And then I used him for a couple of years. I just made him look like an idiot and everybody laughed. What horrible thing are we going to hear now?’ And there’s this bumbling stupid skeleton comes out of the suitcase and just I went through the material. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Osama Bin Laden.’Īnd, of course, the room was completely silent right there. And said, “Well” – and this was 45 minutes into my show. And that is Osama Bin Laden is dead.” Everybody applauds. I said, “Ladies and gentlemen, there’s one sentence we’ve all be waiting to hear. What would they laugh at? What would they be okay hearing about? And what would they respond to? And then I thought, ‘I’m not going to chicken out and go do this somewhere far away from New York.’ My first show with the dead Osama was about eight miles from Ground Zero just outside New York City in a comedy club. I wrote material as if there were relatives of victims sitting in the room. And, he’s a skeleton and he’s been hiding out in the suitcase with all my other characters.’ So I came out with the first iteration of Achmed which was the dead Osama. So everybody was saying, ‘Where’s Osama Bin Laden?’ What were they joking about? They were joking about him and those guys that did all that. A year after 9/11, we’re still looking for Osama Bin Laden and I turned to David Letterman. So, that worked and it’s been working for decades now. You’re either married to him or you are him or you work for him. He came into the act in what 1987 I think and basically he was just this old guy that I knew people would identify with because everybody knows some curmudgeonly old man. The best example – well, start with Walter. So again, what inspires me is just living life like that.Īnd as for the new characters, I pretty much respond to what’s going on and been going on in the world at that time. Or, you know, at least on the periphery of seeing other people go through them. I think that all those steps so many people can identify with, and I know that’s what makes people laugh is things they can identify with and they’ve been through or they’ve heard about.
And all along the way, the material has changed because Walter can give me advice or make fun of me every step along the way.
Here I was single and dating and Walter making fun of me and giving me advice for all that. It’s very interesting to me because it started out young man/old man. So many years – a couple of decades now I’ve had Walter in the act. How can you not draw material from that? And so then with characters like Walter who is this curmudgeonly old guy, he’s basically been making fun of me since he entered the act and he entered the act when I was in college. So where do I draw inspiration? Well, I guess the fact that my boys will be entering college when I’m 71 years old. And in two months Audrey and I have twin boys due. The most important one right now besides the marriage is that I’m now 53 years old. And the greatest thing about…well, one of the greatest things about being remarried now is that there’s a whole new well to draw from for material. I think what inspires me is just seeing my kids, raising my children. You don’t know really what’s it’s all about until you get out in the real world and get a couple of knocks. I used to hear that back when I was in college that I had people telling me that a comedian really doesn’t reach his stride or at least a stride enough to keep succeeding until probably late in college or after college because he hasn’t lived life enough. But, you know the more steps that I take in life, the more there is to draw from. And whether you succeed to fail or make mistakes or you know do great things, we all do that throughout life. And I think that the best inspiration for any comic is just to live life and live it to its fullest. Jeff Dunham: “Unfortunately for comedians, I think the funnier the guy is usually the more garbage he or she has gone through in their lives. What inspires to create a new character and will you be introducing one on the special? Participating in a conference call in support of the upcoming special, Dunham chatted about the inspiration for his characters and his style of comedy. Dunham, who describes himself as “an average guy who happens to have these little partners that live in suitcases,” promises this new special will poke fun at Hollywood while delivering the sort of comedy his fans expect and love. Jeff Dunham: Unhinged in Hollywood was shot at the Dolby Theater (home of the Oscars) and features Dunham’s cast of colorful characters including fan favorites Walter and Achmed the Dead Terrorist. Achmed and Jeff Dunham (Photo by: Todd Rosenberg / NBC)Ĭomedian and ventriloquist Jeff Dunham headlines a new special on NBC airing on Septemat 8pm ET/PT.
0 kommentar(er)
