Bill Maher, still political, but apparently correct
Bill Maher, 8 p.m., March 15, at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, tickets, $96.50, $65.50, $54.50 and $42.50 plus applicable fees; 2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway, Atlanta; www.cobbenergycentre.com/ 770-916-2800
Bill Maher, the pot-smoking pundit who performs March 15 in Atlanta, is beginning to look sort of prescient.
When he launched “Politically Incorrect” in 1993, his advisers told him that audiences would hate political comedy. The advisers guessed wrong. Political comedy built Maher’s career and has also made Jon Stewart’s “Daily Show” and Stephen Colbert’s “Colbert Report” wildly successful.
A hard-core rationalist who has steadily mocked religion, notably in his documentary “Religulous,” Maher has been delighted to see that about one-third of young people have turned atheist or agnostic, according to a recent survey. Finally, his drug of choice looks like it’s going to become the craft beer of the 20-teens.
“It’s not only legal in two states, it is de facto legal in L.A.,” Maher said of marijuana.
Late last month, as Georgia’s Legislature gave favorable consideration to a medical marijuana bill, Maher spoke about how his putative clairvoyance has not always kept him from going over the edge — for example, after the 9/11 attacks, with a particular comment that got him fired.
He chatted from his home office in Los Angeles, where he prepares his weekly HBO show “Real Time with Bill Maher,” and he discussed his previous evening’s performance in Birmingham, Ala. It was one of about 60 live shows he will do this year and his second gig in Alabama since January.
Q: They didn’t have you tarred and feathered?
A: The places you think are the reddest of the red are always the best crowds. There's always a lot more progressive or modern people than the public knows, in places they don't expect. Besides which, (Alabama) appreciates me not writing off the whole area.
Q: Your colleagues seem to quit doing stand-up as soon as they can, but you keep going. Are they smarter than you?
A: They may be smarter than me, but they're not having as much fun as me. Stand-up is hard at first. The first couple of years is excruciatingly painful, trying to learn that skill in front of people who are staring at you. To make that transition from "Hey, I'm a funny guy with my friends" to being funny in front of strangers, boy is that depressing. … After putting in all those lean years, wouldn't you want to redeem it when they know who you are? When it's fun?
Q: How do you feel about Jon Stewart stealing your idea?
A: He didn't steal anything. … I think we did put the spade in the ground first. … "Politically Incorrect" was a unique show at the time. I guess there wasn't a show exactly like that. … Where we differ (from "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report") is they are more predictably liberal in their view, whereas our show is not as predictable. I am often booed by my audience. Which doesn't bother me at all.
Q: Are there some things you should have left unsaid?
A: Obviously I got fired once for saying the terrorists aren't cowards. There is no one who is semi-sane who didn't understand what I was saying. It was an arguable point. But the show was called "Politically Incorrect." … There are people who say "I have no regrets." And I think, what? Aren't you human? I have regrets every (bleeping) day.
Q: With the number of political shows on television now, are young people better informed?
A: I don't know. It doesn't seem like it. … The younger people don't want to be left out of the debate, but because they have voted less, they get less. That's certainly true. We ran a piece a few weeks ago that showed current legislation was giving six times as much to senior citizens as it was to young people. … Politicians know that Grandma votes. She may have a harder time getting around, but somehow she gets to the polls.
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