Who Are the Richest Comedians? No, Seriously...
Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock
It's official: Funny is recession-proof.
Forbes recently revealed a list of the 10 comedians who, thanks to their successful stand-up acts, DVDs and TV and movie deals, dry their sad-clown tears with $500 bills.
Check out clips from hilarious stand-up comedians
Topping the list of moneymakers is, of course, Jerry Seinfeld who earned $85 million between June 2008 and June 2009. While his hit sitcom, Seinfeld, has been off the air for more than 10 years, the funnyman still makes the bulk of his fortune from syndication deals. The rest of his gigantic pile of money comes from lucrative stand-up gigs and that cool 10 mil Microsoft ponied up for him to appear in the worst commercial ever.
Watch free full episodes of Seinfeld now
At No. 2 is Chris Rock (Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa and the upcoming remake Death at a Funeral), whose worldwide No Apologies Tour contributed to his $42 million haul.
See the best of Chris Rock
The bronze medal, earning about $30 million, goes to ventriloquist Jeff Dunham. In case you're not up on your ventriloquism news, get this — this year Dunham had a red-hot tour, the most-watched Comedy Central special in the network's history and the best-rated Amazon DVD of all time.
Check out a clip of Jeff Dunham and his dummy Walter
Rounding out the list are Dane Cook ($20 million), George Lopez ($20 million), Howie Mandel ($15 million), Larry the Cable Guy ($13 million) and Jeff Foxworthy ($11 million).
Who's your favorite comedian?