Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog

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Best of Triumph DVD

Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog is a puppet created and performed by Robert Smigel premiering in 1997 on NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien best known for mocking celebrities. Triumph was identified in the early appearances as a Yugoslavian Mountain Hound, although he resembles a Rottweiler. Triumph often puffs a cigar, which usually falls out of his mouth when he begins speaking. The crudeness of the puppetry behind Triumph — Smigel's arm is often clearly visible in the shot — has added to the character's popularity.

1 Professional career
2 Catch phrases
3 Legal issues
4 Album and media releases
5 In popular culture
6 Triumph interviews
7 External links

Triumph on MSNBC post Presidential Convention 2004 coverage

Triumph's debut was in a comedy skit about unusually talented dogs at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, from which he was eventually banned (though his third visit to the show was by invitation). In addition to other dog puppets who played banjos and performed magic, Triumph appeared in his trademark persona of an obnoxious and ribald insult comic in the vein of Don Rickles. The character rapidly grew in popularity, and became a recurring fixture on the show, often mocking the show's celebrity guests and leaving the studio to harass the general public in pre-taped remote segments.

Some of Triumph's best known skits involved him visiting the Westminster Dog Show, where he would often be found "humping" (attempting to mate with), and occasionally being "humped" by other dogs. Smigel and Triumph have been ejected from several events for Triumph's antics, including Westminster (three times), the Honolulu line for auditions for American Idol, and the 2004 Democratic National Convention (while shooting an aborted movie project).

In one memorable segment, Triumph interviewed Star Wars fans waiting on line for Attack of the Clones. In that segment, Triumph met Blackwolf the Dragonmaster, who calls himself "New York's unofficial wizard", and asked, "Have you ever spoken to a woman without having to give your credit card number?"

Triumph interviews pundits after a presidential debate in 2004.

In addition to regular appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Triumph has appeared on the MTV Video Music Awards, including an exchange with Jennifer Lopez which MTV later removed from rebroadcast airings. The following year, Triumph interviewed Moby and then approached an angry Eminem, prompting MTV to cut away from the segment. Eminem later referred to and impersonated Triumph on the track "Ass Like That" from his 2004 album Encore, and subsequently appeared in the video, with Eminem playing Triumph. Other appearances include Hollywood Squares, The Osbournes (Christmas Special) and Smigel's TV Funhouse.

Triumph sporting a beret and insults on his visit to Quebec

In February of 2004, there was controversy surrounding a skit where Triumph hurled insults at French Canadians in Quebec during Late Night's special week of shows taped in Toronto. He poked fun at Quebec nationalism, at one point telling a portly French-Canadian that before separating from Canada he should "try separating [himself] from donuts first." Triumph also told non-English speakers that he could smell their crotch (in English). When one person walked away from the camera (with a string of curses) because he did not understand what Triumph was saying, the puppet replied, "You are in North America, learn the language!"

In June 2005, Triumph went to the Santa Maria courthouse, where fans were awaiting the Michael Jackson verdict. "Until the trial is over," reported Triumph, "none of us can really know if Michael is innocent or guilty. But there is one thing we do know... he's guilty!" Triumph also made fun of several foreigners supporting Jackson, including a Bulgarian man who was wearing a bright lime-green shirt. In front of the man there was a sign, stating "the only victim is Michael," to which Triumph replied with, "he's not the only fashion victim, I can see that!", and, "tainted love, 'bee bee boop', tainted love," implying the man was wearing a 1980s wardrobe. He suggested to a female fan that if she really wanted to get Michael's attention she should "wear a nice dress, some thing low cut, maybe with a six year-old boy on your shoulder." Upon seeing a Michael Jackson impersonator sing and do the moonwalk, Triumph asked him if he could "do Michael masturbating to 'Home Alone.'"

In November of 2005, Triumph hosted "Poopapalooza" at the Flamingo Showroom in Las Vegas as the Closing act of the initial "The Comedy Festival". Triumph pooped on various Las Vegas performers, including Cirque Du Soleil-style gymnasts, "The Neon Man", and the Michael Jackson impersonator he'd met at the trial. There were also cameos by Jon Stewart, Penn and Teller, Lance Burton and Gilbert Gottfried.

Triumph outside the Michael Jackson trial courthouse

Triumph also made an appearance on Conan's show on a recent Christmas-themed skit ("The Lighting of the Vigoda") where he sang "I Saw Mommy Humping Santa Claus."

Triumph gave his New Year's resolutions and showed a montage of his work over 2005 on Conan's show.

In 2006 Triumph made an appearance on Conan celebrating the Chinese New Year being "The Year of the Dog," stating "It's my year!" and helping himself to various merchandise in New York City's Chinatown. He visited a butcher shop and vomited immediately upon tasting a Chinese delicacy. He also made an acupuncturist wear S & M gear.

In March 2006 G4 aired a special, The Best of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, consisting of clips from Triumph's Best of DVD. Triumph filmed short segments with Blackwolf The Dragonmaster for the special.

