below) was banned by the South African Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) after a complaint was filed by a citizen stating that the ad was offensive to Muslims, and portrayed all Muslims as terrorists. Dunham responded that "Achmed makes it clear in my act that he is not Muslim." However, the ASA noted that the name Achmed was of Arab origin and was one of the names of Muhammad. Dunham responded, "I've skewered Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Christians, Jews, Muslims, gays, straights, rednecks, addicts, the elderly, and my wife. As a standup comic, it is my job to make the majority of people laugh, and I believe that comedy is the last true form of free speech ... I'm considering renaming Achmed 'Bill'", he added. Dunham has conceded that he does exhibit particular sensitivity to the "conservative country crowd" or those characterized by "basic Christian values", as they are one of his largest audiences and a part of his upbringing. Dunham was heckled and criticized for mocking TV critics during a July 2009 press tour to promote his then-upcoming Comedy Central TV series, The Jeff Dunham Show, as well as Comedy Central programming chief Lauren Correo. In October 2009 The Jeff Dunham Show enjoyed good initial ratings, but was not well liked by critics, some of whom questioned the wisdom of translating his act into a series, or cited Dunham, his previous specials, or ventriloquism itself as reasons for disliking the show. J. P. Williams, the producer of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, has opined that Dunham's act is not funny on its own merits, and that his material gets a greater reaction because of the puppet characters than it would otherwise garner by itself. Blue Collar veteran Bill Engvall, a friend of Dunham's, insists otherwise, saying that Dunham is inherently funny with or without the puppets. In a 2014 show in Malaysia, the government requested that Dunham not use or name Achmed in his show. Due to the restriction for that show, Achmed was renamed "Jacques Merde, the Dead French Terrorist" (Jacques Merde meaning "Jack Shit").

[edit] In 2003, Dunham released Dear Walter..., a collection of questions asked of Dunham's fictional curmudgeon at live performances, authored by Dunham and Walter Cummings. His autobiography, All By My Selves: Walter, Peanut, Achmed and Me, was published by Dutton in 2010.

[edit] Recurring characters[edit] Walter[edit] Not to be confused with Walter (Muppet). Dunham with Walter in a shot from a 2007 performance Walter is a retired, grumpy old man with arms always crossed in discontent. Dunham was inspired to create Walter when he watched Bette Davis's final appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, giving her honest, unfiltered candor to Walter, and patterning Walter's frown on Dunham's own. 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. Walter appeared in every Comedy Central special. He's been married for several decades. When Dunham asks him if he remembers the happiest moment of his life after Walter tells him he has been married for forty-six years, Walter responds, "Forty-seven years ago!" Dunham created the Walter puppet himself, including both the initial sculpture and the silicone mold, though he eventually began using professional effects companies for the latter stages with his subsequent puppets. In the 2020 United States presidential election, Dunham adapted the Walter puppet into "Wonald Grump" and "Ben Hiden," caricatures of Donald Trump and Joe Biden, respectively, for a mock debate moderated by Achmed.

Peanut[edit] Peanut is a hyperactive, purple-skinned "woozle" with white fur covering most of his body, a tuft of green hair on the top of his head, and one sneaker on his left foot. Dunham explains in Arguing with Myself that Peanut is from a small Micronesian island, and that they met in Florida. Peanut's humor is not based on a particular motif or stereotype, as those of the other characters, and he has been described as "the bad kid". He often makes fun of Dunham, and torments and mocks José Jalapeño on a Stick. Touching upon his unusual appearance and personality, he asks Dunham in Arguing with Myself, after Dunham denies ever having done drugs, "Then how the hell did you come up with me?"

José Jalapeño on a Stick[edit] José is a talking jalapeño pepper on a stick who wears a small sombrero. José, who speaks with a thick Spanish accent, is typically paired with Peanut, who often makes fun of José, uses appeals to Latino stereotypes when doing so, and makes fun of his being on a stick. Although José was not Dunham's first puppet, it was the first that Dunham made himself.

Bubba J[edit] Bubba J is a beer-drinking redneck that Dunham describes in Arguing with Myself and A Very Special Christmas Special as "white trash trailer park", and whom Dunham uses for humor centered on such stereotypes. To this end, he frequently does jokes involving Bubba J's love of drinking beer and NASCAR, and his low intelligence. Touching upon such stereotypes, Bubba mentions in Arguing with Myself that he met his wife at a family reunion, and remembers seeing her with a corn dog in one hand, a beer in another, and leaning against a ferris wheel, "making it tilt". Although he does not appear onstage, Bubba appears as the backstage security guard in Controlled Chaos. He was inspired by Edgar Bergen's puppet, Mortimer Snerd.

