Bill Maher: Live From D.C. (9-12-14)

[maraleia]

 

Bill discusses topics including the midterm elections, income inequality and the Republican psyche in a perfoamce at the Warner Theater.

 

[GHScorpiosRule]

Bill discusses topics including the midterm elections, income inequality and the Republican psyche in a perfoamce at the Warner Theater.

I'm going to his show on September 10. Not sure if it's the same as the 12th. I do know that the show on the 12th is going to be broadcast for HBO or something. The show on the 10th is also at Warner.

[ebk57]

I will be at the show on the 12th.  Really looking forward to it!!

[ganesh]

Please post about your experience.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Please post about your experience.

 

Absolutely! I've never seen Bill live, just on Politically Incorrect and this show. And I don't find his monologues funny here. I'm hoping to be entertained as I've heard he's good. (Otherwise the money my dad gave me to buy the tickets will have been a waste).  Warner is about 4 blocks from where I work, so I'll definitely be getting there early.

[ebk57]

I saw tapings of Politically Incorrect at Howard University a million years ago, and once while on vacation in LA.  From what I recall, it was a pretty typical TV taping. 

 

GHScorpiosRule, I also don't think his in-show monologues are all that funny.  So when I saw him at DAR a couple of years ago, I wasn't sure what to expect.  Suffice to say the show was hysterical.  I'm hoping for the same for you on Wednesday and me on Friday.

Edited September 9, 2014 by ebk57

[GHScorpiosRule]

I had to double check and confirm, that yes, Bill will also have a show tomorrow when I read this interview because it doesn't mention at all that he's also doing a show tomorrow night. Just color me confused!

[GHScorpiosRule]

Well, Bill really entertained me last night. I really enjoyed the show.

 

I work about 7 blocks from Warner theatre, so I got there about an hour before the show started. There was a little bit of a crowd, but not too much.  When I went in, I was told that they wouldn't start letting people into the theatre until seven, so I just walked around for a bit, to kill 15 minutes.  Returned a little after seven, to see that a line of about 20 had already formed...but moved quickly.  Really smooth system, and I don't ever recall seeing so many ushers at each corner. That is, there was the usher who scanned your ticket...then an usher standing at the bottom of the landing that led to the upper balcony (where my seat was).  Then yet another usher when I got to the upper balcony, who told me to ask the usher, who was standing in front of the section where my seat was.  I don't recall the seats being so close together or barely enough room between the rows. Admittedly, it's been six years since I was at Warner.

 

I didn't realize that sitting up there was very close to the nosebleed section, but I could still the stage okay, so it didn't bother me (too much) that I should have gotten the tickets earlier so I could have sat closer to the stage.

 

The show was sold out. There wasn't an empty seat that I could see, and what was the most interesting thing to me was kind of audience/fans Maher has. Very diverse and generational. Meaning that there were people in their 20s to some, who I swear, were in their 60s or 70s, and a cross-mixture of all races.

 

Maher got a late start. He didn't appear until about 8:10, but he hit the ground running. Dressed very casual. It was odd not seeing him in a suit. 

 

Very enthusiastic audience, most continued to clap after he came on for about a minute, I think.  And he kept us laughing for the entire 1 hour and 15 minutes. Yeah, I was hoping it would have been a full two hours, but there ya go.

 

He didn't talk about anything I hadn't heard on Real Time*, but for some reason, he was really funny in talking about it in this venue.  Naturally, he started with politics, segued to religion and ended with sex.  He wasn't obnoxious at all with the religion topics.  But his material about sex, specifically, Cialis, fell flat for me.  The crowd continued to laugh throughout the entire show, with lots of clapping. I did my share. The only bad part about the clapping is, you miss what he's saying.  He even engaged with a couple of people in the pit, who reacted to what he was saying about Trump, and I think the  other was about Pope John Paul II. And he wasn't obnoxious.  I found myself thinking, who is this guy? I'm not kidding. He had us all laughing throughout the entire show.

 

*Okay, there was some stuff he talked about that he hasn't on Real Time.

 

All in all, I thought it was a great show, and I'd give it an A-.

 

I'll  definitely see him again if he comes to DC again.

[Maherjunkie]

I always enjoyed his shows.  Glad you had a good time.  Do you watch the HBO comedy specials?

[ganesh]

The RT show is a different format than working the room in a singular stand-up show. I'm not surprised to hear that. It's probably a breather for Bill to get on stage and cut loose. 75 minutes seems like a solid show though. It's hard to talk that long on your own. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

The RT show is a different format than working the room in a singular stand-up show. I'm not surprised to hear that. It's probably a breather for Bill to get on stage and cut loose. 75 minutes seems like a solid show though. It's hard to talk that long on your own. 

