Gabriel Iglesias and Jeff Dunham
Gabriel Iglesias and Jeff Dunham are both extremely funny comedians but use totally different styles. Gabriel doesn’t use props and has real stories with real people. Jeff is a ventriloquist so he has to use puppets. He makes up stories and jokes based on the characters. Many people thoroughly enjoy both of these comedians. This paper will compare and contrast their styles, characters and background.
Gabriel Iglesias was born on July 15, 1976 in San Diego California and graduated high school in Long Beach California at Wilson High. He is the youngest of six siblings. He has four sisters and one brother. He grew up mostly in Long Beach but was born in San Diego. He and his family moved around a lot and he got some really funny stories from all of these places. This was a tough time for him but it has turned into a blossoming career.
Jeff Dunham was born in Dallas, Texas in 1962. He began ventriloquism at the age of eight when his parents gave him a Mortimer Snerd Dummy. He checked out a how to book from the library the very next day. He studied for hours in front of the mirror practicing 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.
Gabriel Iglesias uses real characters and real stories from his life experiences. The sound effects in his shows are all done by him and they sound very realistic. Every single joke and story that Gabriel tells is real and from his life. His shows are constantly being refreshed with new material.
Jeff Dunham’s uses puppets so he has to make up his own stories that go along with the characters. For example he has a character named Peanut. Peanuts story is that he came from a small island in the South Pacific, so Jeff creates jokes and stories from Peanut’s perspective. This was really funny before because you never have to...