Bill Maher: Live from D.C.

I used to love the political round table approach to his cable television show---so much so, didn't miss it every week. Fair and balanced throughout with varied degrees of insiders, directors, politicians, scholars, etc.

Just a fresh take on whats going on in the political spectrum.

Then Covid happened.

He not only embraced the "Republican model" on how to handle a deadly outbreak, he pushed his chips all in. He was all alone in his Cali digs dabbling in his weed and just becoming more antisocial, and frankly, began running with the "hoax" crowd and belittling people that took precautions, not knowing what they had going on at home or in their own body.

He became a hypocrite almost overnight and just his snark turned more negative and seemed to find more solace inviting on the clownshoes of this ilk.

Ive since tried to watch his standup and it just doesn't hit like it did, in fact, it's exhausting. Take it or leave it, I've decided to move on from this fraud, who tip toes around sucking Trumps ass now, as his inner coward inside of him has taken over.

Hard pass on this garbage and his work. I enjoy polarization at times, but his tired shtick isn't genuine, but his hypocrisy gets out in anything he says and does now.

Destined to be the underrated comedy event of the 2014 year is Bill Maher: Live from D.C., an uproariously funny live-taping of Maher performing a comedy special at the luxurious Warner Theater on 13th Street just minutes after recording an episode of Real Time With Bill Maher at the HBO theater. In under ten minutes, Maher races out of the HBO studios, heads to his dressing room, changes into casual garb, races outside into his Motorcade, equipped with six police motorcycles escorting him to the Warner Theater, before sprinting the last three blocks and onto the stage of the venue. All of this was announced in a fun and unexpected manner by sportscaster Keith Olbermann and documentarian Michael Moore, who sat in a balcony at the Warner Theater.

Despite noting his mental exhaustion with his hectic day of planning and live taping during the live episode of Real Time, Maher is a zealous comedic force on stage, as if he just woke up, refreshed and giddy to perform live. We don't see a tired, weary Maher, but the Maher we've known for years - the person who waltzes on stage and give us his unbridled, brutally honest opinion on politics, not caring whether or not we accept it as truth or agree with it. He's simply happy to get it out there in a blunt and often vulgar manner, but despite such choices in vocabulary and delivery, always comes off as either insightful or at least eloquent.

With Live from D.C., after his incredible entry, he goes on to give his politically-charged, bleeding-heart secularist/liberal rants on American politics, the idiocy of the Tea Party, the more qualified but admittedly flawed Liberals/Democrats, recent controversies plaguing the country, and comment on recent things in his personal life, such as his hysterical response to the "feud" between him and Donald Trump that arose from a senseless and illegitimate bet. Maher remarks about how Republicans ignore that other presidents, even Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, took numerous executive orders when they were running the country, but treat Obama as if he was "Dracula crossed with Hitler with lung cancer." In addition, Maher comments on working with Congress and in American politics with the thesis of it coming down to "being patient with stupid white people," as well as stating that, when it comes down to it, the common American feels that the United States should continue to "bomb Arabs, pay farmers not to grow corn, and name buildings after Ronald Reagan."

Maher is even greeted with a plethora of positive and negative hecklers, to which he finally tires of and states, "stop yelling out; I'm sure what I have is better." He continues to amuse them every now and then, even challenging a woman to support her shouted-statement right then and there, keenly reminding us of that special episode of Real Time when 9/11 "truthers" found ways to interrupt the live taping of the program. Yet Maher is never phased by such immaturity and lack of respect and attention; he is far too busy ranting, raving, and cracking joke-after-joke about the country he loves to reside in and criticize so deeply.

Live from D.C. comes directly after Maher concluded his year-long "Flip a District" campaign, an online campaign to get people to oust somebody from the American Congress they find harmful and detrimental to the American political system. That candidate turned out to be John Kline (HR, R-MN), who Maher will be targeting to rid Minnesota of this coming November with the midterm elections. Even as the effectiveness of this campaign comes into question, one cannot fault Maher for his dedication in not only voicing his opinion, but donating to the political campaign of Barack Obama and actually making a commendable effort to try and get a start on fixing what is happening to American politics. It's a noble fight to a questionable reward, but at least it provides for some spectacular comedic value in the meantime.

Directed by: Troy Miller.

I'm not sure if the long introduction by Michael Moore and Keith Olbermann was really necessary for this show. I Thought it was too long and not that funny. Bill Maher doesn't need that, his satirical speech is more than good enough to make us laugh. Bill Maher doesn't like Republicans and that we will know. For a stand-up comedian to make fun of Republicans isn't too difficult as they're quite dumb in general. The Republican party is an endless source for funny material, a bottomless pit for easy mockery. I'm an European, and like the vast majority of Europeans we also see what a bunch of idiots are voting for the Republicans. Bill Maher is always funny, has a good clear view of what's going on in the world and knows how to bring it with a little touch of sarcasm. However in this show there are a couple annoying people in the audience, looking for their second of fame, the kind of people that don't know when to shut up. I found that quite irritating as to me a performer on stage should never be interrupted unless he asks questions directly to members of the audience. That said Bill Maher knows perfectly how to handle those disturbances, replying with funny anecdotes like he always does. Maybe not his best stand-up comedy but certainly good enough for me. Bill Maher is the kind of guy I could have endless conversations with without ever being bored.