 

Oh, I know...and Maher didn't take a break.  Well, he would reach back and glug some water, which is understandable.  But he must have been really hot...I could see the sweat on his head, and I was all the way up in the OO section, and he kept wiping the left side of his head.

 

And he ripped on both Democrats and Republicans alike during the political stuff.

[trow125]

he ripped on both Democrats and Republicans alike during the political stuff.

 

 

Bill has said that he is considering voting for Rand Paul, so I'll be interested to hear what he says about the 2016 race during the stand-up special.

 

He even engaged with a couple of people in the pit, who reacted to what he was saying about Trump

 

 

Oh boy, if there's anti-Trump humor, I hope it makes it into the HBO special! No one does a better job at ripping Trump than Maher.

[Maherjunkie]

I am sure he will come to his senses.  He said Hillary won him back.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Oh boy, if there's anti-Trump humor, I hope it makes it into the HBO special! No one does a better job at ripping Trump than Maher.

 

It did. It was just an expansion about his 'fued' with Trump over Trump suing him over a one line joke Bill had made about Trump.

 

Maybe it was because he had to run from the Shakespeare theatre to Warner, but his show last night wasn't as funny as Wednesday night's. And he had a couple of heckler's (wish I could have heard what that last guy was saying), that interrupted his flow.  For obvious reasons, his opening remarks weren't the same...and maybe because I zoned out a bit (on meds), but only 95% of the material from Wednesday, was used last night.  I can't remember if he did the Hillary Clinton joke last night which wasn't that funny when he said it on Wednesday.

 

You could see he was tired. Out of breath, and had to pause a lot longer between some material.  I'm glad I was at Wednesday's show.

[ganesh]

I'm watching now, and he does seem really winded. I think it takes time to switch into "stand up mode" The first 15 minutes are bumpy.

 

Once he got past the 20' mark, he was firing better I think. 

Edited September 13, 2014 by ganesh

[ebk57]

The field report from the stand-up gig last night ...  it was pretty much what you all saw on TV.  We were sitting in the orchestra on the center aisle, but the opposite side from the aisle Bill ran down onto the stage.  Which was fine with us.  Michael Moore came down and sat about 3 rows in front of us a bit after the show started.  There were a few minutes when the hand-held camera guys were blocking our view, but that's live TV.  Turns out KO was sitting a bit behind us off to the side and chatted with the folks leaving from the outside aisle.  

 

We enjoyed the show.  My sister had never seen him in concert and she really loved the show.  I think the show at DAR a few years ago was better, but still liked this one.  We saw most of the between show stuff on a screen onstage, but they took it off stage just as Bill ran into the building.  I got to see the whole sequence when I got home afterwards as the show was just starting again.

 

Oh, and that last heckler was yelling something about Trump and the opening of the hotel he's building at the site of the Old Post Office.  Honestly, I wish the hecklers had been tossed.  They were incredibly annoying.  Except for the guy with the Laura Bush rejoinder.  That was funny.

 

All in all, a nice evening out. 

[SFoster21]

The field report from the stand-up gig last night ... it was pretty much what you all saw on TV. We were sitting in the orchestra on the center aisle, but the opposite side from the aisle Bill ran down onto the stage. Which was fine with us. Michael Moore came down and sat about 3 rows in front of us a bit after the show started. There were a few minutes when the hand-held camera guys were blocking our view, but that's live TV. Turns out KO was sitting a bit behind us off to the side and chatted with the folks leaving from the outside aisle.

We enjoyed the show. My sister had never seen him in concert and she really loved the show. I think the show at DAR a few years ago was better, but still liked this one. We saw most of the between show stuff on a screen onstage, but they took it off stage just as Bill ran into the building. I got to see the whole sequence when I got home afterwards as the show was just starting again.

Oh, and that last heckler was yelling something about Trump and the opening of the hotel he's building at the site of the Old Post Office. Honestly, I wish the hecklers had been tossed. They were incredibly annoying. Except for the guy with the Laura Bush rejoinder. That was funny.

All in all, a nice evening out.

Couldn't hear it on TV; could you post it, please?

[trow125]

Bill was talking about first ladies' causes and how innocuous they are, and mentioned that Laura Bush's cause was literacy -- "who could be against that?" Somebody in the audience shouted, "Her husband," causing much laughter (which obviously pissed Bill off!). It was a funny quip, yeah, but also totally disrespectful behavior. The only time the audience should respond to a comedian is (a) if they're doing crowd work and single someone out, or (b) if they ask a general question of the audience ("Is there anyone from San Francisco here tonight?"). Otherwise, leave comedy to the professionals.

