Does anyone else remember Achmed the Dead Terrorist? What ever happend to Achmed the Dead Terrorist? “Silence! I keel you!”

Jeff Dunham and Achmed.JPG

In the mid 2000s, when the War on Terror was in full swing, the world was recovering from an economic downturn, and Osama Bin Laden was still hiding out, American pop culture welcomed a new rising star. Ventriloquist Jeffrey Dunham introduced the world to his amazing talent of ventriloquism and raised the curtain for Achmed the Dead Terrorist.

The timing of Achmed’s debut couldn’t have been better as it aligned closely with the advent of YouTube and other online video streaming, which meant Jeffrey’s hilarious ventriloquist acts with Achmed could easily be shared. And shared they were! At one point, a video about Achmed the Dead Terrorist was one of YouTube’s all-time, top-ten videos. Add to that the fact that DVD sales were still a thing, which meant Jeffrey could also monetize the video by selling physical DVDs. As it turns out, he sold over 400,000 of them!

The cash haul that Jeffrey’s Achmed the Dead Terrorist act raked in put Jeffrey as the number 3 highest-paid comedian, according to Forbes. The only other comedians who were paid more were Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock.

So where is Achmed today. Well, the answer is he’s alive and well (even though he’s “dead”) on YouTube. And he continues to cause people to laugh more than ever as now a new generation of viewers, the centennials, come to know the hilarious bit known as Achmed the Dead Terrorist.

And what about Jeffrey Dunham, well with 3 million YouTube subscribers, demand for his humor continues to soar online and in live venues. He also still sells DVDs on his webstore. Also, according to his YouTube page, he’s started touring again. Tour dates are available at his website which is www.jeffdunham.com