[edit] Dunham met his first wife, Paige Brown, at the Comedy Corner in West Palm Beach, Florida. They began dating in December 1992. In May 1994, Dunham married Brown and adopted her one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Bree. Their daughters Ashlyn and Kenna were born in 1995 and 1997, respectively. Dunham's time away while performing proved a strain on the marriage and, in November 2008, he filed for divorce. By mid-2009, Dunham was in a relationship with Audrey Murdick, a certified nutritionist, personal trainer, and competition bodybuilder. On December 25, 2011, they became engaged to be married. On October 12, 2012, the couple married. On May 14, 2015, Dunham announced, via Facebook, that he and Audrey were expecting twin boys. In October, she gave birth to James Jeffrey and Jack Steven. In addition to building the dummies he uses in his act, Dunham restores antique dummies as a hobby, one of which is The Umpire, a 6-foot-tall (1.8 m) mechanized dummy built in 1941 to work the plate at a girls' softball game. The Umpire was unused and was packed away for 50 years before Dunham acquired it in early 2008. Dunham has had a love of helicopters since childhood and is fond of building and flying his own kit helicopters from Rotorway helicopter kits. At the time he finished writing his autobiography in June 2010, he was beginning to build his fourth kit. He is also an aficionado of muscle cars and Apple, Inc. products. According to the July 16, 2012, television documentary The Batmobile, Dunham owns the original Batmobile used in the Tim Burton film Batman, which he had outfitted with a Corvette engine to make it street legal.

[edit]

Tour

Dates (non-inclusive)

Countries (in order of first show)

Notes

Spark of Insanity

Sept. 8, 2007 – Jan. 9, 2010

United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Australia

Achieved the Guinness Book of World Records record for "Most tickets sold for a stand-up comedy tour." It was performed in 386 venues worldwide, selling 1,981,720 tickets between September 2007 and August 2010.

Identity Crisis

Jan. 9, 2010 – Sept. 24, 2011

United States, Canada, Netherlands, Ireland, United Kingdom, South Africa, Switzerland, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, France

Controlled Chaos

Oct. 6, 2011 – Sept. 30, 2012

United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand

Disorderly Conduct

Nov. 1, 2012 –Sept. 28, 2014

Canada, United States, Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Ireland, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Israel, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore

Not Playing With a Full Deck

Nov. 28, 2014– Oct. 5, 2015

United States

All shows at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Perfectly Unbalanced

Dec. 2, 2015 – Sept. 13, 2017

United States, Canada

[edit] Documentaries and specials

Year

Title

Notes

1991

Hot Country Nights

One episode

2003

Comedy Central Presents

Also writer

2006

Jeff Dunham: Arguing with Myself

TV special; also writer and executive producer

2007

Jeff Dunham: Spark of Insanity

TV special; also writer and executive producer

2008

History of the Joke

TV documentary

Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special

TV special; also writer, executive producer and songwriter

2009

I'm No Dummy

Documentary film

2011

Jeff Dunham: Controlled Chaos

TV special; also writer and executive producer

2012

The Batmobile

TV documentary

Jeff Dunham: Minding the Monsters

Unlike traditional holiday films, Jeff Dunham’s Very Special Christmas Special marries stand‑up ventriloquism with the chaos of a family‑gathering sitcom. Its release timed with the rise of streaming gave it a repeat‑view appeal – families could queue it after the turkey, and the familiar cast of characters, from the perpetually offended Ach‑ach‑ach to the bewildered Sweet Daddy D, became a sort of comedic comfort food. The sketch‑style format means you can drop in for a single routine or binge the whole hour, making it easy to fit around the hectic Christmas timetable. Over the years the special has slipped into the same “must‑watch” slot as classic reruns, because it offers a predictable laugh without the emotional weight of a tear‑jerker, something many British households appreciate during the busy festive stretch.

The Special is available on most major streaming platforms and DVD. For a crisp picture and the occasional Easter‑egg commentary, opt for the Blu‑ray edition – it includes behind‑the‑scenes featurettes that reveal how the puppets are operated, a useful insight if you’re a budding ventriloquist. If you’re streaming, check whether your service offers the 1080p version; the colour palette of the snowy set is surprisingly vivid, and the subtleties of the puppets’ mouth movements are clearer at higher resolution. Consider pairing the viewing with a simple snack – popcorn with a sprinkle of sage isn’t over‑the‑top, yet feels suitably festive without drowning the jokes in noisy crunch.

Many dismiss the special as a one‑off gag because it leans heavily on familiar characters. In reality, Dunham uses the holiday setting to rope in social commentary, skewering everything from over‑commercialised gift‑giving to the pressure of creating the “perfect” Christmas. The jokes land because they’re wrapped in relatable family dynamics, not merely crude punchlines. Additionally, the special showcases a level of puppeteering craft that’s often overlooked – the sync between voice and movement requires precise timing, especially when the characters riff off each other in rapid succession. Recognising this skill shifts the viewing from a fleeting chuckle to an appreciation of a nuanced performance that’s surprisingly sophisticated for a Christmas TV slot.