Jeff Dunham talks about his new TV show, debuting tonight
Jeff Dunham and Achmed the Dead Terrorist (Photo by Richard McLaren)
From Thursday’s you! section of The Oklahoman.
Comedian Jeff Dunham and his puppet pals have dominated YouTube, conquered stand-up specials and thrived as a touring act.
Now, the ventriloquist and his cohorts Walter, Peanut, Bubba J and Achmed the Dead Terrorist are taking on a new challenge: series television. “The Jeff Dunham Show” debuts at 8 tonight on Comedy Central, but many Americans already know and love Dunham and his “suitcase posse” of irreverent characters.
“What’s great about this show is that before any cameras started rolling or any scripts started being written, the characters were well-developed and tested with audiences … some of them for decades,” he said in a phone interview this week from Los Angeles, where he calls home.
The Dallas native, 47, has notched 350 million hits on his YouTube videos and become the top-grossing stand-up act in America, according to Pollstar. “Jeff Dunham’s Very Special Christmas Special,” his third stand-up special for Comedy Central, last year became the most-watched telecast in the cable channel’s history with 6.6 million viewers tuning in for the debut.
Those successes gave Dunham the chance to develop his “reality comedy series.” On the show, he and his puppets perform live before a studio audience and then venture into the real world. He visits a relationship therapist with Walter, takes Bubba J to a firing range and helps Peanut get a date with Brooke Hogan.
“We stayed true to the spirit of what it is that I do on TV (specials) and on stage, and at the same time, we’re throwing out there something that’s completely different than anything … that’s ever been done before,” he said.
He added, “One of the things I’m most proud of is that it has no socially redeeming value whatsoever, and I think there’s something refreshing about that.”
Of course, trying anything new comes with its unforeseen drawbacks.
“What’s taxing — and I didn’t even consider this when we were coming up with the show — a lot of these shots … the characters have to be by themselves or just the character talking to someone else with me not anywhere around. So in a lot of these scenes, I’m not in the shot, but I have to be there to work the character,” he said.
Since the puppets aren’t computerized or remote-operated, green screens often create the illusion that the dummies are talking or moving without Dunham’s help. But in one of the season’s seven episodes, Achmed longs for a proper funeral, including the perfect coffin, putting Dunham in an awkward position.
“I’m in the bottom, closed half of the casket in a fetal position with a flashlight and my hand up the puppet’s butt,” he said with a laugh. “So that was a little disconcerting.”
While making the show means often shooting 10 hours to get one four-minute segment, Dunham, whose mother was raised in Ponca City, keeps his sense of humor and perspective.
“Yeah, it’s tough. It’s a lot of preparation for a tiny amount of time. It’s not like I’m having to dig a ditch or anything. I certainly count my blessings,” he said.
“The most tiring thing that I do in my life is when I come home and take care of my daughters.”
-BAM
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