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Jeff Dunham talks about preparing to take six months off his global touring for Vegas residency at Planet Hollywood

Las Vegas is going to be full of even more dummies after Thanksgiving.

The world’s most popular ventriloquist, Jeff Dunham, will settle in for a six-month residency at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino starting Nov. 28. Dunham’s show, “Not Playing with a Full Deck,” will go on two times a night, four nights a week, just down the strip from fellow mega-millionaire ventriloquist Terry Fator, who continues to headline weeknights at The Mirage since winning the second season of America’s Got Talent.

But Dunham has been touring the world — theaters, arenas, fairs and casinos all — for the past seven years. Guinness World Records recently named Dunham the world record holder for “Most Tickets Sold for a Stand-up Comedy Tour,” for his Spark of Insanity tour (2007-2010) which sold 1,981,720 tickets and played 386 venues around the world. His “Disorderly Conduct” touring schedule continues now through the first nine days of November across America, before he makes the relatively long-term move to Vegas.

He’ll be taking over the headlining slot there from Britney Spears.

Dunham, now on the cover of Variety, told the industry trade magazine about headlining Vegas:  “I always used to tell my kids that Vegas is where a career ends or begins, so now they’re asking me, ‘Well Dad, does this mean you career’s over now?’ And before, I would have felt that way – and it is how it used to be. But now, Vegas is a completely different animal. There are a lot of major headliners there with their own rooms, and Vegas is sexy again.”

Staying in one spot will be a dramatic change, and he said he’s not sure how he’ll take to it.

“Everyone’s been telling me, ‘You’d better watch it, as you’ll end up really liking it. And I’ve never, ever driven myself to work, so that alone is going to be really odd. We’ll drive 15 minutes to the show, do it, and then head back home each night. So at this point, I’m not sure exactly what I’ll do with all the extra time suddenly available — probably focus on the show and building new material. And then, within a year, it’ll be time for us to tape the next DVD.”

Dunham also told Variety he’s working with Gulfstream Pictures to develop a feature-film, and with Kapital Entertainment to develop a new half-hour TV comedy series. He previously starred in one season of The Jeff Dunham Show on Comedy Central in 2009.

Previously: Jeff Dunham had to make Achmed the Dead Terrorist a Frenchman for his tour stop this spring in Malaysia.

Related reading: 11 Things Even Jeff Dunham Fans Might Not Know About Jeff Dunham

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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