Bill Maher brings attitude to the stage (same old...)

New York Times via Houston Chronicle ^ | May 6, 2003, 7:21PM | By ALESSANDRA STANLEY

[weegee]

NEW YORK THEATER

Bill Maher brings attitude to the stage

By ALESSANDRA STANLEY

NEW YORK -- "I think women's sports are boring."

"I am for mad cow disease."

"I think `no' sometimes means `yes.' "

"I think Vegas was better when it was run by the mob."

Bill Maher concludes Victory Begins at Home, his one-man Broadway show, by reciting that politically incorrect credo. Since Sept. 11, 2001, he has become, if not one of the most outspoken critics of the Bush administration, at least one of the most contrarian.

He mocks the country's enemies as well as its leadership. "Bin Laden was the 17th of 55 children," Maher said during his act on Friday. Shaking his head knowingly, he added, "It's always the middle 20, isn't it?"

When he attacks government policy, as he does throughout his 90-minute monologue at the Virginia Theater (as well as on his weekly late-night talk show on HBO), he does it without any sanctimonious hand-wringing over civilian casualties or cultural imperialism. In fact, he supports cultural imperialism.

"Rule of law is better than the opposite," he said. And so is "a free appliance with purchases."

Maher is not a humanitarian; he is a libertarian who bears a somewhat vengeful grudge against the administration that helped hound him off ABC. The White House chided him for a remark he made right after 9/11 that seemed to impugn the bravery of the American military, and the network later canceled his late-night show, Politically Incorrect With Bill Maher. As he put it, a bit angrily, "I was the first to be Dixie Chicked."

But libertarianism, like polka dots, should be worn lightly. It is an épater le bourgeois ideology, the political equivalent of an Oscar Wilde bon mot: "The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast."

Maher is clever and provocative, but he is no Oscar Wilde. Beneath his riffs there is a tetchy, self-righteous tone that makes him hard to like.

A successful live performance usually requires a secret lovability. That does not mean a comedian has to be likable; Jackie Mason and Larry David based their careers on articulating the most virulent, petty hatreds.

Even the funniest performers can fall short. In his early days as a stand-up comedian, David's disdain for his audiences was so evident and crippling that he had to turn to TV writing, a career adjustment that luckily led to Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Maher, too, did not give the impression that fans were welcome to banter with him backstage after the show.

Victory Begins at Home is loosely based on the book Maher published last October, When You Ride Alone You Ride With Bin Laden (New Millennium, $19.57), a collection of essays and slogans for the current campaign against terrorism, updating World War II propaganda posters. (One is "Loose Lips Can Save Ships.")

His delivery was smooth and persuasive, and he took command of the stage with the help of only what he described as a "Jack and Coke" and an electronic TelePrompTer hung above the audience.

His body language was defiant, not welcoming. Maher has a large head and a small, trim dancer's body. When he places his fists on his hips, he looks a little like Mary Martin as Peter Pan.

Peter Pan is a role model. Denouncing fidelity, monogamy and marriage as the mistakes of an overly "feminized" culture, Maher argued against equality-of-the-sexes fantasies. "Yours bore us, and ours offend you," he said. His rants about women were the only material that drew hisses from the audience last Friday.

HBO already allows him the freedom to use obscene language on the air, so Maher does not bring new dimensions to his Broadway act. Even in the question-and-answer period at the end of the show, he batted away questions with scripted jokes that he had already used on television.

Mostly, the solo format robs him of a chance to do what he does best: match wits with actors, politicians and writers.

Victory Begins at Home is best suited to audiences hungry for a longer, more intense TV monologue about the hypocrisies and delusions of the White House, Congress and other powerful institutions. Fans who hope to see a different, more intimate side of Bill Maher may be disappointed.

[MrJingles]

"Rule of law is better than the opposite," he said. And so is "a free appliance with purchases."

Wow. Hi-larious. (Yawn...)

I don't know how Maher defines "liberitarian," but most of what I've seen of him is classic McGovern liberalism. Accompanied, of course, an equally liberal, ignorant audience, who'll clap and laugh and moo whenever they're supposed to. "Politically Incorrect" was one of the most politically correct shows on T.V.

[Huck]

I ordered HBO about a month ago. I finally cancelled it last weekend because there was nothing of any value to watch. Nada.

[Paleo Conservative]

"Politically Incorrect" was one of the most politically correct shows on T.V.

Thank you for confirming my observation. I now know I'm not the only person who thinks the show should have been named "Politically Correct".

[Mo1]

Maher is not a humanitarian; he is a libertarian who bears a somewhat vengeful grudge against the administration that helped hound him off ABC. The White House chided him for a remark he made right after 9/11 that seemed to impugn the bravery of the American military, and the network later canceled his late-night show, Politically Incorrect With Bill Maher. As he put it, a bit angrily, "I was the first to be Dixie Chicked."

Hey Bill .. NEWS FLASH .. it wasn't the Bush Administration that did you in .. IT WAS YOU and the VIEWERS spoke out about

I didn't think you were funny before Bush was elected and I STILL don't think you are funny now

[weegee]

Bill knows that it was Dan Patrick at 700AM KSEV in Houston that first lead the message campaign to his sponsors.

Even Bill's buddy Ariana knew it (she tried calling him a shock jock).

[MrJingles]

But libertarianism, like polka dots, should be worn lightly. Ha! Great line!

[jagrmeister]

The only laugh I get when watching Maher is from the ridiculous laugh-track they use whenever he makes another unfunny joke. Either that, or the PI crowd has to be the most illiterate mob around...perhaps carted in from the DNC. Please, this boob "matches wits" with Hollywood airheads...and loses half the time. The same people who claim to enjoy his "humor" would ditch him in a moment if he began to question their political ideology.

[jporcus]

This guy is an idiot. Unfortunately, people like Ann Coulter give him credibility by appearing on his ridiculous shows (where he doesn't give them a chance to talk, or pits them 1 against 4). Another person I can't understand is Arianna Huffington, who I used to like until she went to bed with Al Franken, and now has become another Maher convert. Do these women need the face time that much?

[Banjoguy]

...Mahar is a sneering, chronic malcontent whose anger is a manifestation of self loathing.

[Claire Voyant]

Maher is a PIG. He NEVER mentions that Barbara Olson was on that plane that crashed into the Pentagon on her way to LA to be on his hideous show. He is sooooooooooooo unfunny.