Global Comedy Phenomenon JEFF DUNHAM January 28, 2011

Global Comedy Phenomenon JEFF DUNHAM Headlines the
Matthew Knight Arena on his 2011 International “Identity Crisis Tour”
Friday, January 28th!

Dunham success includes biggest live global comedy tour, six million DVDs sold, TV & internet sensation and new autobiography, “All By My Selves,” makes New York Times
Best Seller list in first week!

In the world of contemporary entertainment, comedian Jeff Dunham is a paragon of the funny business. Dunham was recently named for the second year in a row to the Forbes magazine Celebrity 100 list of the most powerful entertainers in the world. He was also identified as the top touring live comedy act in North America by the concert industry trade magazine Pollstar.

Dunham and his rogue troupe of comedic sidekicks have conquered yet another of many mediums as his publishing debut, “All By My Selves: Walter, Peanut, Achmed, And Me,” hit New York Times best sellers list its first week out and continues to climb since it’s Nov 2nd release. The new book details how Dunham became a reigning king of comedy. As The New York Times Magazine noted in recent feature story on his amazing success, “’Huge’ is an understatement.” He’s
a one-man industry — albeit with the help of his suitcase sidekicks that are an essential element of his many achievements— USA Today hailed Dunham as “spectacular.” The book is told in his own words — with commentary by his comedic characters — Dunham’s unique autobiography was published by Dutton, with an accompanying audio book narrated by Dunham and released the same day by Image Entertainment. The new book has also earned an immediate five stars from rave customer reviews on Amazon.com, and good notice from the California Literary Review, which observes, “In this well-written book, he’s funny, self-deprecating, socially relevant, and multi-vocal.”

His four DVDs from his top-rated and record-setting Comedy Central specials and series have sold a phenomenal six million copies. Dunham’s wide and varied line of merchandise items are hot sellers at national chains like Wal-Mart, Kmart, Hastings, FYE and other stores and outpace industry sales averages at his live shows. Dunham boasts a half a billion Internet views of his video clips worldwide.

It all began with his first public performances for a mere $5 a show as a fourth-grader in his Dallas, TX hometown, followed by years of intensive touring on the comedy club circuit from his college years into adulthood (hilariously recounted in “All By My Selves”) and the momentum shows no signs of slowing down. His “Identity Crisis” North American tour plays venues seating 7,000 to 10,000 some four nights a week, winning rapturous standing ovations at every show. Dunham made his maiden tour of South Africa where he drew nearly 30,000 fans, and made his second tour of Europe earlier this year. His triple-platinum DVDs in South Africa have outsold all other international comics there, the holiday special hit #1 on the Danish Entertainment Chart, “Spark” reached #2 on the Dutch DVD charts, and when “Spark” and the Christmas DVD were released in the U.K. they were the only titles by an American in the nation’s comedy Top 20.
Dunham built his loyal audience by gathering fan contacts from his earliest days in the comedy clubs, and was an early adopter of using the Internet and digital communication tools for promotion and marketing. His Facebook page was recently listed as the fourth “Most Explosive” page on the site by AllFacebook.com, a popular industry blog, after he added nearly 300,000 fans in one week. He currently boasts more than 4 million Facebook fans and is the #1 comedian on MySpace. When his iPhone app released last July, it was so immediately popular that it hit Apple’s Top 10 apps the first day it was available. He also boasts platform partnerships with YouTube (where he’s racked up a half billion view counts, with one video of him and Achmed garnering over 100 million), Amazon.com and iTunes as well as an exclusive deal with Caesars Palace and AEG Live to appear at the popular Las Vegas casino and resort hotel’s Coliseum venue multiple times a year.

Dunham has indelibly etched the vivid and believable personalities of his comedic crew like Walter the Grumpy Retiree, Achmed the Dead Terrorist, the beer-fueled redneck Bubba J and the manic purple creature Peanut into the consciousness of the nation and comedy fans around the globe. Their trademark phrases like “Silence! I keel you!” (Achmed) and “On a steek!” (José Jalepeño) have become integrated into the modern lexicon. Jeff Dunham epitomizes the commercial triumph of creativity, and adds to that a keen marketing and business sense.

Showtime: 8:00PM Tickets: $43.50 Call: 800-992-8499 Log onto: www.matthewknightarena.com
The Matthew Knight Arena is located at 1776 East 13th Eugene, OR 97403

Official Website: http://www.matthewknightarena.com