Bill Maher at the Riverside

It's been a long time since I saw a comedian live. In fact so long I think the last one I saw was Sam Kinison the same year of his death which was 1992. Wow, a really long time. So it felt a little strange to see a stage without a bunch of electronic gear and musical instruments, just a stool, a music stand and a microphone. It all looked so lonely. But there was background music playing. Good background music, from The Byrds, Turn, Turn Turn, to The Roots, The Seed 2.0. THen it started. The theme song from Real Time was cranking up the room. It was really cool to hear that music live.

Bill walked out on the stage and started right in. From the 'right-on' type of applause that says the audience agrees, it was pretty obvious there were all liberal/democrat-types at the Riverside on this night. Bill Maher says he is a libertarian but it seems to me that he leans more towards liberalism than conservatism, just like me. So I really enjoyed his republican bashing of some of my favorite targets like Sarah Palin (MILF=Moron I'd Like to Forget) and Mitt Romney as a department-store mannequin. Funny stuff. There are some good republicans like Ron Paul and I'm glad he left him alone. Although the good ones don't do stupid stuff to end up being a comedic target.

Religion is probably Maher's second-favorite subject and he made it clear how he felt about it. Even though he could never make me a disbeliever in God, I do understand the negativity and lack of science when it comes to religions. After a 'sermon' on the evils of religion the jokes were lighter in nature "I don't know what eternity is like, but I have seen 'Avatar,' so I know what it feels like." Hilarious.

I also like his take on prescription drugs, diseases like restless leg syndrome, and stress. "Just look at a squirrel, he always looks nervous." Bill picked up the book, "The Purpose Driven Life" and started reading the stupid crap in it. He didn't need to add much editorial, that book is that dumb. He also did a bit on what he calls his favorite subject, man's death my animals that they shouldn't mess with. This time it was sharks.

He ended his show with material on the differences between the sexes. Fantasies and marriage were prime targets. One of his funniest lines was "women's fantasies bore men and men's fantasies offend women". Maybe his stuff is so funny because it's so true. I am glad I was there to see him in person. It was a good show.

Before the show we went to church and I mentioned to the pastor that we were headed to Bill Maher. Coincidentally, the sermon was about doubting Thomas and how one can become a better believer when you question things. The pastor said he really liked Bill Maher as well and that his spiel on religion does make you think about what to believe and he thinks that these kinds of ideas can make you an even stronger believer in your faith.