Liberal media dumped the comedian Bill Maher‘s new stand-up special from HBO, urging viewers to “SKIP IT.”
Reviewers from MSNBC.com, Decider, Salon and Cracked praised the special, which dropped on January 10: “Is anyone else seeing this?” as “lazy” and repetitive. They also criticized the comedian’s jokes that ridiculed far-left ideology.
“There’s nothing exciting here, and nothing you won’t already see or hear from him in real time most other weekends, so SKIP IT,” Decider’s Sean McCarthy wrote in his Monday review.
Maher’s special took aim at the fringes on the right and left, mocking everything from MAGA to “woke” culture. He also took his share of criticism of newly elected President Donald Trump, saying he could potentially “blow up the world on day one” and joking that he got his “ear piercings” during last year’s assassination attempt.
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Several liberal media outlets have criticized HBO host Bill Maher with scathing reviews of his new comedy special. (Screenshot/HBO)
McCarthy criticized the comedian for a lack of memorable or edgy material, stating that it does not push the boundaries for its viewers in any way.
“Maher believes he has found a comfortable path in claiming to be a centrist liberal who only seems to be moving to the right because the liberals have become ‘too woke,’” he said, adding: “It’s not so much a place for comedians, so just as it is a place for those Americans who have already built a comfortable lifestyle for themselves and don’t want to be disturbed by anything outside their bubble.”
“Real talk: Maher seems unable or unwilling to listen or learn. Just as too many people are radicalized by their social media feeds, Maher’s comedy is stuck in its own bubble,” he said, adding admits: “This is a comedy for people who still post on Facebook, still forward email chains and still watch his show.”
In a review titled “Bill Maher serves up aged, reheated beef in a new special”, MSNBC.com columnist Jacques Berlinerblau described the special as a “rather listless set.”
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“That’s partly because Maher’s positions on these issues are so well known that his punchlines were no surprise. He also seems unwilling to put in the craft required to make his stand-up material sharp or thought-provoking,” the explained reviewer.
Berlinerblau added that in his own special, Maher isn’t even self-aware enough to criticize the fact that he “seems to have transformed into an old, conservative white man shaking his fist at Gen Z, new gender categories, EpiPens and all the other that didn’t exist in 1964.”
Matt Solomon of Cracked.com He trashed Maher’s special by comparing it to the comedy of another entertainer he seemed to disdain.
“(T)he veteran comic makes the same lazy arguments as Rob Schneider does when a podcast host offers him a microphone and a chair: the left is trying to take away his freedom of speech, and everyone but the comic is crazy,” he wrote .
Solomon continued, “He hates victims, and yet the irony is lost on him as he whines about anyone who would undermine his freedom of speech. (Another irony: At last check, no one tried to silence Bill Maher.)”
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Bill Maher on the set of his podcast ‘Club Random’. (Screenshot/Club Random Media)
His review concluded with a plea for Maher to end his stand-up career. He wrote: “In May, Maher told Jerry Seinfeld that this HBO special could be his last. Now that his TV show and podcasts are doing well, it may be time to move on. “After this year, I stop (“do stand-up),” he promised. After seeing Is Nobody Else Seeing This, I have one question: Bill, can we get that in writing?
Maher confirmed to CNN’s Jake Tapper that he will likely retire from stand-up soon, though he insisted he would continue with HBO’s.Real Time with Bill Maher.“
Salon.com Senior Critic Melanie McFarland described the special as “lazy comedy” and said it consisted of material that “better jesters composted years ago.”
McFarland mocked Maher, saying, “How’s this for breaking news? Maher hates cancel culture, which doesn’t exist, and ‘woke-ism,’ the exhausted right-wing specter that no one can define. Maher announces his professed support to the trans community in the same way that any other hack comic does, in that he says the obligatory words to put the audience at ease with the uninspired observations that follow.
Seemingly addressing complaints from progressives about his attacks on the far left, Maher made clear in the special that he views Republicans, Trump and the political far right as the greater threat to the country due to their refusal to accept the 2020 election defeat. but he added, “I keep my mouth shut for no one.”
Bill Maher discussed his past calls for President Biden to withdraw from the 2024 race before it became fashionable in his new comedy special. (Screenshot/HBO – Getty Images)
“Don’t tell me the left hasn’t changed,” Maher said. “So you can threaten me with whatever label you want. I’m not bending the knee. If you do something crazy, I’m going to call you out, no matter where you are on the spectrum. I’m talking to another group of people who have no of both parties are being captured ideologically, that is my constituency.
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Maher also addressed transgender ideology, freedom of speech, the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, his past calls for President Biden to drop out of the race and more in the one-hour special.
