Jeff Dunham: America's Favourite Comedian?

Slate Magazine calls Ventriloquist Jeff Dunham "America's favourite comedian".

I'm not sure when or how it happened, but a Ventriloquist has become America's favourite comedian. At least that's what Slate Magazine says about Jeff Dunham and they make a good case for it:

"Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special, which aired on Comedy Central in November, was the most-watched broadcast in the network's history. His previous concert film, Spark of Insanity, got the best reviews of any DVD on Amazon.com in 2008. And according to the concert-industry watchers at Pollstar, Dunham was last year's highest-grossing stand-up act in North America, with $19.2 million in tickets sold."

Jeff recently did a video interview with Punchline Magazine (link via Ventriloquist Central). In it he explains that one of his keys to success was realizing early on that Ventriloquism by itself is a novelty act with limited appeal. He recognized that if he wanted to be successful he had to not just be a great Ventriloquist, but also a great comedian. There is an excellent lesson in that for all puppeteers; puppets on their own aren't enough. If you perform live you have to be a great entertainer. If you produce puppet videos you have to be a great filmmaker.

Ultimately, puppetry is not so much about the puppets as it is about creating great characters and telling interesting, engaging and entertaining stories.

Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special in Canada

Canada's comedy network is broadcasting Ventriloquist Jeff Dunham's new Christmas schedule.

Just for the benefit of PuppetVision's Canadian readers, here in the Great White North the Comedy Network will be airing ventriloquist Jeff Dunham's holiday special Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special this Saturday, December 20th. Encore presentations are scheduled for December 22nd and 24-25, check your local listings for air times.

Jeff Dunham Takes Over Comedy Central Tonight

Comedy Central is running a marathon of TV specials featuring Ventriloquist Jeff Dunham.

Jeff Dunham is one of the world's leading Ventriloquists. He's risen to fame on the internet largely because of his popular character Achmed The Dead Terrorist. If you haven't seen Jeff before - or if you have and want to again - tonight is a great night to stay in and laugh. Comedy Central in the U.S. is running a Jeff Dunham marathon tonight featuring his TV specials Spark of Insanity, Arguing With Myself and Comedy Central Presents Jeff Dunham beginning at 9 p.m. (check your local listings).

You can also check out encores of his holiday special Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special Friday, December 19th at 9 p.m. and on Christmas Day at 7 p.m.

Via Ventriloquist Central.

Did Terry Fator "String Out" His Manager?

Newly-minted millionaire Ventriloquist Terry Fator is being sued by his former manager.

Terry Fator might be about to lose the nice guy image he cultivated on America's Got Talent last year. He's being sued by his ex-manager John Raymond, who alleges that Terry is trying to avoid paying him an (estimated) $20 million commission on his huge Las Vegas contract. Raymond had a 5 year deal with Terry that wasn't set to expire until 2010, but he claims Terry found him "too nice" and fired him because he needed a manager who was "a bastard." None of the allegations have been proven in court.

It's not unusual for entertainers to fire the managers who helped them get started once they finally reach "the big time" for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the huge commissions their managers earn (it's also not unusual for managers to sue once they've been kicked to the curb). Although though Terry has a $100 million contract to play Las Vegas, by the time income tax is deducted and the lawyers, agents and managers get paid (or not) he's probably only keeping about 25 cents of every dollar he earns. It's also worth noting that according to the lawsuit documents, Raymond was taking a 20% commission from Terry, which seems a little excessive (the industry norm is usually 10-15% and it's actually illegal for an agent to charge more than that in some jurisdictions).

I guess if nothing else, you really know you're a famous puppeteer when gossip sites like TMZ start giving you coverage.

Achmed the Dead Terrorist: Really Racist or Really Funny?

A video of Jeff Dunham performing Achmed the Dead Terrorist has received over 47 million views on YouTube.

Achmed the Dead Terrorist is huge on YouTube. Seriously.

Occasionally (like once every few months) I do a quick search on YouTube to see what the most popular puppet video is. I checked yesterday and was surprised to discover that it's a clip of Achmed the Dead Terrorist. Achmed is a bearded skeleton with a turban that seems to be have become of one of veteran Ventriloquist Jeff Dunham's most popular characters. In the last year or so the crazy little guy has racked up well over 50 million views on YouTube.

I first saw clips of Jeff performing Achmed late last year and to be perfectly honest I didn't post them here because while I admit I laughed really hard at some of it, I thought it was an act that skirts line the line between humour and racism (and occasionally crosses it). But while I found some of the act a little distasteful, Lindsay Campbell seems really offended by it, calling it "a fear mongering depiction of Muslim culture," and has been devoting time to the issue on the popular video podcast MOBlogic:



So is Achmed really racist, really funny or a little bit of both?

Audiences like to be able to laugh at something that scares them and terrorism - to borrow a phrase from Achmed - scares the crap out of most Americans. At the risk of over-analyzing, I think that by embodying terrorism in the form of a funny little wisecracking skeleton Jeff gives his audience permission to laugh at their fears and make light of serious subjects like Muslim extremism and the war in Iraq. It also helps that Jeff Dunham is one of (if not the) most talented Ventriloquists in the world today and the act is, you know, pretty funny.

