Was Jeff Dunham the Most Deranged Comedian of the George W. Bush Era?
Back when half of America believed that simultaneously invading Iraq and Afghanistan was an idea so good that disagreeing with it was treason, the pro-war, anti-terror sentiment sweeping popular culture was represented comedically by one man and his many “ethnic” puppets.
Ventriloquist and comic Jeff Dunham holds the world record for “most tickets sold for a stand-up tour,” according to the Guinness Book of World Records. That accolade is likely to shock comedy fans who only began paying close attention to the humor industry during the Obama administration, but for those of us who waited out the Bush years by watching Comedy Central, the still-standing record is a reminder that, during the 2000s, the American entertainment world went absolutely insane trying to properly package the War on Terror in a digestible comedic manner.
As such, Achmed the Dead Terrorist was an even bigger a celebrity at the time than all of the dozens of C-tier Donald Trump impersonators on the internet and TV from 2016 to 2020 put together — and that was just one of the many comedic weapons Dunham had in his puppet bag.
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Comedy fans old enough to remember how some comedians of the post-9/11, pre-recession era crafted acts that carpet-bombed good taste and “brought democracy” to the taboos against extreme racial caricatures recently reflected on the insanity of basic cable comedy during the 2000s, with one puppeteer perfectly demonstrating why the comedy world would probably collapse in on itself if another president started a full-scale invasion of the Middle East:
By now, many Americans who had previously supported the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan and who contributed to Dunham making the Forbes Top Five list for all-time highest-grossing stand-up comedians have since realized that the pro-war, anti-terrorist fervor that so often spilled over into anti-Muslim prejudice was an ugly mistake that led to the deaths of millions of innocent people in the Middle East along with thousands of U.S. soldiers. In retrospect, the hyper-patriotism of pop culture at the time and the racially charged dehumanizing of America’s enemies are a disgusting reminder of how entertainment (and comedy) can contribute to destructive mob mentality. Just don’t tell that to any of the Dunham die-hards in the replies.
Wrote one such fan in the original thread, “Still find his comedy hilarious. Stop taking everything so damn seriously.”
“Gen z is allergic to dark humor,” another added.
“you’re a boring bitch if you didn’t like this,” one more argued.
Seeing as so many comedy fans are still convinced that “turban-clad corpse singing about bombing infidels” is peak comedy, it’s no wonder that Bush was able to convince so many Americans that Iraq had WMDs with a disappointing majority of the entertainment industry aiding in his cause. If Trump gets re-elected, get ready for these morons to cream their jeans once Dunham reveals that Achmed has a Ukrainian cousin.
