Jeff Dunham Professions : Ventriloquist Born : April 18, 1962 Browse All Authors Top 53 quotes by Jeff Dunham When a bad experience happens, you just chalk it up to the great fact that you just got five more jokes in the show. Jeff Dunham chalk shows facts As humans we like to laugh at our fears, we like to whistle in the dark. Jeff Dunham humans dark laughing My mother and my father have always supported me. Now in their eighties, they actually clamor onto the tour bus with me once or twice a year so they can watch the performances and hear the crowds. Traveling with eighty-something-year-olds on a tour bus... there has to be some sort of reality show in that. Jeff Dunham mother father reality I was a kid in the third grade ... saw a dummy in the toy store. In the '60s and '70s there were a lot of those vinyl ventriloquism dummies - just about every toy store had one. Everyone close to my age that I've talked to, especially guys for some reason, tell me that they had one too, but they said they never could do it. So many people come up to me and say that. It was just something that I thought was cool. I started doing book reports with it - I developed the skill. I easily got A's on all my reports. It was just something that a little kid grasped on to - so I stuck with it. Jeff Dunham skills kids book The best place to find material is in real life. I've always maintained that it's not until the mid-20s that you have enough of a life to draw from. There's nothing better for a comic than to go through some bad stuff - and some good stuff, like getting married. Jeff Dunham married real stuff Up until college age I was using the typical little-boy dummy that sits on the knee and makes woodpecker jokes. My first original character didn't happen until later, and that was Jose the Jalapeno on a Stick. Jeff Dunham college character boys A comedian needs to have his own filters, needs to know his audience, how far he can push things. Jeff Dunham filters comedian needs But the mechanics of learning to 'throw your voice' are pretty simple. Anyone with a tongue, an upper palate, teeth, and a normal speaking voice can learn ventriloquism. Jeff Dunham teeth voice simple You never know how long your fifteen minutes of fame is going to last. Jeff Dunham fifteen lasts long I've tried the female thing. I was in a movie called Dinner for Schmucks a couple of years ago with Steve Carell and I created a female character for that movie. And after a few months of trying her out on the road it just didn't work. I mean, I can think like a terrorist, I can think like a white trash guy, I can even try and think like an African American, but I can't figure out how a woman. Jeff Dunham couple character mean I started in a business background, but then it was like, 'you know, I can't do math,' so I changed it to a liberal arts degree and got my Bachelor of Arts in Communications and it made sense. Jeff Dunham communication math art Everybody has their favorite character.That's the only way I pick, whatever is going on in society, whatever I think folks will laugh at that's what I come up with. Jeff Dunham character laughing thinking When I was eight years old, I got a dummy for Christmas and started teaching myself. I got books and records and sat in front of the bathroom mirror, practising. I did my first show in the third grade and just kept going; there was no reason to quit. Jeff Dunham christmas teaching book Even going to college, getting my degree in Radio TV and Film, as I was approaching the time when you have to decide on a major, I kept trying to figure out what would be the best major to enhance what I am doing as a performer. Jeff Dunham tvs college trying The only way a ventriloquist speaks differently is that he forgoes using his or her lips, and learns to reproduce sounds using the tongue, upper palate, and teeth only. Those 'difficult' letters are B, F, M, P, V, W, and Y. Jeff Dunham teeth sound letters We just got a tour bus. I didn't know tour buses could be this nice. It's just me, Brian Haner the guitar guy, the tour manager and a writer. We laugh ourselves silly. Apparently we're going to have a road dog, a miniature pincher. It's the smallest they've ever seen. How masculine am I going to look, working with dolls and a miniature dog? Jeff Dunham nice dog silly I've always said that instead of watching a guy juggle seven things amazingly I would rather see a really bad juggler who's really funny. Jeff Dunham seven guy said I've got an answer to where Osama bin Laden is and I know, he's dead and living in my suitcase with my dummies.' Jeff Dunham osama-bin-laden suitcases answers I don't aim it at anybody specific, I don't aim my characters to make old people laugh or young people or professionals or blue collar, just whatever I think is going to be funny and it just so happens that. Jeff Dunham blue character thinking On weekends when everybody would go to the football games, I would be getting on a plane or driving my car across the state or across the country to go do a show somewhere and yeah so, I never thought of doing anything else. Jeff Dunham weekend football country Similar Authors Paul Winchell ventriloquist All Authors