The mistake that Jeff makes with Achmed - or at least what leaves him vulnerable to criticism of being racist - is that some of the humour is about (and reinforces) racial stereotypes instead of the character. Achmed's a funny puppet with some great catch phrases ("Silence! I kill you!", "Holy crap!", "You racist bastard!", etc.) and the war of terror is a prime target for satire so there's no need for Jeff to resort to lame Arabic/flem jokes to get his act over with a crowd. Those are cheap laughs and Jeff Dunham too talented a performer to have to resort to them, especially when he's got a concept like Achmed that's so loaded with potential.

You can learn what other people have to say about this in the video responses to Lindsay's MOBlogic video (seen above) on YouTube.

Terry Fator: Puppetry's $100 Million Man

Ventriloquist Terry Fator and Winston the Impersonating Turtle.

Terry Fator - the amazingly talented Ventriloquist/impressionist who won the reality TV series/talent show America's Got Talent last year (see previous post) - has just signed a deal that's reportedly worth $100 million over the next five years. Terry will be performing nightly at The Mirage Casino and Resort in Las Vegas in a theatre that will be named after him. The deal is reported to include an optional extension of another five years, which makes the entire deal worth over $200 million. That's two hundred million dollars. Not too shabby for a puppeteer who not so long ago was playing half-empty shows at county fairs.

Terry recently appeared on Oprah with Simon Cowell, who called him "two of the most talented people on the planet. You can catch him on TV again tonight; he's scheduled to perform as a guest on The Late Show With David Letterman.

Christmas Puppetry Smorgasborg

If you're not too busy trimming trees and decking halls over the holidays here's some fun Christmas puppet stuff to check out:

• The final installments of the Save Xmas Now podcast have been posted. You can check out all of them here. Also, the stars of Save Xmas Now helped Henson.com Podcast host Grant Baciocco last week with his 2007 Advent Calendar Podcast (thanks to Sean for sending this in).
  
  
• Ventriloquist Terry Fator (see previous post) has posted some special Christmas videos on his web site (via Newsy Vents).
  
  
• Duck Walks in to a Bar has some Christmas greetings to share in typical, not-safe-for-work fashion (thanks to Kevin S. for writing in with this).
  
  
• Some Rockin' Holiday Greetings from Paul.
  
  
• Tough Pigs live blogged Elmo's Christmas Countdown, the Sesame Street Christmas special that aired on ABC in the U.S. last night.
  
  
• Chase Woolner - the awesome teenage puppeteer who runs a great little puppet club at Canton High School in Canton, Michigan - teamed up with some other people in his school to produce a video they call A Non-denominational Holiday Dinner.
  
  
• Gloomy Roomies has posted part two of their Nightmare After Christmas holiday special.
  

Posting will probably be a little light here for the next week or so, but if this wasn't enough holiday cheer for you then try browsing PuppetVision's posts of Christmas past for great holiday videos and links that have been featured here previously.

Merry Christmas everybody!

Terry Fator wins America's Got Talent!

Ventriloquist Terry Fator celebrates moments after winning the America's Got Talent competition last night.

Congratulations to Terry Fator (see previous post) who won America's Got Talent last night and took home $1 million and a deal to perform at Bally’s Resort in Las Vegas. The two hour broadcast included a special performance by Terry and one of his puppets along with Kermit the Frog and a bunch of Muppet chickens. Not too bad for a Ventriloquist who only had one person show up at one of his recent performances prior to all this.

If you want to see several clips of Terry performing check out NBC's America's Got Talent web site.

23/08/07 Update: Did you miss the America's Got Talent finale this week? Well, don't fret because The Muppet Newsflash reports that it will be repeated on NBC Saturday night (check your local listings). Terry's performance with the Muppets is in the first hour of the show, just a little after the 20-minute mark.

Ventriloquist Could Win America's Got Talent

Ventriloquist Terry Fator is poised to win $1 million dollars on America's Got Talent.

If you've been following NBC's talent show America's Got Talent this summer, then you probably already know that Terry Fator - who's a world class ventriloquist and a really talented all-round entertainer - has been one of the show's most popular contestants and is one of the "final four" competing to win $1 million on the show. You can check out some of Terry's performances at the link above and if you'd like him to win then show your support and vote for him on the NBC web site.

The winner of America's Got Talent will be announced on next Tuesday's episode. If you're in the U.S. or Canada it airs at 8 p.m. in most markets (check your local listings).

17/08/07 Update: Clinton Detweiler has shared some correspondence he's had with Terry regarding his incredible success. Also, I updated my original post to include a link to Terry's official web site.

Ramdas Padhye on YouTube

Ramdas Padhye is a well-known puppeteer and ventriloquist in India.

Ramdas Padhye (see previous post) is probably India's best-known puppeteer and ventriloquist. His work is regularly seen on film, television and stage in India and internationally. There's a nice promotional video on YouTube right now about his life and work.

Sprint's Dummy Commercial

Sprint hopes you'll think this puppet is no dummy when it comes to their cell phone plans.

Here's a fun commercial for Sprint (link goes directly to a .mov file) that features an animatronic ventriloquist dummy built and performed by The Character Shop. There's a great "making of" page about the commercial available on the TCS web site here.