On October 15, 2006, Triumph was the closing act for "Night of Too Many Stars: An Overbooked Benefit for Autism Education" at the Beacon Theater in New York. The show, aired on Comedy Central, was hosted by Jon Stewart and featured performances by Jerry Seinfeld, Adam Sandler, Jack Black, Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, Borat Sagdiev and many other comics. Triumph sang "Come Back" with a group of singers introduced as Ladysmith Black Mambazo. "Come Back" was a plaintive chant bemoaning the loss of certain celebrities from the public eye. Sample lyrics:

Come back Kathie Lee/I miss your sweatshops so cruel/And your Christmas shows were worse/than finding blood in my stool

Dell Dude career/Please be reborn/You were big for a year/then it was back to gay porn

On November 3, 2006, Conan presented what appeared to be a clip of Triumph on "the Oprah Winfrey Show." Triumph announced he'd been in Malawi and had adopted a puppy there. He thanked the female audience for their applause and told them they were all going to get vibrators with Oprah's face on them.

On November 14, 2006, Triumph was named an honorary member of the Las Vegas police department's K-9 dog unit. The next night he performed at the Celine Dion Theater, hosting "Poopapalooza 2" with Harland Williams, Jim Gaffigan and Frank Caliendo.

In June 2007, Triumph visited the Tony Awards Red Carpet, or as he described it, "A Who's Who of Who Cares." Given that the already ratings-challenged Tonys were up against the final episode of The Sopranos, Triumph tried to help out by providing "more popular people" to sneak into the show, including Abe Vigoda, Arena Football League player Aaron Garcia, and "The Tuberculosis Guy". Finally, Triumph suggested the Tonys incorporate fans more the way MTV awards show do. He offered two matinee ladies (elderly fans who see Broadway matinees) who were willing to make out "with tongue."

In September 2007,Triumph was interviewed by Dr. Phil (mock interview on "Late Night") to discuss Triumph's lawsuit against Trouble Helmsley claiming that Trouble is the mother of his child (Trouble is Leona Helmsley's dog that inherited $12m when Leona Helmsley died) Triumph says that he and Trouble were friends for years......and he has pictures to prove it! (Pictures of Triumph humping Trouble on the lawn of the Helmsley estate, and in the lobby of the Helmsley Palace, getting a hummer from Trouble at Tony Bennett's 80th birthday party, and humping Trouble on Harvey Weinstein). Triumph also brings out the oldest child, Troubleina, and their littlest, named Leona "after the dried-up wrinkly old bitch".

Triumph's most well-known catch phrase is "... for me to poop on!", usually spoken to negate a compliment that precedes it, which normally appears at the end of a long diatribe or roast. An example would be, "But seriously, you've been a great audience ... for me to poop on!"

Another of Triumph's catch phrases is "I keed, I keed!", usually said at the end of a diatribe to imply that the puppet was only "kidding" when he made the insults. This is usually followed immediately by yet another string of insults. "I Keed" is also the title of a rap song written by Smigel in which the puppet lambasts celebrities, in a style similar to that of Eminem. The song appears on Triumph's solo album, Come Poop With Me.

At times Triumph will depart from his usual shtick and heap (perhaps sarcastic) praise on a particular celebrity; the highest honor Triumph bestows on those he thinks deserving is asking to sniff that person or character's butt. The very short list of people Triumph has deemed worthy of this honor includes Jennifer Lopez and the aforementioned Rickles.

Triumph interviewing Star Wars fans

In 1999, pets.com filed a lawsuit against Late Night and Robert Smigel claiming that Triumph constituted a trademark violation because of possible confusion with their sock puppet dog mascot (which appeared two years after the first appearance of Triumph); however, the bankruptcy and closing of the company during the dot-com bust of 2000 terminated this lawsuit before opening arguments had even been heard. Triumph responded in his typical fashion in a skit where he humped the "pets.com" dog in a restroom.

Come Poop With Me

In 2003 Triumph released his first album, Come Poop With Me, released by Warner Bros. Records, which featured adult comedy and songs, plus a bonus DVD of live performances by Triumph. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album. Appearing with Triumph on the album and the DVD were singer-actor Jack Black, comic actor Adam Sandler, Saturday Night Live cast members Maya Rudolph and Horatio Sanz; "Blackwolf the Dragonmaster" — a real-life fantasy/gaming fan who had once been targeted by Triumph during an infamous encounter with Star Wars fans; and Conan O'Brien himself.

On August 10, 2004, NBC released a DVD, Late Night With Conan O'Brien: The Best of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog featuring select Triumph appearances from Late Night.

In the Eminem song Ass Like That, he uses the Triumph puppet to talk his way out of trouble with the police. Triumph himself appears in the video, once again insulting Eminem.
The band Bon Jovi actually named their 2000 tour after Triumph ("Triumph the Earth 2000") and invited Triumph to cover their GIants Stadium concerts for Late Night.
In "Weird Al" Yankovic's mock interview with Eminem, he mentions that Triumph thinks that he's a "really excellent rapper—for him to poop on."
On the "Road to Europe" episode of Family Guy, Brian uses Triumph's catchphrase to insult Stewie.
Triumph made a cameo in the 2002 TV-movie It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, insulting Kermit the Frog.