After a long layoff, Jeff Dunham is back. The one-of-a-kind ventriloquist and Guinness World Record holder for the most tickets sold for a comedy tour headlined for years at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace after an early gig opening there for Julio Iglesias, and now that Dunham is back on the road, he’s signed on for three new Las Vegas Strip dates in his Jeff Dunham: Seriously shows.
You just taped another special for Comedy Central in Washington, D.C. That must have been a lot different from your last taping, the 2020 holiday special when things were still a bit dodgy during shutdown.
It was great and the fans really came out. I love that theater (Warner Theater) because I did my second Comedy Central special there and introduced the character of Achmed. But, yes, the pandemic holiday special was nuts, because I hadn’t been doing any shows; I only worked on that material at home in my office. I didn’t tell a single joke to my wife or the people that work with me, nothing, I just got onstage.
You are known for not taking much time off, so it must have been strange to have all that downtime in the past few years, even if everyone else was taking a break.
Performing really is like riding a bicycle. If you’ve done it long enough, everything falls into place. I was only worried about my voice. It’s a muscle, and you need to keep it in shape, and I’m used to being onstage and talking for two hours at a time. But I spoke to a friend who’s a singer and said it would be fine, and she was right.
And you kept busy with some online content, right?
I did a lot of videos including a behind-the-scenes sort of thing on building the next character. That seems like it was a long time ago now, but he’s ended up being really successful in the shows, and he was great in the special. I feel like I’ve been working on it for a while, but you know, Peanut and Walter, they’ve been in my life for decades. These characters take a while to form.
Tell us about the new guy in the show.
He’s always stuck on his smart device. His name is Earl, but it’s spelled “URL.” He has his phone and he’s always typing. Like I said, it took a while to develop, but literally four shows before the taping in D.C., I changed his voice, and everything just fell into place. He’s on a different level now. I feel like this guy is going to be in the act for a while, because everybody is stuck on their phone too much of the time, and I’m always searching for characters people can identify with.
What other new elements can we expect to see in your shows?
Well, Walter has become Joe Biden. Walter is Walter, but he pretends he’s Biden. That’s a bit of a challenge to entertain everyone with that, but I try to play it like Johnny Carson or Bob Hope would have. They made fun of the president and politics, and I think that’s what comedians are supposed to do, but these days it’s difficult to do that without polarizing your act. I try to make fun of both sides just a little bit, just enough to make people laugh. We’re not calling anybody names, just pointing out some of the goofy stuff going on in the world right now.
Planet Hollywood Resort, 7:30 p.m. Nov. 5 and 12, Dec. 2, starting at $40.95 plus tax and fee. ticketmaster.com
Click here for your free subscription to the weekly digital edition of Las Vegas Magazine, your guide to everything to do, hear, see and experience in Southern Nevada. As part of your subscription, each week via email you will receive the latest edition of Las Vegas Magazine, full of informative content such as restaurants to visit, cocktails to sip and attractions to enjoy.
