By the seat of one's pants

Do you know what these two guys have in common? Apart from being handsome… J

Their names are Jeff Dunham (from America) Sascha Grammel (Germany) and they are both ventriloquists. You think you don't know what a ventriloquist is? I am sure you do. According to Wikipedia "Ventriloquism is an act in which a person changes his or her voice so that it appears that the voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a 'dummy'".

Dunham has various of these dummies such as Walter, the grumpy retiree; the furry and manic Peanut and José Jalapeño from South of the border; but he is best known for his character “Achmed the Dead Terrorist” who is an incompetent suicide bomber. Achmed became famous for his yelling “Silence! I kill you!” to Jeff Dunham. The video where Achmed is introduced has more than 160 million clicks on You Tube, but that’s not all. Dunham’s TV series on Comedy Central have the highest audience ratings; he has sold more than seven million DVDs and his videos have half a billion views on You Tube. Sounds impressive, doesn’t it? No wonder Forbes Magazine ranked him in its list “100 most powerful entertainers” and Time Magazine wrote that he is “the most popular comedian in the United States”. 

Jeff Dunham has earned much money but his success has also a negative side. His characters have been accused of being racist, sexist and homophobic. In 2008, a TV commercial featuring Achmed was banned by the South African Advertising Authority after people complained about the ad because it was offensive to Muslims and portrayed them as terrorists. Dunham defended himself against the complaints and pointed out that he is a stand-up comedian and that it is his job to make people laugh. From his point of view comedy is the last true form of free speech.

Sascha Grammel, on the other hand, is well known in Germany and Austria but not as popular as Jeff Dunham is in America. Grammel created his own unique ventriloquist-style which is called “Puppet-Comedy” and combines comedy, magic, puppet show and (of course) ventriloquism. Like Jeff Dunham, Sascha Grammel has plenty help-on-stage: “Josie”,

a turtle that works as a cash machine, “Frederic Freiherr vom Furchensumpf” a cheeky eagle-pheasant-mix who is extremely self-confident; and “Dr. Peter Hacke”, a burger and nutritionist. Grammel’s previous show was called “Hetz mich nicht” (Don’t rush) which he performed in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. I had the occasion to see him live on stage in Vienna - it was absolutely amazing! He performed “Don’t rush” for more than three years but now he has a new show – “No plan”. 

Grammel has got new characters (for example “Rüdiger”, an alien; or “Huhn, a blue chicken), new jokes AND is coming to Vienna in November 2014! I am really looking forward to seeing him again on stage.