By Amy Serna It might seem hard to imagine making a successful career with puppets, but that is exactly what stand-up comedian and ventriloquist Jeff Dunham has accomplished. His fame, however, wasn’t handed to him from the get-go. Dunham has been working with dummies ever since he was a kid, but now the puppets he brought to life have quickly become classic comic icons. Forbes magazine didn’t name Dunham the highest-paid comedian (along with popular comics Chelsea Handler and Dane Cook) in the United States for nothing. In the past year, the puppeteer earned up to $22.5 million, and Pollstar named him the top touring comedian for the second year in a row.  Dunham’s “Very Special Chris

  By Jennifer A. Gordon Revered as the original Latin “King of Comedy,” Paul Rodriguez has done just about everything there is to do over the last 33 years of his comedy career. Philanthropist, actor, producer and comedian, Rodriguez has had starring roles and guest appearances in more than 40 films, as well as in countless television series and comedy specials . . . and more. Now, catch Rodriguez’s show with opening act Dennis Gaxiola at Tommy T’s in Rancho Cordova at 8 and 10 p.m. this Friday and Saturday. Rodriguez’s first big break Rodriguez’s first big break came while doing comedy warmups for Norman Lear's show "Gloria." Lear ultimately wrote and developed a weekly series for Pa

A SacramentoComedy.Com Interview You may not think that the name “Ralphie” is something you would call a390-pound man. But, in the case of comedian Ralphie May, it's just fine. May, 38, who was named one of the "Top 10 Comics To Watch" in 2008 by“Variety Magazine,” was given that nickname as a young boy growing up deep in the heart of the south. May, who will be performing his two-hour show Thursday at The Crest Theatre, likes to tell people that his shows are about two hours in length for a reason. "My average fan works for about $20 per hour, if they are lucky enough to have a job," he chuckled, "and then factoring in insurance, taxes and such, they're maybe bringing home $15 per hour

By Mikhail Chernyavsky By the amount of Mohawks and Affliction shirts sported by audience members at the Punch Line Comedy Club Friday night, a spectator could only assume a five-minute bout in the octagon was about to commence. And, you wouldn’t be too far off. Joe Rogan took to the stage of a sold out audience – cheering and whistling him on – for what would be two hours of dirty, raunchy, intellectual and simply hilarious stand up comedy. Now, intellectual is not exactly what you would expect from a man who is best known for hosting a reality game show that had contestants wolfing down the sexual organs of animals. It is easy to say this Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) commentator is nothin

A SacramentoComedy.Com Interview What do you call four male comics packed into a pink van, touring the country for four months performing stand-up comedy and raising funds and awareness for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure? I guess you could say that we are just "boobs for boobs," laughed Brendan T. Gleason, one of the four comics coming to the Sacramento Punchline April 14. "We thought about naming the tour that, but decided that the subject deserved a little more serious demeanor." Gleason, Law Smith, Nick Hoff and pretty pink van owner Kevin Richards are on the last legs of this 57-show tour. After Sacramento (performance No. 55), there are two performances in Fresno, and then the tou

A SacramentoComedy.Com Interview From homeless to headliner, Dat Phan knows what it means to work hard to achieve your goals. His story is another "American dream" come true for someone willing to put it all out there. Phan, the youngest of 10 kids, started in Saigon, Vietnam, and landed in the ghettos of San Diego with his mother. There were times when they slept on bus benches. "I credit my mom for keeping me out of gangs as a child,” Phan said. “My babysitter was Cox Cable, and it kept me off the streets." It was during this period that he was inspired by the celebrities he watched on TV. "It was during the time that Michael Jackson was still black and awesome!" This all was happe

A SacramentoComedy.Com Interview When Mitch Fatel was growing up, it seemed that there were only two things he wanted to do: explore the magic of women and make people laugh. He seems to be doing just fine on both counts! SacramentoComedy.Com caught up with Fatel by phone while he was on a recent layover returning from a very successful series of shows at the Tempe Improv. Fatel, when asked about living on the East Coast, commented that he felt silly telling people that he lives in New York because he's traveling more than 46 weeks this year. "I spend less time in New York than I do anywhere else." Fatel started doing stand-up at the age of 15. He joined a comedy class for adults that

Whenever I hear descriptive terms like "good clean fun" or "fun for the entire family", and the word "Disneyland" isn't included in the sentence, in my mind I think "boring!" Put the words "comedy" and "competition" in the same sentence and I just think of a "Yo Mamma so fat..." argument on the asphalt. But not anymore! Welcome to Sacramento Comedy Sportz, a very nice and intimate venue tucked away in an industrial area behind Arby's on Arden one driveway east of Howe. The sign, like the venue is small and tucked away, so if you weren't looking for it, you may only come across it when looking for carpet next door. So, what makes this comedy venue so different? It's not comedy about sport