Bill Maher made headlines this past Spring when he told Jerry Seinfeld that he was planning to retire from standup late this year.
If that’s still his plan, it goes unmentioned in the just-released trailer for his 13th HBO standup special (above), although he does seem at his wits end in the new clip, which sees the longtime Real Time With Bill Maher host expressing exasperation with the current state of play in American politics.
“I’ve been to states where the Republican ads, they don’t even mention policy,” Maher says in the trailer. “Its’ just a guy with a gun, in a truck with a gun. Gun, truck. Truck, gun. Me like these things you like. Vote me.
On Donald Trump, Maher quips he’s “Jesus in reverse, other people die for his sins.”
The trailer concludes with Maher on knees, asking the crowd, “Do you see what I’m talking about with the crazy? Please, is anyone else seeing this?”
As for his retirement plans, Maher certainly seemed serious about putting down the mic when Jerry Seinfeld guested on Maher’s Club Random podcast in 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].”
Maher was quick to give himself an out. “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.”
Maher went on to explain that he doesn’t have the time to devote to standup that he feels it warrants. “I put a lot of time and effort into it because, as you know, standup is like playing the cello. You can’t just walk up there. You have to stay in practice. And I do. And I’ve always loved it. And I’m always working on it. But, I have a show,” he reasoned, referring to HBO’s Real Time, which the host is committed to through 2026.
That commitment clearly remains the priority for Maher. Seinfeld pressed the host on whether he thinks about wrapping up Real Time, noting that Maher has been in the talk show business for 31 years (since Politically Incorrect premiered in 1993).
“Well, I certainly wouldn’t want to quit now,” Maher responded, “because I feel like I’m at the top of my game. And lots of people tell me that.”
Maher noted that one part of Real Time in particular continues to bring him fulfillment. “I think what standup is for you,” he told Seinfeld, “is what writing that editorial at the end of the show is for me.”
In the Club Random episode, Maher also touched on the podcast itself, and how that could factor into his plans. “If I don’t have to practice the cello eight hours a day… I might want to do some of these kinds of things live. That’s kind of an interesting option that people do nowadays. It’s kind of an event.
Bill Maher: Is Anyone Else Seeing This premieres January 10th on HBO and Max. It was taped in front of a live audience at the CIBC Theater in Chicago, Illinois earlier this month.
I love the guy! He tells it how it Is! Like it or not. He’s a Truth teller just like Jon Stewart. We all need to see & hear what true reality they unfold for us. Thanks Be the Truth Sayers! KP
I wish he would quit and disappear from all media. He’s become so reactionary and fixated on the evils of “ wokeness” (another term for being conscious of inequities) that he’s become unwatchable.
yeah, I see it too!
I’d lose my will to live certainly to laugh is there was no more Bill and Real Time. His clip said it best…” please is anyone one else seeing the crazy?”
a heist is occuring before my eyes begin walking from Wells Fargo on Campbell and or Salem in Roanoke Virginia it continues to get my attention action packed money atop a building replica of exactly what I seen on the screens and I have a hunch that actually requires them to go get the Cash Bonus unspecified but it’s what they would do in plain sight so check it out would be blessing’s in abundance
This is the top of his game? He’s no longer funny or entertaining, just cynical and mean-spirited. I’d like to see him fold it up now.
In a solid conservative Republican. I’m also a fan of his HBO show “Real Time,” which I watch every week. Sure, there are times I vehemently disagree with him on one issue or another, but one reason why I like and respect him, unlike so many other liberals, is because he’s genuine Maher is a traditional liberal and not one of these progressive nutjobs that permeate the Democratic Party. He’s also not afraid to criticize his own party, and he certainly isn’t afraid to criticize progressives, who he rightly blames for the disaster that is today’s Democratic Party.
I so enjoy Bill Maher, so funny love your show.
All he has left is Trump jokes. He really should go away!