Dustin the Turkey
Dustin the Turkey, more commonly simply
Dustin, is a popular
Irish television puppet, star of
RTÉ's
The Den since the
1980s. He claims his full name is
Dustin Hoffman (Which is the same name as a famous oscar winning US actor). He joined the show with fellow puppets
Zig and Zag but remained with the show since their departure in the late
1990s. He also outlasted four human co-hosts:
Ian Dempsey,
Ray D'Arcy,
Damien McCaul and
Francis Boylan Jr., making him the longest serving member of the on-screen cast of
The Den. Dustin was introduced as a character when one of the puppets, Zag won a turkey in a Christmas raffle at a local golf club. It transpired however, that the turkey was not only still alive, but had a North Dublin accent and his own building company. Zig and Zag intended to eat Dustin for Christmas dinner in spite of this, and only changed their minds when a frequent visitor to the show, artist and children's novelist Don Conroy, provided his taxonomical opinion that Dustin was, in fact a cross between a turkey and a vulture, and therefore unsuitable for human or Zogling consumption (Zig and Zag are aliens from the planet Zog). He makes appearances outside of
The Den, including an annual appearance on
The Late Late Show Toy Show special at Christmas where he makes fun of the show's regular host
Pat Kenny, as he did with the previous host,
Gay Byrne. More recently he has turned his attention to other Irish television personalities, such as
Eddie Hobbs,
Ryan Tubridy and
Derek Mooney. A surprisingly provocative character, while he has been tamed down in recent years, Dustin would often make some very insulting remarks about various Irish celebrities and the services provided by RTÉ, and would say a lot of 'dodgy' things about politics and their practises that sometimes made one wonder how he got away with it. Insults targeted at
County Leitrim came particularly thick and fast.
In
September 2005, after 18 years, Dustin 'left' The Den and got his own show, DDN - Dustin's Daily News.
He released his
Greatest Hits album in 2001, which featured just two new songs, a Christmas version of
DJ Otzi's
Hey Baby, called
Hey Santa, and a dance remix of
Sweet Caroline. On
November 4,
2005, he released his first new single for 4 years,
Patricia the Stripper, a duet with
Chris de Burgh. On
November 11, 2005, he then released a new album, also his first for 4 years, called
Bling When You're Minging.
These albums have featured backing vocals from many Irish stars including
Bob Geldof and
Boyzone. Many of his songs are parodies of either folk songs or well known chart hits from across the decades. He famously made the news in Britain one year when he was number one in Ireland with his songs
Christmas Tree and
Rat Trap (a cover version of the Boomtown Rats song which he sang with Bob Geldof, and made fun of him throughout), when in just about every other country the Christmas number one spot went to the
Spice Girls with their song
2 Become 1.
Of note was his song
32 Counties, in which he cited the wonders of each county in Ireland. Leitrim took another beating, as he dubbed it "a mistake". The video depicted a gig that he was performing the song at. Guests arrived throughout dressed up as something that symbolises a county. The doorman ticked off that county on the list and let them in. A man dressed up as
St. Patrick kept trying to get in but the doorman refused to let him in. Finally at the end of the video, when everyone had left the hall the gig was being held in, the doorman let him in, and laughed loudly as he ticked Leitrim off the list. It seems that Dustin had finally pecked off more than he could chew this time, however, since subsequent showings of the song on
The Den would blank that line out, and the end of the video was edited out, and if it was discussed, he would have to profess that he "didn't remember" what he said about Leitrim. He also said
Westmeath "has a bypass" and
Laois "has a prison", but these passed without comment.
Singles
*
The Christmas No. 1 (Zig and Zag feat. Dustin the Turkey)
*
Spanish Lady (feat.
Ronnie Drew and
The Saw Doctors)
*
Numb *
Rat Trap (with
Bob Geldof)
*
Christmas Tree *
Good Lookin' Woman (with
Joe Dolan)
*
Fairytale of New York (with
Dervla Kirwan)
*
32 Counties*
Christmas in Dublin *
Sweet Caroline*
Patricia the Stripper (with
Chris de Burgh)
*
True ChristmasAlbums
*
Not Just A Pretty Face *
Dustin: Unplucked *
Faith Of Our Feathers *
Poultry In Motion*
Dustin's Greatest Hits*
Bling When You're MingingDustin has, on occasion, expressed an interest in politics. In the past, he has mockingly run campaigns for a number of presidential
elections, although he has never (obviously) been an official candidate. This did not stop hundreds of Irish voters in the
1997 presidential election spoiling their votes by writing Dustin's name on their
ballot papers. In his mock campaigns, he ran as a representative of "Fianna Fowl" (a play on Ireland's largest
political party Fianna Fáil) and also of the '
Poultry Party'. His campaign manifestos have included promising "to bring the
DART to
Dingle", as well as making sure every young boy in Ireland got to go on a date with the
Spice Girl of their choice.
