Triumph the Insult Comic Dog

Real Name: Robert Smigel
Date of Birth: 2/7/1960
Official Website: http://www.triumphtheinsultcomicdog.com/







Of all the stand up comedy acts that have debuted in the past 15 years, few have been as strange or as funny as Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog. A cheap dog puppet created and voiced by Robert  Smigel, who is best known for his work on Saturday Night Live, Triumph is a pure insult comic who has appeared on a number of television shows.
Triumph’s debut was on NBC’s Late Night with Conan O’Brian back in 1997. Smigel had done other comedic work on the show before he create Triumph. The very first skit Triumph was featured in was about the Westminster Kennel Club’s annual dog show for which naturally he was banned from appearing.
Far from being a ventriloquist, Smigel voices Triumph off camera. Triumph’s voice is a rather distinctive Eastern European variety and he almost always starts with a cigar in his mouth that falls out rather quickly. Triumph’s comedic style is pure insult comedy reminiscent of Don Rickles. He quickly became one of Conan’s most popular acts on the show and often appeared in pre-taped segments where he routinely insulted the audience.
Triumph has followed Conan O’Brian to the Tonight Show and eventually onto TBS where Conan currently hosts his late night series. Triumph has appeared on a great number of TV shows, most notably the MTV Music Video Awards where he insulted a wide variety of artists as well as the audience in general. His act usually focuses on one famous group or person, such as his infamous rant against Bon Jovi after one of the concerts.




The incident that broke Triumph out into the mainstream occurred in 1999 when Pets.com filed a lawsuit against Conan’s Late Night Show and Robert Smigel claiming that Triumph was a trademark violation of their sock puppet mascot which had appeared almost two years before Triumph made his debut. The notoriety stemming from the lawsuit gained national headlines, but the case never made it to court as Pets.com folded into bankruptcy in 2000.
No stand up comedy sketch insult routine would be complete without a catch phrase and Triumph’s most notable one is “…for me to poop on!” which is usually spoken at the end of a long rant. Another one, which became the basis for a surprising hit song is “I Keed, I Keed!” which is most often spoken after Triumph skewers his target to show that he was kidding, only to insult him or her even more afterwards.
Triumph’s 2003 solo album, “Come Poop with Me” featured the popular song, “I Keed, I Keed!” and was certainly a high point in his career. Since that time, Triumph has continued to make appearances, most notably on TBS Conan late night show as recently as the October, 2012 to launch his typical insults at the Presidential candidates.
While Triumph has not quite regained the fame and notoriety he once enjoyed, he and Smigel have made consistent appearances on TV up to the present day. His insult comic style coupled with his biting sarcasm has not faded at all.