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Breathing life into an elderly curmudgeon, a purple creature known as a "Woozle" and a self-effacing jalapeno, among other lovable characters, Jeff Dunham is straight man to some of the funniest partners in show business. And with new characters making a splash on sites like YouTube, Dunham has reached a new audience. His comedic skill and impeccable technique serve as sleight of hand, however, drawing attention away from the fact that Dunham is a ventriloquist extraordinaire. "What makes this performer the best at what he does is the believability factor," one reviewer wrote. "Dunham's characters have more personality than a lot of people I know. "

The handsome, thirtysomething veteran of performing has certainly honed his craft: performing 40 weeks and 250 dates a year in concert venues and the occasional comedy club, Dunham is one of the hardest working entertainers around. While never holding a job in the "real world," he has compiled an impressive resume. The only person ever to win the prestigious "Ventriloquist of the Year" Award twice, he was recently nominated "Comedian of the Year" by the INN Music City News Country Awards. Among numerous television appearances, he has appeared on "The Tonight Show" more than any other ventriloquist.

For Dunham the most significant stamp of approval will always be Johnny Carson inviting him to the couch on his very first "Tonight Show" appearance, an honor he shares with only four other comedians during Carson's 30-year tenure. A special comedy moment erupted when Dunham's permanently disgruntled partner, Walter, had the audacity to tell Carson that "It'll be a cold day in Hell before I come back to this show!"

Dunham has since appeared regularly on "The Tonight Show," in numerous stand-up comedy series and in such specials as "Hot Country Nights," taking his act from the club circuit to sold-out concert venues as a headliner in his own right. No stranger to the theatrical stage, he also toured with the Broadway musical "Sugar Babies." A master entertainer, Dunham has been featured as the opening act for dozens of major stars including Gloria Estefan, Julio Iglesias, Reba McEntire, Glen Campbell, Tanya Tucker, the Oakridge Boys and Bob Hope, with whom Dunham shared two unique moments: sitting on a couch with Hope and critiquing "Saturday Night Live," and flying aboard Hope's private Lear jet.

But enough about Dunham. The real stars of the show are his partners in comedy: chiefly, Jose Jalapeno on a Stick, Peanut and Walter. With a personality reflecting one of Dunham's favorite cartoon characters, Speedy Gonzales' cousin Slowpoke, the oversized and mustachioed Jose Jalapeno eschews ethnic humor in favor of stiffer material stick jokes. Peanut, a purple potbellied "woozle," approaches the world with a mix of childlike wonder and streetwise naughtiness. And the irascible Walter, whose bald head and permanent frown is usually accompanied by crossed arms, draws laughs with his non-stop negativism. In addition to a white-trash, buck-toothed hayseed named Bubba, Dunham's lesser-known characters include a gorilla, a cockroach, and a worm at the bottom of a tequila bottle.

It is the believability of Dunham's characters that endear them to audiences everywhere.