Stand-Up Ventriloquism... On a Stick
Niery, Bob
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How many people you know can make you laugh without even opening their mouth? Comedian and ventriloquist Jeff Dunham does it all the time.
The acclaimed stand-up ventriloquist Jeff Dunham is bringing his act to Cleveland.
Dunham will perform Oct. 25 through Oct. 29 at the Cleveland Improv. Praised by comedy legend Jay Leno and TV Guide, Dunham's stand up act centers around his masterful skill of ventriloquism.
His characters, Walter the Curmudgeon, Jose the Jalapeño pepper…on a stick, and Peanut the Woozle have twice won him the Ventriloquist of the Year award.
The Cauldron spoke with Dunham on his newest ventures, his experiences in college, and his upcoming trip to Cleveland. We do not know if his lips were moving.
The Cauldron: Where are you right now?
Jeff Dunham: San Antonio, Texas.I'm just doing a show here tonight before I head back to L.A. tomorrow.
TC: Did you go to college?
JD: I went Baylor University in Waco, Texas and majored in communication, radio, TV and film.
TC: Did you do stand up while in college?
JD: I have been doing my act since I was a little kid, so on weekends when everybody else would go to football games I would head out to California and work a comedy club or two then fly back on Sunday night.
TC: How did your education prepare you for a career in stand-up comedy?
JD: Well it didn't really prepare, it didn't have anything to do with stand-up. What it did do was the obvious basic, trite answer, that you know prepared you for a well-rounded education, blah blah, blah. From a practical stand point majoring in radio, TV and film I had a working appreciation for the mechanics for what I was hoping to get into besides just doing my act on stage. I always look forward to doing the television spot. I was enjoying doing the radio when I came to town.
To know the business from both sides of the microphone and the camera it really helps the performance because you know what the other people are trying to achieve and what they are having to deal with. So, it was the perfect major and a great school for it and even something as simple as editing my own promo tapes there.
We were taping the DVD and understanding how the camera guys are working and what everyone is going to go through to edit the special, and I feel sorry for those people who go through that and who have no earthly idea what they're [doing]. They're just gonna stand and do their act and they don't understand why that camera is over there or why that microphone doesn't sound like that microphone.
TC: How long have you been doing ventriloquism?
JD: I have been doing ventriloquism since I was in the third grade, I moved to L.A. in '88. That's when I started having to be serious about it because that's when I started having to pay bills.
TC: You are a two-time Ventriloquist of the Year award winner, who else has won that award?
JD: Yeah, there aren't that very many of them, I don't think they give that award out anymore. So I got it twice and I think they read it to people who deserve it, then they quit.
TC: Did your ventriloquism lead to your successful career as a comic?
JD: I think the vent had very little to do with it because I approached it as a stand-up comic. I think I am looked at more as a stand up comic who uses ventriloquism as a vehicle for stand-up comedy. That's one reason my act has continued to evolve. And it continues to grow. I am constantly writing new material, current topic stuff. I'm like a vaudeville act or somebody with a routine who does the exact same 12 minutes for 40 years. I am having to force myself to be current and hip.
TC: What can we expect for your show in Cleveland?
JD: It's gonna be the mainstay characters, Peanut, Walter and Jose, but since the DVD and the Comedy Central special came out, we made a deal with Comedy Central to do a second one. We're gonna tape that one in February so anything anybody has ever seen me do, if they saw the show a year ago it's probably 85 percent different now, which is big for a stand-up. Almost a completely new act a year later is a pretty big accomplishment because you usually don't turn over material that quickly.
TC: Can you tell us about your upcoming movie?
JD: I have just one small scene, it's called "Delta Farce," and its Billy Engvall and Larry the Cable Guy's next movie. Everybody always says this when a movie is being made but, from what I saw and what I read, it looks like it's gonna be real fine, so I have great hopes for it.
TC: Have you started production?
JD: Oh yeah, its all shot, they're just editing. They're in post-production right now.
TC: I understand you have some new characters?
JD: The new characters on the DVD are Sweet Daddy Dee. Dee is the pimp. He is our manager. Then there is Bubba J who is the white trash trailer park guy. But coming to Cleveland, I have another guy, Phil the Dead Terrorist. He claims his name is Phil and he claims he is from Wyoming, but his accent certainly is suspiciously east of here. And he claims the thing on his head is his blankie. He's been going over very well, and of course he is nowhere near politically correct. I think that's what makes it so good.
TC: Your characters often seem offensive, How do you get away with it?
JD: It's because of the characters. There is some sort of unwritten rule or some sort of license there that allows someone who is using an inanimate object that's come to life to just get away with saying outrageous things. There is not a lot of room to blame anybody because if the dummy or puppet says something bad I just sit there and go "it wasn't me" and that somehow is accepted. I feel like I have a dummy with a laser gun built inside it. I am able to shoot a lot of things without anybody figuring out how I am doing it.
TC: Do you ever use your powers for evil?
JD: Every once in a while somebody will be yelling at somebody from down the street and they can't figure out who it was and where it's coming from.
TC: What is your most memorable stand-up moment?
JD: The two most memorable, well three of them I guess, have to be, the first time on Carson, Leno and Letterman. Those were all fun great moments just because that was some kind of mark of achievement or accomplishment. The inclusion or absence of anyone of those won't make or break a career, but they certainly are from my stand point satisfying to look back and go, "Wow, that was cool."
TC: Worst moment?
JD: I was in Jacksonville, Florida and a fight broke out and the guy got thrown over the balcony and landed on a table. And he was unhurt but, there's my audience!
TC: What did you do?
JD: I had Peanut up at the time and Peanut was like "Hey, we're working up here."
TC: Any advice for aspiring comics?
JD: When it comes to the radio, TV and film, or show business. Those are all difficult professions to achieve in and to become the best. I don't like to get all philosophical, but the one thing that I know is that I never doubted, starting even in the third or fourth grade, I set my mind on this, I'm not gonna be distracted.
There are going to be things along the way that will help me, and everything I've done I've sat back and thought, "Ok is this gonna help my goal to achieve what I'm trying to achieve with my act?" That was the reason I chose that major. That's the reason I learned to work final cut pro. That's the reason I taught myself Photoshop. All those little things along the way are somehow enhancing and building up and helping me accomplish my goals.
Does a video game help me? Well, ok, maybe the excuse is it helps me to relax and think a different way. Learning a foreign language. I taught myself a little bit of Spanish. Everything along the way, I thought, "Is what I'm doing right now going to help my ultimate goal?" And people that can think like that are very driven and goal-oriented and sometimes, that's incredibly frustrating. Sometimes I envy the people that just don't care. But at the same time I might envy them but I don't look up to them.
For information and show times visit www.onastick.com
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