[MyPeopleAreNordic]

I saw Bill Maher live when he came to town on my birthday in January of 2013 and had a really great time, as did my husband who is a moderate while I'm a full-on progressive. Some of his material he performed that night I had heard on Real Time, but he expanded on it and it was still funny in the stand-up format, so it didn't bother me.

I enjoyed the HBO special Friday night, but I just wanna say that a few of the bits he did in the special he also used when I saw him ove a year and a half ago in January 2013. Funny but so much has happened between now and then that I think he could have come up with some more current stuff.

[SFoster21]

Thanks, trow.

[Maherjunkie]

I loved it!  But hated Michael Moore and Keith, in that I didn't think they were funny at all, and the boy scout bit, what was the point?

[ganesh]

The point was for Bill to literally run into the venue. It's just a silly bit. It actually didn't work too well because he was actually winded and the first 15 minutes or so weren't that good.

[opus]

That's what I was thinking. He's 58. Drive to the door, walk in, and start.

[Maherjunkie]

He did look cut though.

[attica]

I don't remember Laura Bush doing literacy. I remember Barbara Bush doing literacy. I remember Laura doing not much of anything.

[Maherjunkie]

She was too embarrassed to show her face.

[trow125]

Laura Bush definitely had many literacy initiatives during her time in the White House. She was also a former librarian. Per Wikipedia:

In 2001, to promote reading and education, she partnered with the Library of Congress to launch the annual National Book Festival... She is also credited with creating a national initiative called "Ready to Read, Ready to Learn", which promotes reading at a young age... In 2006, Bush and media executives worked together to provide a $500,000 grant for school libraries along the Gulf Coast which had been devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

[discoprincess]

I loved it!  But hated Michael Moore and Keith, in that I didn't think they were funny at all, and the boy scout bit, what was the point?

I didn't like Michael Moore and Keith Olbermann together either. I would have liked to have seen Olbermann alone or with another sports commentator (maybe Dan Patrick as a throwback!)

 

I was surprised to see Olbermann at first, as I was under the impression that now that he's back at ESPN, he wasn't supposed to talk politics. However, a quick Google search indicates that apparently isn't true. 

 

I watched the special on TV; I would have liked to have heard what the hecklers had said as well. (Were the outbursts from the same person? I'm a little surprised that they weren't escorted out.)

[Maherjunkie]

I sensed a couple were supposed to be funny and one lone nut got in there somewhere.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Well, I can say, as I was there, that there were NO hecklers at the Wednesday night show. Just that one person Bill engaged with while doing his Trump joke.

[Victor the Crab]

Just got around to watching Bill's stand up special I recorded earlier. I enjoyed Bill's show, but I also agree with everyone that the hecklers in the audience were obnoxious. I think they all knew the show was going to be on live television and thought they could be in on the act.

 

And I understand the need for having Keith Olbermann and Michael Moore there. But I found them to be completely useless and boring.

[Maherjunkie]

It's funny how I can agree with Michael Moore in general and still dislike him, as if he is some smug bastard.

[Hanahope]

After watching most of Ken Burns' Roosevelt special, its hilarious that Republicans are calling Obama the most radical president ever.  Really?   More radical than the trust-busting and work reforms TR did? And as a Republican too.  More radical than FDR and all those government programs he created? Many of which are still around (well, that probably is why they are scared of Obama).  Obama did far far less than either of the Roosevelts did, course they had much more cooperative Congresses.

 

Did Republicans really come out against water?

[Maherjunkie]

It didn't take much, did it?

[ganesh]

You don't have to go that far back even. Nixon and Eisenhower are probably more radical than Obama. 

[bluepiano]

And Bush the Second issued more Executive Orders than Obama, who the Republicans call a dictator and despot.

[ganesh]

Really? I thought there was a story where Obama issued the most. 

[Maherjunkie]

I don't think so.  If so, it would be because he is surrounded by obstinate douchebags.

[shok]

Really? I thought there was a story where Obama issued the most. 

 

Have you been watching FAUX again?  :)

 

You're right Maherjunkie. Obama has issued fewer Executive Orders than Bush - Obama's average # of EOs per year is less than any president in the last century. Average number per year is the best measure because some presidents only presided for one term and Obama has only been in office for one and a half terms at this point. Here is an updated list. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/data/orders.php