Dunham, brood of disorderly puppets return to Tucson

This fall, his middle daughter, Ashlyn, will begin her sophomore year at the University of Arizona.

“She had a great time this past year,” Dunham said last month, days after returning from his world tour that took him and his cast of unruly puppets to Iceland, Europe, Australia and the Middle East.

During parents weekend last fall, Dunham and his wife of two years, fitness model and nutritionist Audrey Murdick, snuck into town to experience Ashlyn’s Tucson.

“I told her I want to do what you do,” the 52-year-old father of three recalled during a phone interview from Los Angeles. His daughter’s response: “At midnight we’re heading to Taco Bell.”

“I’m like yes! I haven’t done that in a couple decades,” he said with a laugh.

Don’t be surprised if you find the trio making an encore midnight Taco Bell run this fall. He might even be sporting some UA regalia when he comes to Casino del Sol’s AVA on Saturday with Achmed the Dead Terrorist, Walter, Peanut and José Jalepeño on A Stick as part of his “Disorderly Conduct” tour.

The group will have quite a few new stories to tell, but the most exciting will center on a show they did in Malaysia where Achmed was banned.

The Malaysian ministry of culture forbid Dunham from including Achmed in the show in Kuala Lumpur because, the ministry said, the character offended Muslims. The audience, of course, was not offended; they were introduced to Achmed from YouTube videos and they wanted to see him.

“How am I going to get on stage and explain to these people that because of their government I can’t bring on stage the very reason that they know who I am and the reason that they’re there,” said Dunham, who switched gears and dressed Achmed in a beret and called him his French brother.

Dunham said the fuss was interesting given that the Malaysian government had its hands full searching for a missing jetliner that still has not been recovered.

“Malaysia had two things to worry about: Find an airplane and the puppet guy,” Dunham joked.

Those Middle Eastern stops will make it onto Dunham’s next Comedy Central special, a “docu-comedy” that traces his journey starting with Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

“We got off the plane at Abu Dhabi, which is heavily Muslim, and everybody is dressed in the typical Muslim garb. And the women are all in black. You get off the airplane, you’re walking through the airport and it’s like a bad movie. You’re expecting things to start blowing up because everybody is dressed like that,” he recalled.

Of course, the reality was that the people he encountered were nice and made him and his entourage feel welcome.

Staring into the crowds each night, though, was surreal, he admitted.

“I actually thought when I walked on stage in Abu Dhabi, the first Muslim place we played, that my management had hired guys to dress up like that and sit in the front row,” he said.

Dunham’s world tour is back on American soil through the summer. In late November, he and his puppets will take up residence through May 31 at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, where they will headline a show called “Not Playing With A Full Deck.” Tickets are available at ticketmaster.com