Jeff Rothpan on puppets, stereotypes and what it takes to make it as a comic in the States

The comedian has worked closely with ventriloquist Jeff Dunham, whose "Islamic terrorist" puppet got quite a reaction in Israel.
Jeff Rothpan (Photo by Mike Carano)

When Jeff Rothpan moved to the United States decades ago to pursue comedy as a career, he couldn’t imagine he’d one day be working with some of his idols, including Steve Martin and John Cleese. But that’s where life took him, and since then, he’s written for internationally recognized ventriloquist Jeff Dunham, Canadian model Pamela Anderson and the TV show Roast Battle Canada, for which he was nominated for Best Writing at the Canadian Screen Awards.

Rothpan joins to chat about his lengthy career, including how he made the leap stateside and how Israelis—and Muslims—have reacted to Jeff Dunham’s “Islamic terrorist” puppet character.

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