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| notable_work = ''Jeff Dunham: Arguing with Myself'' ''Jeff Dunham: Spark of Insanity'' ''Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special'' ''The Jeff Dunham Show'' ''Jeff Dunham: Controlled Chaos'' ''Jeff Dunham: Minding the Monsters'' | signature = | website = }} Jeffrey "Jeff" Dunham (born April 18, 1962) is an American ventriloquist, producer, and stand-up comedian who has also appeared on numerous television shows, including ''Late Show with David Letterman'', ''Comedy Central Presents'', ''The Tonight Show'' and ''Sonny With a Chance''. He has six specials that run on Comedy Central: ''Jeff Dunham: Arguing with Myself'', ''Jeff Dunham: Spark of Insanity'', ''Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special'', ''Jeff Dunham: Controlled Chaos'', ''Jeff Dunham: Minding the Monsters'', and ''Jeff Dunham: All Over the Map''. Dunham also starred in ''The Jeff Dunham Show'', a series on the network in 2009. His style has been described as "a dressed-down, more digestible version of Don Rickles with multiple personality disorder". Describing his characters, Time magazine said, "All of them are politically incorrect, gratuitously insulting and ill tempered."〔Luscombe, Belinda. ("The Puppet Master" ). ''Time'' magazine. June 8, 2009〕 Dunham has been credited with reviving ventriloquism,〔Braxton, Greg. ("Jeff Dunham throws his voice into stardom" ), ''The Los Angeles Times'', November 4, 2009.〕 and doing more to promote the art form than anyone since Edgar Bergen.〔 Dunham has been called "America's favorite comedian" by Slate.com, and according to the concert industry publication ''Pollstar'', he is the top-grossing standup act in North America, and is among the most successful acts in Europe as well. As of November 2009, he has sold over four million DVDs, an additional $7 million in merchandise sales,〔Morris, Tom. ("Success for Dummies" ), ''The Huffington Post''. November 9, 2009.〕 and received more than 350 million hits on YouTube as of October 2009 (his introduction of Achmed the Dead Terrorist in ''Spark of Insanity'' was ranked as the ninth most watched YouTube video at the time).〔 ''A Very Special Christmas Special'' was the most-watched telecast in Comedy Central history, with its DVD selling over 400,000 in its first two weeks.〔("Jeff Dunham and Friends have found a Home at Comedy Central signing a Multi-Platform Deal to Encompass all Areas of Entertainment" Comedy Central; March 23, 2009 ).〕 ''Forbes.com'' ranked Dunham as the third highest-paid comedian in the United States behind Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock,〔 and reported that he was one of the highest-earning comics from June 2008 to June 2009, earning approximately $30 million during that period. Dunham also does occasional acting roles. ==Early life== Dunham was born in Dallas, Texas on April 18, 1962.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.biography.com/people/jeff-dunham-20682855 )〕〔The biography page on (Dunham's official site ) established his year of birth when it was accessed on April 17, 2009, but had been removed by November 28, 2009. (Archive of 2007 version of official site ).〕 When he was three months old he was adopted by real estate appraiser Howard Dunham, and his homemaker wife Joyce, who raised him in a devoutly Presbyterian household〔 in an affluent Dallas neighborhood as an only child.〔(Clip of Dunham from an episode of the CMT TV series ''Fast Living'' ); accessed May 4, 2013.〕 He began ventriloquism in 1970 at age eight, when his parents gave him a Mortimer Snerd dummy for Christmas, and an accompanying how-to album.〔 The next day he checked out a how-to book on ventriloquism from the library,〔〔 and explained in 2011 that he still had it, remarking that he was "a thief in the third grade". By the fourth grade, Dunham decided he not only wanted to be a professional ventriloquist, but the best one ever.〔 Dunham began practicing for hours in front of a mirror, studying the routines of Edgar Bergen, and the how-to record ''Jimmy Nelson's Instant Ventriloquism'',〔 finding ventriloquism to be a learned skill, similar to juggling, that anyone with a normal speaking voice can acquire.〔(Jeff Dunham. "Building a Rotorway 162F Part 1 of 8: How I got into this." ), ''KITPLANES Magazine'', March 1997.〕 Dunham has explained that, as an only child, he enjoyed being alone, likening his solitude to a "warm blanket" with which he could explore his own thoughts and ideas, which prepared him for the solitude of living alone when he later moved to Los Angeles as a struggling comedian.〔 When Dunham was in the sixth grade, he began attending the Vent Haven ConVENTion in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, an annual international meeting of ventriloquists that includes competitions, where he met Jimmy Nelson in person. Dunham has missed only one ConVENTion since then, in 1977. The organizers of the ConVENTion eventually declared Dunham a "retired champion", ineligible from entering any more competitions, as other attendees were too intimidated to compete against him. The Vent Haven Museum devotes a section to Dunham, alongside Señor Wences and his idol, Edgar Bergen.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Jeff Dunham」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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