Bill Maher’s new standup special may not be advertised as his last, but the comic says he’s hanging up his standup mic.
In a new conversation with Jay Leno on Maher’s Club Random podcast, the longtime Real Time with Bill Maher host confirmed that he has no plans to return to the road.
“You know I just did my last one?” Maher told Leno after asking the former Tonight Show host how many shows he has done in his career. (Maher’s last scheduled tour date was at Chicago’s CIBC Theatre on December 6, where he recorded his new special, Bill Maher: Is Anyone Else Seeing This?.)
“Why?” Leno asked Maher.
“Because I’m not Iron Jay,” Maher replied. “I do enjoy being onstage. I don’t enjoy a hundred other things about it that don’t really get better.”
“I’m very comfortable with this decision, honestly,” Maher explained. “All year long… I knew—I didn’t book anything in 2025.”
Maher first revealed that he was planning to retire from standup during a podcast interview with Jerry Seinfeld last May.
“I feel nervous about telling you. I feel like you’re the confessor to this,” Maher told Seinfeld, “but after this year, I’m going to stop doing [standup].”
At the time, the comic noted his retirement wasn’t a sure thing. “I could go back. I don’t want to make, like, a big announcement or something,” he cautioned. “I mean, I’m doing a special at the end of the year. It’ll be my 13th for HBO. That’s a lot.”
One thing’s for sure: Maher’s 30 year-plus late-night career that began with Politically Incorrect in 1993 will continue through at least 2026, which is when his most recent contract renewal for HBO’s Real Time expires.
Bill Maher: Is Anyone Else Seeing This?—recorded at his last show—premieres January 10th on HBO and Max.
My wife and I enjoy his Friday night show, we record it if we are away. we do not miss an episode.
Noooooooooooooooo.