When I was in third grade I taught myself ventriloquism... What's hard is to learn to be an entertainer and make people laugh. I was a few years out of college before I felt I had enough material. Then in 1988 I moved to L.A. and started to do some shows at comedy clubs.

His fifth special Minding the Monsters which was taped in Savannah premiered on Comedy Central on October 7 2012. Dunham moved back to clubs more than 200 appearances a year. One of these was such as a 1996 episode of Ellen in which he appeared with Walter.

com and according to the concert industry publication Pollstar he is the top-grossing standup act in North America and is among the most successful acts in Europe as well. Dunham has been called "America's favorite comedian" by Slate.