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.