Jeff Dunham March 27, 2009

UTC McKenzie Arena is proud to present comedian JEFF DUNHAM and his OUTRAGOUS suitcase posse on their “Spark of Insanity” tour Friday, March 27th!

On Friday, March 27th Jeff Dunham brings his undeniable talent and unstopable laughs to The UTC McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga, TN. Dunham has taken the art of ventriloquism to new hights and has transformed it into a cutting-edge comedy experience.

The last year has seen Dunham amass a series of triumphs to add to the many stellar achievements already in his career. His current tour is expected to gross $25 million as his appearances consistently sell-out and, second shows are frequently added as soon as the first is announced due to fervent ticket demand. He hit the two million sales mark with his DVDs “Spark of Insanity” and “Arguing With Myself” — as compared with average stand-up comedy DVD sales of 35,000 — and his new DVD “A Very Special Christmas Special” racked up quadruple platinum sales (of more than 400,000) in its very first two weeks and is sure to add at least another million to Dunham’s sales tally. The premiere of his holiday special on Comedy Central drew 6.6 million viewers to become the cable channel’s most-watched show ever. He sold out the Caesar’s Palace Coliseum during the star-studded Comedy Festival in Las Vegas and Toronto’s Massey Hall as part of Canada’s prestigious Just For Laughs festival. And he recently released his first-ever CD, Don’t Come Home For Christmas, which jumped into the Top 10 of the Billboard Independent Album chart as well as the Top 100 on its release and also hit #1 on iTunes comedy CD sales chart along with Achmed’s Christmas song “Jingle Bombs” topping the iTunes comedy singles chart.

The pop culture phenomenon hailed as “easily one of the funniest stand-up comics alive” (Dallas Morning News), “one of the most popular acts in the country” (Boston Globe) and “the best there is” (Jay Leno) debuts “A Very Special Christmas Special” on Comedy Central on November 16, to be followed by its release on DVD. Dunham’s first holiday TV show is sure to win ratings as strong as his two previous specials, “Arguing With Myself” and “Spark Of Insanity,” which are among the most-watched programs ever on Comedy Central. “A Very Special Christmas Special” is sure to join Dunham’s previous specials as one of the cable channel’s top hit shows and as a DVD easily earn 10 platinum sales awards — for sales of a million copies; average comedy DVD sales are a mere 25,000 — with a comedic extravaganza that is certain to become a holiday tradition for the millions that love his humor.
In the special, Dunham and his whip smart and wickedly funny dummies Walter the Grumpy Retiree, Achmed the Dead Terrorist, Bubba J, Peanut and Jose Jalapeño trim the tree and surround it with the gift of “nonstop fits of laughter” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) to celebrate the holidays with irresistible and often provocative comedy that will bring Santa-sized belly laughs to the 2008 holiday season. Soon Dunham’s loyal legion of “Puppethead” fans will be singing “Jingle Bombs” (Achmed’s holiday song) and enjoying “A Roadkill Christmas” with Bubba J that features such treats as beernog (“You take a quart of eggnog and pour it down the sink. And then you drink a beer”) and reindeer jerky. With Achmed’s “I keel you!” and Jose’s “on a steek!” already part of today’s popular lexicon, Dunham’s new holiday season catchphrases like Bubba’s “Screw you, merry Christmas” and Achmed’s “Merry Christmas, infidels!” are sure to follow. Check out www.jeffdunham.com or www.myspace.com/jeffdunham.

For or additional press materials and information, please contact Debbie Keller at Personal Publicity at 480-839-9474, or e-mail DKellerPublicity@aol.com.